A Boozy Afterburn: Season 4 Recap

Summary

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Boozy Bookgasms: A Boozy Afterburn – Season 4 Recap

Podcast: Boozy Bookgasms
Host: Jen (B), Lynn (C), Kim (A)
Air Date: April 29, 2026

Episode Overview

In this spirited and laughter-filled finale, three cousins—Jen, Lynn, and Kim—gather (well into their cocktails) to unpack Season 4 of Boozy Bookgasms. With the signature blend of shameless spoilers, raw opinions, and unfiltered banter, they rate, debate, and reminisce over the 14 romances and 6 “Heated Rivalry” TV show episodes covered this season. Along the way, there’s juicy debate about incest tropes, heated reactions over reverse harems, devotion to certain authors, and plenty of side-splitting stories from their “boozy” journey.

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The Season 4 Cocktail: “Plot Twist Paloma”

[01:22] Kim

• “This might be the most accurate representation of this season we could have poured into a glass. It’s bold, it’s layered, it’s unpredictable. And just like this season, we don't know what's gonna happen. This is a weird season.”
• Cocktail includes tequila, reposado, mezcal, fresh lime, grapefruit juice, ginger, habanero syrup, topped with grapefruit soda.

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Book-By-Book: Speed Round Recs & Razor-Edged Ratings

[02:13–05:10] Each cousin gives a rapid-fire "Yes," "No," or "Maybe" for each book:

Standouts:

• Butcher and the Blackbird (Bryn Weaver): All three are YES; adored for banter and unconventional romance.
• Braving the Storm (Elliot Rose): High marks for yearning and steam—except Kim is a hard “hell yes.”
• Promise Me Forever (Sadie Kincaid): A unanimous and enthusiastic YES.
• The Devil/Devil’s Advocate (Ashley Jade): Mixed; some enthusiasm, some heavy critique.

Low Points:

• Passionate Brew (Sadira Stone): General consensus—needs alcohol to enjoy.
• The Scattered Bones (Nicole Scarano): “Absolutely not,” “Never again.”
• Inevitable (Jenna Hartley): Divides the group—Kim: “Absolutely not every day.”

Fun banter:

• Lynn: “Three Swedish mountain men? … It’s quick. It’s easy. It’s fine.” [03:22]
• Kim: “We had a lot of banging. Not a lot of bangers.” [12:55]

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Rapid Fire: Most Unforgettable Book

[05:27]

• Jen: “Promise Me Forever by Sadie Kincaid. I've actually gone back to this book multiple times. I loved this book.” [05:39]
• Lynn: “Braving the Storm for me. I love that series.” [05:56]
• Kim: Torn between “Braving the Storm” and “Butcher and the Blackbird”: “That one lives rent free…because of their banter and how cute they were. I mean, it was murder, but, you know, it was games.” [06:12]

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Spiciest Scene of the Season

[06:27–07:22]

• All agree: “Kiss of the Basilisk” is legendary for over-the-top smut
  • Jen: “24 hours of sex until her pelvis broke. That's one I'm never going to forget.” [06:41]
  • Kim: “I was like, hands down, Kiss of the Basket.” [06:54]
  • Lynn: Loves the yearning in “Braving the Storm”: “This yearning was slow. So good. It was hotter than the sex.” [07:16]

Memorable moment:

• The never-ending incest vs. pseudo-incest banter:
  • Kim: “Everyone on this mountain is hot.” Lynn: “Who's your uncle?” [07:25–18:28]

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Biggest Surprises (Books & Reactions)

[07:49–09:46]

• Jen: Shocked by “Butcher and Blackbird”—expected to hate, ended up loving.
• Kim: Disappointed by “Inevitable.” Loved the dad’s best friend trope but was thrown by the “he helped raise her” dynamic.
• Lynn: “Devil’s Advocate” had the most unexpected twists.

On co-host ratings:

• Lynn’s 3.5 on “Passionate Brew” stuns Jen and Kim:
  • Jen: “Because that book was…not that good. I’m an easy grader. But I was also surprised at how much you disliked the devil duet.” [09:44]
• “Devil” duet debates: The group hashes out “manipulation vs. sexy” for the lead female character.

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Best & Worst Book Couples

[13:49]

• Best:

  • Jen: “Sloane and Rowan for Butcher and Blackbird—so adorable, I love their banter.”
  • Lynn: Briar and Storm in “Braving the Storm”—“Really love their chemistry.”
  • Kim: Split love between Sloane/Rowan (“banter”) and Drake/Amelia from “Promise Me Forever.”

• Worst:

  • All agree Lilo and Ryan (“Passionate Brew”) lacked chemistry.
  • Kim: “I hated the Swedish Mountain men. I did not think they had good chemistry at all.” [14:51]

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Favorite & Least Favorite Characters

[15:23–18:31]

• Favorite Females:

  • Kim: Amelia (“Promise Me Forever”), Athena (“Audacity”)
  • Jen: Sloan (“Butcher and Blackbird”)
  • Lynn: Sumner (“Inevitable”)—“She knew who she was…she gave him a run for his money.” [17:29]

• Least Favorite Female:

  • Jen: Tam (“Kiss of the Basilisk”), Athena (“Audacity”)
  • Lynn: Eden (“Devil’s Advocate”)—“She was obviously manipulated…not a lot of development.”

