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- [00:00]
Advertiser
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- [00:43]
Brett
Race the rudders, Race the sails. Race the sails.
- [00:47]
Nicole
Captain, an unidentified ship is approaching.
- [00:49]
Lexi
Over.
- [00:50]
Nicole
Roger, wait.
- [00:51]
Brett
Is that an enterprise sales solution?
- [00:54]
Nicole
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Brett
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Nicole
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- [01:14]
Lexi
If you're an adult, you know what it's like to fall down the dreaded Is this normal rabbit hole? Like when you have a cold that just won't go away and you immediately hop on Google to see what gruesome illness awaits you? We've all been down the rabbit hole, but it's time to get the help and care Zocdoc Zocdoc is a free.
- [01:28]
Nicole
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- [01:49]
Lexi
Once you find the right doctor, you can see their actual appointment openings. Choose a time slot that works best for you and click to instantly book a visit place. Plus, appointments made through Zocdoc also happen fast, typically within just 24 to 72 hours of booking. Huzzah. You can even score same day appointments.
- [02:03]
Nicole
We use Zocdoc and you should too. Stop putting off those doctor's appointments and go to Zocdoc.com FF to find and instantly book a top rated doctor today. That's z o c-o c.com ff zocdoc.com ff.
- [02:20]
Lexi
Summer is here and with it comes clothing for these warmer temperatures. Starting with me Undies these ultra modal feel free undies and bralettes that I actually happen to wearing right now. They are perfect for this hotter weather.
- [02:30]
Nicole
Meet Undies Signature Softer than soft ultra modal fabric is breathable, stretchy and oh so comfy making it ideal for all day wear Me Undies uses only sustainably sourced materials and work with partners that care for their workers. And the best part? If you're not happy with your first pair of MeUndies, it's on Me Undies. You all know how much I love Me Undies. I have my Stay Narwali pair and I love that. I think we're actually getting Brett a pair so we can match. I'm so excited. I just recently got the Paint Blends Dream Seam Matching set and oh I am so exc excited for it to come in.
- [03:00]
Lexi
Get comfy this summer with Me Undies. Support the show by going to Meundies.com FFG and use our code FFG to get 20 off your first order plus free shipping. That's Meundies.com FFG code FFG for 20 off plus free shipping. Me undies Comfort from the Outside in.
- [03:29]
Nicole
Welcome, welcome welcome to the Fantasy Fangirl Girls Podcast where two sisters dive deep into beloved fantasy lore, character scenes, series and more.
- [03:39]
Lexi
I'm Lexi, older sister and Fantasy Lore nerd.
- [03:42]
Nicole
And I'm Nicole, younger sister and romantic at heart.
- [03:45]
Lexi
And today's bonus episode is all about book recommendations where we are so thrilled to be joined by the amazing and knowledgeable Kayla, known for her Romanasy recommendations. Before we dive into this conversation with kayla and our TBRs just grow a mile long. A quick sequel Spoiler warning. Today's episode includes light spoilers for Acotar, specifically Book two, Acomath, and tropes in Fourth Wing and Kindred's Curse saga.
- [04:08]
Nicole
We will also definitely be discussing tropes, vibes and quick summaries of many, many, many books that she recommends, but there are no major plot spoilers of these books. The idea is to give you a general sense about the book before you read it and so you know where to put it on your tbr. That is all next.
- [04:26]
Lexi
We of Fantasy Fangirls are adults who say adult things about adult books in general, which means this podcast is rated.
- [04:32]
Nicole
R. Some of the tropes we discuss are spicy friends and you know what? We're three adult women. We're also probably going to cuss about them, so please be mindful of those little listening ears.
- [04:43]
Lexi
Last thing before we talk Book recommendations with Kayla. If you love Fantasy Fan Girls and want more events, more content, more community and so much more, please check out Fantasy Fan Club.
- [04:52]
Nicole
We have three membership tiers that you can join get exclusive access to our super active discord, tons of live virtual events, a book club, author interviews, discount codes, ad free episodes behind the scenes content, a welcome gift, your name shouted out on the podcast and so much more as part of this incredible community.
- [05:09]
Lexi
Join the party and learn more details@fantasyfangirls.com fanclub. The link is also in the show notes. And really and truly friends, thank you so much for supporting us as we've turned this podcast into our livelihood. It's all because of you.
- [05:21]
Nicole
And now it is time to make our TBRs a mile long to make it either love us or hate us and hear about the amazing books that Kayla has to recommend.
