Lydia and Tay jump into gender roles and the logic of dominance among changelings with our discussion of Nalini Singh’s Branded by Fire. Mercy worries she’ll never find a mate as a dominant female and Riley thinks he wants a submissive wolf mate, but don’t worry, we relate this all back to real life (it's actually... super relatable).

We’re taking a short break, listeners! We’ll be back with our next episode, Blaze of Memory, on Feb. 1. EDIT (2/16/22): We'll be back by the end of Feb!

In this episode, we also revisit Tally and Clay to discuss a really insightful article sent to us by listener Mystery. We highly recommend the article, “In Defense of ‘Unlikable’ Heroines,” by Aarya Marsden on Smart Bitches, Trashy Books (**SPOILERS for Kiss of Snow, Tangle of Need, and Shards of Hope**): https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2019/04/in-defense-of-unlikable-heroines-a-case-study-of-three-heroines-from-nalini-singhs-psy-changeling-series/

Reading Recs:

Mercy shifters
- Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs (urban fantasy)
Co-workers/opposites attract
- Shadowdance (Darkest London #4) by Kristen Callihan (historical paranormal romance)
- Partners in Persuasion by Nalini Singh (you can also find this novella in the collection Wild Embrace)
- All the Feels by Olivia Dade (contemporary romance)

Thanks for listening!

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Instagram and Facebook: @callingcardspod

Twitter: @CardsCalling

Website: https://www.callingcards.wixsite.com/callingcardspod

Email us at callingcardspod@gmail.com.

Theme music by PASTACAT @pastacatmusic on Instagram.