• Favorite Males:

  • All mention Storm (“Braving the Storm”), Rowan (“Butcher and Blackbird”), Drake (“Promise Me Forever”)
  • Jen: “Rowan was so cute.”
  • Lynn: “Storm. Gotta do it.”

• Least Favorite Female:

  • Tie: Daisy (“Passionate Brew”) and Lilo (“Swedish Mountain Men”).

• Least Favorite Males:

  • Jen: Rocco Romero (“Beautiful Carnage”): “He was so awful…not hot at all, not even a little.” [16:44]
  • Lynn: Damian and Kane (“Devils”)—“They were both fucking awful…manipulative bastards.”
  • Kim: Agrees with both.

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Ratings Re-Do: Would You Change Your Ratings?

[12:11–13:13]

• “Scattered Bones” consensus: Ratings should go lower after marinating—Kim: “I would go back and change mine to a two.”

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Standout Episodes & Guest Highlights

[18:40–23:54]

• “Devil Duet” and “Heated Rivalry” TV Show episodes cited as most fun to tape (if not most-loved books).
• Multiple shoutouts to guests:
  • Miranda (“Heated Rivalry”): “She came in with so much passion, so much energy. It was really fun to listen to her take on everything.” [20:08]
  • Previn (“Passionate Brew”): Mild-mannered brewery owner gets roped in, wife is a pastor (“What the hell did you get me into?” [21:46])
  • Zach (the voice of intro/outro): “It’s just so interesting to me when we get their perspective. And they’re also a younger generation.” [22:47]
• Best “Scattered Bones” moment:
  • Kim: “It’s hilarious to me how many ways that we figure out how she's getting all of the bones to every obstacle…Is it a luggage? Do you think she has like a bag?” [23:04]

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Audiobook vs. Page: Notable Performances

[26:37–28:11]

• Audio MVP:
  • “Devil Duet” (Teddy Hamilton): “He did lights out.”
  • “Braving the Storm” and “Promise Me Forever” also lauded for great narration—Jen: “Promise Me Forever is on my repeat. I just literally my lullaby.” [27:47]
• Skip audio: “Beautiful Carnage,” “Three Swedish Mountain Men”—AI Kindle voice “not great.”
• Physical bookshelf pride: Kim keeps a trophy library, complete with rating cards.

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Author Love: Sadie Kincaid & More

[28:03–28:51]

• Ongoing devotion to Sadie Kincaid and her expanding backlist; Jen and Kim compare their favorites (Dante, Lorenzo).
• Kim: “Your bookshelf's getting pretty full back there.” [28:34]
• Lynn: On “Phantasma”—no rush to read the next in series, but Kim’s a completist: “I want to be done with the whole series” [29:49]

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Off-Menu Recommendations & Reading Slumps

[30:18–30:53]

• Jen is on a Colleen Hoover bender (“Ugly Love,” “It Ends With Us”); recommends Christina Lauren’s “Love and Other Words”; next up: “Older” by Jennifer Hartman (friend’s dad trope).
• Lynn is dabbling in wolf shifter romances (“a little light on the sex, but it’s doing it for me”).
• All look forward to new releases and Season Five (“I can't wait for the next season. I need another season of good books.” – Lynn, [28:56])

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Notable Quotes

• Kim: “We had a lot of banging. Not a lot of bangers.” [12:55]
• Lynn: “This yearning was slow. So good. It was hotter than the sex.” [07:16]
• Jen: “24 hours of sex until her pelvis broke. That's one I'm never going to forget.” [06:41]
• Kim: “It stuck with me like yeast. Like yeast.” [13:23]

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Final Words

The cousins wrap up with gratitude, teasing plenty more “bookgasms” ahead in season five—promising more irreverent takes, guest chaos, and spicy recommendations.
Kim: “Thanks for reading. Happy reading. Today's episode is the climax of your day, leaving you breathless and wanting more. Until next time, remember to indulge in the pleasures of life and to keep the passion alive.” [31:22]

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Episode Timestamps: Quick Reference

• [01:22] Cocktail of the season: Plot Twist Paloma
• [02:13] Book-by-book “Yes/No/Maybe” rapid ratings
• [05:37] “Book that will live in your brain rent-free”
• [06:27] “Favorite spicy scene”
• [07:49] “Most surprising book”
• [13:49] “Best and worst book couples”
• [15:23] “Best and worst characters”
• [18:40] “Favorite episode and guest moments”
• [26:37] Audiobook discussion
• [28:03] Sadie Kincaid favorites
• [30:18] Off-menu book/author recs

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For New (or Returning) Listeners:

This episode is pure Boozy Bookgasms: messy, passionate, and transparent—a perfect send-off for a wild romance reading year. Come for the spoilers, stay for the laughter, and toast along until the next season!

Transcript

[A]

I was a very harsh judge this season.

[B]

As opposed to other seasons.

[C]

I barely remember what we read. I forgot we did Kiss of the Basilisk this year.

[A]

Are we counting Halloween? Because that changes everything.

[C]

Are we counting Halloween? We're not.

[A]

No.

[B]

That was a special episode.

[C]

Okay, but Kiss of the Basilisk? God, that was, like, eight years ago.

[B]

Okay, listen.

[C]

Okay, listening.

[B]

All right, assholes.

[C]

We've been drinking for three hours. Like what? We're all hammered.

[A]

I have it. You. Best season ever. Buckle up, glitter at your fans. We're in for some boozy bookgasms today. Join three cousins creating a titillating headspace where steamy romance novels collide with strong cocktails. So sit back, sip slow, and enjoy the ride.

[B]

Hey, all you boozy book lovers, I'm Jen.

[C]

I'm Lynn.

[A]

And I'm Kim.

[B]

Welcome to our final show of season four. We are going to call this the Boozy Afterburn, also known as our recap episode. We recapped and reviewed 14 books this season, as well as six episodes of heated Rivalry.

[A]

Good God.

[B]

But before we dish on everything that is still smoldering long after the final page, Kim, what are we drinking tonight?

[A]

Tonight's cocktail is the plot twist. Paloma, an honest. Guys, this might be the most accurate representation of this season we could have poured into a glass. It's got some tequila, risotto, reposado, mezcal, some fresh lime, grapefruit juice, ginger, habanero syrup, which sounds very difficult to make, but it is not. And it's topped with grapefruit soda, so this drink is anything but one note. It comes in smooth, smoky, and then it hits you very sharp with that habanero and ginger. So it's bold, it's layered, it's unpredictable. And just like this season, we don't know what's gonna happen. This is a weird season.

[C]

A season of all things. There was a lot of various genres,

[B]

so I thought I would start with listing out all the books we read. We can all give a little. Yes, no, Maybe.

[C]

Okay, I'm ready.

[B]

All right. Our first book of the season was Passionate Brew by Sadira Stone. No.

[A]

Maybe not without liquor.

[C]

Well, it is a brewery romance, not beer liquor. Got it.

[A]

You must be hammered.

[B]

Kiss of the Basilisk by Lindsay Straub. Yes.

[A]

Yes, yes.

[B]

Beautiful Carnage by Carolyn Peckham. No.

[A]

Yes. Maybe.

[B]

Butcher and the Blackbird by Bryn Weaver. Yes.

[A]

Yes, yes.

[B]

Audacity by Elodie Hart. Maybe.

[A]

Maybe, maybe.

[B]

A devious arrangement by Jessa Wilder. Yes.

[C]

Maybe.

[A]

Maybe.

[B]

I love that one. Braving the Storm by Elliot Rose.

[C]

Yes.

[A]

Hell, yes.

[B]

Maybe you're a baby that.

[A]

No.

[B]

3 Swedish mountain men by Lily Gold. Yes.

[C]

Yes.

[A]

No.

[C]

It's quick. It's easy, it's fine.

[B]

No, it's fun. It was fun in the winter.

[A]

Okay, babe.

[C]

All right, babe.

[B]

The Scattered Bones by Nicole Scarano.

[A]

Absolutely not.

[C]

Maybe I wouldn't do it.

[A]

Never again.

[B]

Promise Me Forever by Queen Sadie Kincaid. Yes.

[A]

Every day of the week, Sadie.

[C]

Gotta do it.

[B]

Fantasma by Kaylee Smith.

[C]

Maybe I'm a yes on this.

[A]

I'm a yes.

[C]

I'm okay with this one. It was. It was different. I like it.

[A]

Is it different?

[B]

We did a duet just for Lindsay

[C]

because you have to finish a book.

[A]

Not exactly true.

[C]

You start it, you finish it.

[B]

You're welcome. The Devil by Ashley Jade. Yes.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

What is that?

[A]

That's not a word.

[B]

You need to give an answer, Lindsay. Is that a maybe?

[A]

That's a no from Liz.

[C]

Not like the first one. Not at all.

[B]

So it's a no.

[C]

It's a nick.

[B]

Are you telling our readers not to read book? But maybe to read the second one?

[C]

You have to read the first book if you want to read the second book.

[B]

Right. So it's a yes.

[C]

It's technically a prequel, which is not really a thing.

[A]

So it's not. Not a yes, not a no.

[C]

But it's not a yes.

[B]

Not playing the game the way you should, but anywho, not really a maybe either. The Devil's Advocate by Ashley Jade. Yes.

[A]

Yes.

[C]

Maybe.

[B]

Ooh, Inevitable by Jenna Hartley. Yeah.

[A]

No.

[C]

Yes.

[A]

Absolutely not every day.

[C]

Read it again.

[A]

Yes. If you like your unc that way. Bye.

[C]

It was not an uncle.

[B]

Unrelated, we're gonna get back to the incest.

[C]

How do you like brave the storm and not inevitable? What is happening?

[A]

I don't know. It was a weird season for me.

[C]

It really depends on what moment in life you're at.

[B]

It does. I will group the heat of rivalry TV series as one and say, would you recommend the series? Yes. No. Maybe. It's a big yes for me.

[C]

The TV show. Yeah, definite. I'm here for it.

[A]

That was a maybe.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

There were some moments, but I'd say go for it.

[B]

All right, so we have some questions that we're gonna go through tonight. First one being which book from this season will live in your brain rent free.

[C]

Ooh, interesting.

[B]

To the surprise of nobody, mine is Promised Me Forever by Sadie Kincaid. I've actually gone back to this book multiple times. I loved this book.

[C]

You love a good Sadie.

[B]

I loved Drake and I loved the audio of it. I've enjoyed that one. I like the whole series, actually.

[C]

Braving the Storm for me.

[A]

Oh, that was a good one, too.

[C]

I love that series.

[B]

You do?

[C]

You hated the truck scene. I like, sign me up every day.

[A]

I was super torn between Braving the Storm and, of course, Sadie Always lives rent free. But the one that really stuck with me was the Butcher and the Blackbird. That was my second because of their banter and how cute they were. And it was games to them. I mean, it was murder, but, you know, it was games.

[B]

So cute.

[A]

It was sweet. Yeah. So that one lives rent free.

[B]

Which book had your favorite spicy scene? Ooh, I'm going to go with Kiss of the Basilisk. There were so many scenes in this book, it's difficult to narrow.

[C]

The one in the stadium.

[B]

24 hours of sex until her pelvis broke. That's one I'm never going to forget.

[A]

That was it for you.

[C]

That was the one.

[A]

We heard that. I also had that one. No. Are you serious?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

I was like, hands down, Kiss of the Basket.

[C]

So many. But Braving the Storm I thought had some of the best, like, yearning sex.

[B]

If you're into an incest trope, it was hard.

[A]

Oh, I loved was an incest.

[C]

I loved it. And there were. The yearning was so good. Like, sometimes I hate a yearning because it's just slow burn. But this yearning was slow. So good. It was hotter than the sex.

[B]

If it wasn't her uncle, this would have been five stars.

[A]

Everyone on this mountain is hot.

[C]

I don't understand how you're okay with inevitable and not okay with braving the storm.

[B]

One's an uncle, one's not.

[A]

One's a pseudo uncle. One is also a pseudo uncle.

[C]

Correct. Pseudo uncle. Pseudo uncle.

[B]

One's a real uncle and one is a friend.

[C]

We will take this therapy session to another day. I am just floored.

[A]

I think we just answered that one question that you had listed.

[B]

Which book surprised you the most this season? So, for me, this was Butcher and Blackbird. I was so not wanting to read this book because of the cannibalism. And then we read it, and it was one of my faves. It was so good. It was so well done. And it really surprised me.

[A]

I mean, not to pull on a scab, but inevitable. I was so excited about the dad's best friend.

[B]

It surprised you in the worst way.

[A]

It surprised me in the worst way because I didn't realize that he had helped me raise her. It threw me way off in the book, in the beginning So I was very disappointed with it.

[B]

You were excited to do the local author.

[A]

I still am. I still support local authors. I liked it and I support her. It was well written. It was just.

[C]

The trope was not your cup of tea.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. I just couldn't do it.

[B]

That happens.

[C]

Devil's Advocate was the most surprising. That one had the most twists and turns for me.

[B]

Okay, I've got another question where this will relate, where we talk about what surprised you the most about your co host's response. And that one is mine for you because I thought you'd like it more.

[A]

I thought you would like it more too.

[C]

Oh, the Devil's Advocate. I really.

[B]

Oh, that's my next question. All right, everybody shut up. Oh, okay.

[A]

Well, fuck yeah.

[C]

We could have skipped questions. You know, it's possible you could go from four to seven and come back,

[A]

but you could just talk. But it's okay. Go ahead. Whatever you want.

[C]

Jenny's like, but it wasn't the next question. Oh, it is the next question. Excellent.

[B]

Also, we're hammered.

[C]

It is called Boozy Bookgasms. You think they're surprised?

[B]

That's what I told Miranda. She was like, I was drawn. And I'm like, we all are. It's fine.

[A]

Usually. Yeah.

[B]

Okay. So which book reaction or opinion from your co host surprised you the most? Oh, actually, Lindsay, I was surprised you gave passionate brew 3.5 stars.

[C]

Because I was so annoyed with it.

[A]

That's fair.

[B]

Because that book was.

[A]

I'm also surprised.

[B]

Not that good. I'm an easy grader. But I was also surprised at how much you dislike the devil duet.

[C]

I really struggle with the devil because I just felt like she was being manipulated the whole time. I'm okay with like a young female main character, even if they're vulnerable. She was just manipulated from day fucking one. And so it just didn't make the sex sexy because it just felt like she was being manipulated. Which. Yeah, use which interestingly, with five brothers, I was totally fine with that.

[A]

4.

[C]

But yeah, she was completely owning her sexuality and Ginny fucking hated it. But this time I loved it. And this time she was not owning her sexuality. She was just being manipulated. It really did just bother me the whole time.

[B]

I read it from a different angle.

[A]

I wonder if you went back and read it now if you would feel the same way.

[C]

Five brothers.

[A]

You know that we've like kicked it up a little bit. Yeah, four and a half brothers.

[B]

Penny Douglas wrote Five Brothers. I've read two books that she's written and hated them. Both Credence and Five Brothers I hated. I recently read Birthday Girl and sent it to Lindsay and was like, read this at the beach.

[C]

I read it. It was good.

[B]

It's the first Penny D book that I've liked and I think it is because I'm becoming a little desensitized.

[C]

Oh, you're becoming a bit of a book whore.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Welcome.

[C]

You're in year four.

[A]

You're in the horror core. Welcome.

[B]

The nice thing is, like, it's not always a billionaire. Ro. Her romances are a little more like.

[C]

They're a little grittier.

[B]

Yeah. Grittier. Yeah.

[A]

Shop facts. Yeah.

[B]

I have a hard time with an 18 year old sleeping her way around the house and ending up with a 35 year old.

[A]

I shouldn't sleep with all of them. I would like to say the one that surprised me the most was how enamored both of you were with scattered bones and this woman dragging the body of her dead husband around, dropping it off at the Amazon lockers.

[C]

I wasn't that enamored with this. We were basically the same reading.

[A]

Jenny gave it like a four.

[B]

I did give it a four.

[C]

I didn't.

[A]

It was terrible.

[B]

And. And here's why. Because I feel like it was because

[A]

the horse made it to every place she was going. Because a torso is not that heavy. Yeah.

[B]

I felt like it was different.

[A]

Oh, it was different.

[C]

It was different, actually.

[A]

Definitely different.

[C]

I will give it that.

[B]

There's a future question asking if you would change a rating. And that one is my answer lower? Yeah.

[A]

You would go lower.

[C]

Just ask me now.

[B]

Oh, let's see. You're making me go out of order. What the.

[C]

I know.

[B]

Jump around questions. Good night.

[A]

Jump around.

[B]

Jump around. This is the book where I would change my writing.

[C]

Scatter Bones.

[B]

Because after I marinated on it a little bit, I don't think it's a four.

[A]

No.

[C]

What do you think it is?

[B]

I would still give it a three.

[C]

We all gave it three.

[A]

We gave it a three. I would go back and change mine to a two.

[B]

You would lower it too?

[A]

I might, yeah. There's a couple of them. I might. I had a rough season. I might lower some.

[B]

We didn't have a lot of bangers.

[A]

I mean, we had a lot of banging. Not a lot of bangers. Yeah.

[B]

Would you change a rating, Lynn?

[A]

No.

[C]

I feel pretty good about my ratings for the year.

[B]

Even Passionate Brew, which you rated 3.5.

[A]

Yeah. That seems like you might have been drunk that day.

[C]

I was definitely drunk.

[B]

I was really so shocked.

[A]

Yeah. Why Was it so high?

[C]

But even actually looking back on Passionate Brew, I remember, but I remember it, you know, how, like, do these seasons and it's like, what was that about again? I remember the whole Harmock trope because

[A]

it was 80 pages. It stuck with me like yeast. Like yeast.

[B]

That yeast will really stick with you.

[C]

Rising to the top.

[A]

I'm not judging. I don't want to force push.

[B]

It feels like a force push. Kim, she felt fairly strongly about was a Hallmark romance. She and you said that on the episode.

[C]

Feels like Hallmark cheesy Hallmark romance. I like that. That's how I started my trashy romance journey.

[B]

Which book couple had the best chemistry this season and which couple had the worst? Sloane and Rowan for Butcher and Blackbird were my favorite couple. I thought they had incredible chemistry. They were so adorable. I love their banter. I thought they were so hot together. The worst was Lilo and Ryan from Passionate Bruce. Sorry, Lindsay.

[A]

I know about that book. But Lilo and Stitch? Yeah.

[C]

I loved the passion between our characters and Braving the Storm. I keep going back to that, but

[A]

I loved the Yearning Briar and Storm.

[C]

I just. I just really love their chemistry. I thought it was really sexy.

[B]

They did have good chemistry. If it wasn't incest, it would have been hotter. Oh, God, Kim, what did you think?

[A]

I was between Butcher and Blackbird. Oh, they were so hot because of the banter. But I also really liked Drake and Amelia from Promise Me Forever. I thought they were super funny and cute and just really bantered. Well, I also hated Lilo, and I hate to tell you guys, I hated the Swedish Mountain men.

[C]

Really?

[A]

I did not think they had good chemistry at all.

[B]

Oh, her with all the men. Yeah, I could see what you're saying.

[C]

We were all kind of Schmidt on that book.

[A]

It was forced because it was forced with every one of them.

[C]

Yeah, I can see that. I didn't love the guy who was holding off.

[B]

There's always one in a reverse harem, though. They have to Cole.

[A]

It was Eli Cole and Riven Cole.

[C]

Yeah. It felt forced that he was holding off for so long.

[B]

You liked that one less than Passionate Brew.

[C]

I liked that one less than Passionate Brew. Yeah.

[B]

Interesting.

[A]

I did not.

[B]

What was your favorite and least favorite female, main character and main male character of the season?

[A]

Least favorite female is a tie between Daisy and Lilo, Passionate Brew and Swedish Mountain Men. Okay, favorite. I really, really liked Emelia.

[B]

Loved her.

[A]

And I actually liked Athena from Audacity.

[B]

Oh, she's on my least favorite list.

[A]

I know you didn't like her from the get go. I liked her, okay. I thought.

[C]

I didn't think she had any personality.

[A]

I liked the confidence males. Who doesn't love Storm. I love Storm. And I also loved Rowan. I loved Rowan. He was so cute.

[B]

He's on the list too.

[A]

So cute. And Drake. Drake too.

[B]

You guys didn't love Drake. I'm surprised you said it.

[A]

It took a minute, but I liked him at the end.

[B]

My favorite females were Sloan from Butcher and Blackbird. And I had a tie for my least favorite. Tam from Kiss of the Basilisk was really insufferable and she stood out as a least favorite. And then Athena from Audacity. So, like, my least was one of your most.

[A]

That's okay.

[B]

My favorite male was Rowan from Butcher. And my least favorite by a very long shot. Very, very least favorite, Rocco Romero from Beautiful Carnage.

[A]

He was so awful.

[B]

He was the worst.

[A]

He was so awful. I had forgotten Rock.

[C]

I barely remember that book.

[A]

That should tell you something.

[B]

He was not hot at all. Not even a little. Okay, Len.

[C]

My least favorite woman was from the Devils, Eden. I felt for her. I had empathy for her. But as like a female main character, I could not relate to her. She was obviously manipulated.

[A]

I did not like that she was meh though. She wasn't even a good victim.

[B]

There wasn't a lot of development there.

[C]

Yeah, there's a little depth.

[A]

Depth to her until the end.

[C]

Yeah, yeah. Until she finally like gruesome balls. But like at the. In the last 25 pages or something like that was so annoying. One of my favorite. I really actually did like the female main character from Inevitable.

[A]

Sumner.

[C]

I liked the fact that she knew who she was. She 100% gave him a run for his money. She didn't let him manipulate her. When he lied to her, she left and was like, fuck you too. And then he chased her. And I liked that.

[B]

Sumner, I liked her too.

[A]

I did not.

[C]

Oh, okay. Well, my least favorite male character were both of the male characters from the

[A]

Devils, Damian and Kane.

[C]

They were both fucking awesome.

[B]

They were horrific human beings. I'm going to have to agree with you.

[C]

Hated both of them.

[B]

More than Rocco.

[C]

More than Rocco. Because Rocco is just an idiot. Those guys were manipulative bastards.

[B]

Words.

[C]

And the Rocco was just an idiot.

[B]

He was a dipshit jackass.

[C]

You can forgive a hot idiot. You cannot forgive a manipulative bastard. My favorite was Storm. Gotta do it.

[B]

Hot.

[C]

Yearning.

[A]

Every guy on that mountain. So hot.

[B]

Who's your uncle?

[A]

Not him.

[C]

So good.

[A]

Beating a dead horse with this one, lady. All right.

[B]

I'm not gonna win this battle.

[C]

You will not.

[A]

Nope.

[B]

We will gank up on you for sure. What was your favorite episode of the season and why? So this does not always marry up with your favorite book. I want to give a shout out to all of our guests because, yes, it's always a good episode when we have a guest on. We had Trevin, we had Zach, we had Amy, we had Miranda. They were so fun. So I can't pick one of those because I can't pick one of your babies, but Previn kind of deserves a special shout out because, oh, I'm not gonna pick one.

[C]

But.

[A]

However, he didn't read a book and

[B]

showed up during a very busy time for his brewery. But anyway, my non guest episode would have to be the Devil Duet episodes. I was drunk as fuck during those episodes, and normally I don't like that, but I felt like the content was really good.

[C]

It really needed that. Ext.

[B]

We were also exhausted. And I don't think what the listeners realize is we're traveling all the time. Half the time we're doing these podcasts from hotel rooms. We're, like, bringing our mics and our headphones along. That was a situation where I was doing that. We retired.

[C]

We made it happen.

[B]

We really enjoyed the episode. I like it a lot.

[C]

That's so sweet.

[A]

I know. All right, Lynn, what you got?

[C]

I was actually gonna say one of my favorites was heated rivalry because we. We did have Miranda on. She was such a super fan of the book, the series.

[B]

Her energy was amazing.

[C]

Her energy was amazing. She came in already loving it, so maybe that was part of it where our other guests were reading alongside us. But she came in with so much passion, so much energy. It was really fun to listen to her take on everything. And our fans will not hear 75% of what we taped because we have to get these down.

[B]

I do want the fans to know we pared down to six hours of content to get you two episodes.

[A]

You're welcome, Kim.

[B]

You haven't heard it yet. At the end of the second episode, Kim goes, wow, that was really long. And Miranda goes, I'm sorry.

[C]

She was just so passionate about the material.

[B]

She and you guys don't even know. She talked another 20 minutes and we were like, we gotta go. She's adorable.

[C]

She wanted to tell us everything, and she knew all of the backstory and what the director was thinking, and she knew things about the actors.

[A]

She came in merch. She showed up to a podcast. We didn't Even talk about that from the show.

[B]

It was really fucking adorable.

[C]

I have to give a shout out to Miranda, who really brought a lot of energy to that episode, and I really loved it. And I know you said we can't pick favorites, but the Passionate Brew with Previn was so fun for me.

[B]

So fun.

[C]

I have to tell our fans a story. So this is Jen's friend, and she said, don't you want to do this? We have a brewery romance. And he was like, sure, I'm up for anything. And then she gave him the book, and he started reading it and was like, what the hell did you get me into? Like, he had no idea what he had signed himself up for.

[B]

This man's wife is a pastor.

[A]

I was going to say. Can we say that?

[B]

He was like, you are sick. What are you doing to me? And I was like, evan, have you not listened to the pod? No.

[C]

Apparently not.

[A]

Told you.

[C]

He committed. He read this romance book about breweries. He taped it live. He was so fun. And he really popped in with, like, yeah, that's totally true, bro. Like, he gave us, like, an insider's perspective about what totally are really like, which I really, really enjoyed. So both of my favorites were with our special.

[B]

I have to say, I love having guys on the podcast. Zach, too.

[C]

It is really fun. It's a nice little balance.

[A]

My favorites are always. Because we started this as three cousins, so anytime we can have any of our other cousins on it just gives me joy. For instance, Miranda came on. She was. Was so passionate. Zach came on. And I don't know if we mentioned this or not, but he's actually the intro and outro of our podcast. That's his voice. It's just so interesting to me when we get their perspective. And they're also a younger generation.

[C]

They're like mid-20s.

[B]

We call them second gen in our family.

[A]

They don't like it, they don't like that, but we don't care.

[B]

Oh, they don't like it.

[C]

They don't like it. We don't care.

[B]

I didn't know that.

[C]

And we're actually not first gen. We're second gen, but we're just.

[B]

They're actually third gen. Yeah, we don't talk about that.

[A]

But I would say one of my absolute favorite episodes, believe it or not, was Scattered Bones. Because if you go back and listen, it's hilarious to me how many ways that we figure out how she's getting all of the bones to every obstacle. We're like, wait, how? Okay, so Amazon Locker. What? Like Is it a luggage? Do you think she has like a bag? I don't even know that we concentrate on the book as much as we're just really stumped on the back. She's carrying around a fucking torso climbing a mountain. I also actually as many times as we listened and taped the cursed episode. Inevitable.

[B]

I think our listeners should know we taped this episode. We actually taped it three times because I had to tape Lindsay the third time.

[A]

Both times I was hammered. Both times I drank the same drink thinking I don't want to screw it up. And both times I was hammered.

[B]

And both times you were amazing.

[A]

Yeah, you were amazing. Thank you.

[C]

This was really hard because we. So we taped the entire episode and lost Jenny's audio in the last second. We lost everything. Her computer crashed the second time we taped it. We lost the last half hour of my audio. And then I came back and taped like the last 10 minutes.

[B]

If you go back and listen, Lindsay doesn't say much for the last 10 minutes.

[C]

Jen's like, every one of us are important except for when your audio goes out.

[B]

When your audio goes out, then I don't give a fuck what you had to say. We don't need anything about you. Just your just a random Piper in for the ratings. And you did amazing.

[C]

That was the first episode. I thought we were gonna have to tape it a third time.

[B]

Kim. I was like, I have to save this audio because it's so funny. And we had such a fun time.

[C]

Be fun every time we talked.

[B]

I love when we can debate about the opinions of the book.

[C]

We have not talked about Heat of rivalry.

[B]

It's not apples to apples because as

[A]

it's a TV show, I wasn't as invested. I think when I read or listen to these, I'm more in it. If it's on tv, I'm watching it. But I'm also maybe on my phone. Maybe I'm.

[C]

Do you think it's because it was gay romance?

[A]

No, because that. The devil's advocate had that in there and I thought it was hot. There were some moments in there I was like, holy.

[C]

I did really like the heat rivalry romance.

[B]

It was really good. It's just hard because we didn't read

[A]

the book and I liked heated rivalry. I'm not saying I didn't like it. It just wasn't the same for me.

[B]

I read one of the books you struggled. It was not a great book. I would have given it a three for sure.

[C]

Honestly, I felt like even the TV show, I was kind of a threeish. On it.

[B]

Oh, I loved the way he did the show. I didn't love the book. The show was better.

[C]

I loved their romance. It did feel a little bit like when we have a book that just strings sex scenes together.

[A]

That's how I felt.

[C]

Their relationship is really hot, but there wasn't really a plot.

[B]

But towards the end it was like,

[C]

oh, I loved their cute ending.

[B]

Miranda's insight helped you appreciate it.

[C]

Yeah, I think that's why I gave it a four. I think I do that a lot on this podcast too, where, like, I'll read a book, but then I'll hear Yalls perspectives and I'll change my mind about things. I think hearing her perspective definitely helped.

[B]

I wanted to go back and watch it again, having had her insight.

[C]

Well, there was a lot of very intentional moments.

[A]

Pivotal.

[C]

Going back. We might notice those more.

[B]

Oh, I would for sure. Because she called out so many things

[A]

and you're like, oh, little Easter eggs.

[C]

Yeah, I don't rate it till the end. I don't know if I would have rated as high without all of her enthusiasm.

[B]

All right, so I wanted to ask about audiobooks. We kind of go back and forth between pages and then audio. There were a couple of books this season that I wanted to call out how good the audio was. One specifically the Devil Duet series. Teddy Hamilton was the reader and he is. Is incredible on audio. He did lights out.

[A]

I thought he was good.

[B]

He read Damien and actually I think that's why I looked the book a little bit better because Teddy Hamilton is so talented. And then if I'm looking back on audio, I wouldn't recommend Beautiful Carnage. Beautiful Carnage and Three Swedish Mountain Men. I would read that book directly.

[A]

It's all I hear in my head every time I think that book. Okay, babe, I read.

[C]

I always read. But there were a couple here that I listened to on the Kindle Whisper sync where the Kindle would read it to you, but it was just like the AI voice. So I. I have no opinion.

[A]

Oh.

[B]

Oh, that's not great.

[A]

Braving the storm was awesome. So good. And I actually really liked Promise Me Forever audible.

[B]

I will turn that on to go to sleep at night. Like Promise me Forever is on my repeat. I just literally my lullaby.

[C]

Well, okay. So for Sadie Kincaid so far, is this your favorite Sadie Kincaid? Because you've liked others too.

[B]

Oh, you guys rebound was so good.

[A]

Perfect fit was really good.

[B]

Honestly, Dante might be my all time favorite.

[C]

I thought it might be.

[A]

Oh, Dante is pretty high.

[B]

And then Lorenzo, I just ordered It's Called the auction, so it's showing up tomorrow. I pre ordered.

[C]

Is this Sadie?

[B]

Yeah. Sadie has a book coming out. I got, like, the special edition. I've never done this in my life. I'm usually like, whatever.

[A]

Yeah, your bookshelf's getting pretty full back there.

[B]

Sadie's stuff is usually on unlimited, so I'm like, you know, why would I buy it? But then I saw this and I

[A]

was like, holy, she's amazing.

[B]

I need this in my hands.

[C]

If you're in a rut, you gotta buy it fresh.

[B]

I'm not even in a rut. I just want it. I want it tomorrow.

[C]

I'm in a total rut. I can't wait for the next season.

[A]

Instant gratification.

[C]

I need another season of good books.

[A]

I have series to finish. Like, I've still got the Forged in Blood series that I have to finish. Braving the Storm, Kiss of the Basilisk.

[C]

No, we're gonna just. We're gonna do that. Season five.

[A]

Do you think we should have Joey and Lorenzo?

[B]

And Lorenzo is so hot.

[A]

Oh, I should read that. I finished Lorenzo.

[C]

I'm on a. A Wolf Shifter RO at the moment. I'll let you guys know if it's any good. It's a little light on the sex, but it's doing it for me at the moment.

[B]

Do you care to share the name of the series or.

[C]

Not yet. I have to finish it first.

[A]

See if it's worth it Said. I'll let you know. I'll let you know.

[B]

We'll all be on the edge of our seats.

[A]

Yeah, I also want to finish the Nikki Sloan, the architect that was supposed

[B]

to be in the season.

[A]

Yeah, The Kiss of the Basilisk. Like, there's a whole bunch of them. Fantasma.

[C]

Oh, yeah. The next one.

[A]

I feel like Lindsay over here. Jones and just check the box. I want to be done with the whole series.

[C]

The thing about Phantasma is, like, that book ended. You could read the next one, but you don't feel like you have to read the next one.

[A]

I feel like I have to because it's sitting right next to.

[C]

Well, you bought it.

[B]

Purchases them.

[A]

I have a library for trophies that I keep in there. They all have cards in them with ratings and when I read them.

[B]

That's cool. I've been devouring Colleen Hoover books lately. I just finished Ugly Love and I am in love. It ends with us. I know I'm late to the party,

[C]

but you are so late.

[B]

Holy shit. This book is good. It's so fucking fun.

[C]

Don't worry about the movies.

[B]

I just finished Christina Lauren's book called Love and Other Words which stabbed me in the heart.

[C]

I love her.

[B]

Older by Jennifer Hartman has been on my list for a very long time and that is next up on my tbr. Like I cannot wait to read it. It's like a friend's dad.

[C]

Oh, like an unc.

[B]

No. Friend's dad.

[C]

No, that's different.

[B]

Well, I think we have enough to do in the off season. We got a lot of book stories. Well, thank you everyone for joining us for our last show of the season. We are going to take some well deserved time off and we'll be returning for season five in September. That sounds like a long time, but we have 56 episodes that you can download and bench so many books. You can find us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. Send us your book recommendations and feedback on the show. Until we meet again.

[A]

Thanks for reading. Happy reading. Today's episode is the climax of your day, leaving you breathless and wanting more. Until next time, remember to indulge in the pleasures of life and to keep the passion alive. You can find more tantalizing [e-mail] Enjoy the ride and we'll see you soon.