- [05:31]
Lexi
Thank you so much for joining us today, Kayla. Friends, Kayla is an absolutely fantastic content creator who recommends all the fantastic Romanasy books in particular, but also other fantasy and some other books as well. And we hear you when you are always asking us for book recommendations and what should you read after Acotar or Fourth Wing or with these tropes and all of those things. And to be honest, as deep divers, we don't read all of the books. We just don't have time. And so we pulled in our friend Kayla to be like, hey Kayla, share all the book recommendations you can with our friends.
- [06:03]
Nicole
We're so happy to have you here.
- [06:04]
Lexi
Yes. So real quickly, like as we get started here, we would love to get to know you a little bit more, Kayla. So as we always do with any guests, we would love to do some rapid fire questions here with you. How's that sound?
- [06:15]
Brett
Sure. I don't know how rapid I'll be, but I'll try to be as concise.
- [06:19]
Nicole
I was gonna say rapid for us is like a nice five minute answer. So starting off, Kayla, what got you into reading?
- [06:28]
Brett
Yeah, well, I'm kind of an accidental content creator, I would say. So in my personal life I worked a corporate job and I've always read maybe like one or two books a month. Historically though, I read more. Not mystery but thrillers, occasional romance books. And then I discovered the Court of Thorns and Roses series about a year and a half ago. I would say Court of Thorns and Roses and Fourth Wing were my gateway books. And then from there and I had been following on booktok and just finding recommendations that way from just creeping around silently as an unknown user. And then those two series in particular, like started my love of fantasy books and got me really into reading.
- [07:13]
Nicole
Yes. Oh my God. And when, when was that for you?
- [07:16]
Brett
Probably like January, December of like last year. So 2024.
- [07:21]
Lexi
Yeah, yeah, it's actually almost exactly a year, two years ago that Nicole read A Court of Thorns and Roses for the first time she read it in like, July, August of 2023. And then she made me read it and then, you know, then we started Fourth Wing and all that kind of stuff. So it's like, yeah, anniversaries are coming up. You know, I didn't think about that. All right, so what is your favorite book or series?
- [07:44]
Brett
Well, to be basic. 2 answers. So to be basic, I would say like a Court of Thorns and roses, like, kind of end in the Sarah J. Maas universe just because it. It got me into it. And then probably my favorite lesser known series would be the Reign of Shadows and Endings. So the Legacy series by Melissa K. Rorich. I actually saw that you had lady of Darkness as one of the picks for your book club this month by Melissa K. So I love her series, the Legacy series. It's kind of darker fantasy. And she's a really great author because she has these different worlds. So similar to how, you know, you have a little bit of crossover between Sarah J. Maas, she does that with her series. So there's crossover between lady of Darkness and Reign of Shadows and Endings, and you get those same feelings.
- [08:28]
Lexi
All right, what is your favorite way to read? You know, whether it's a physical book, ebook, audiobook.
- [08:33]
Brett
Before I got a Kindle, I would have said physical book. Aside from audio, I'm a huge audiobook reader listener. It's how I finish as many books as I do. The other way I read is immersion reading. So I do ton of immersion reading where I'm listening and I'm reading at time the same. Same time. That's the other reason that I'm. I've become such a fast reader. Yes. So I'll often, like, sync up my Kindle and my audio. And then the reason I have so many physical books is actually usually just because I will get them as a trophy after I read or obviously gifted by publishers. I don't think I could afford to read the number of books I did if I was reading physical books. And the other reason that I read on Kindle too is because I was a huge library reader before and I found that I couldn't find any of the indie books that were being recommended online. Like, they were never available at the library. I couldn't find them. Or like, even when I would go to purchase them online, I couldn't find them. And so they were always available by ebook.
- [09:30]
Nicole
So today's topic is all about tropes. And we would be remiss if we didn't ask you in this rapid fire, what's your favorite trope. Or I'll say tropes.
- [09:38]
Brett
Tropes.
- [09:39]
Nicole
I feel like I don't know if.
- [09:40]
Brett
This is considered a trope. Is Slow Burn romance considered a trope? I feel like we've lost. Oh yeah, I feel like we've lost it. The art of Slow Burn Romance. Like kind of really dragging it along. I know you guys been reading Spark of the Ever Flame. I love multi book. Give me my. Actually, sorry, my favorite trope. And I don't know, I don't think this has a name, but it's the bait and switch. So you know when you have the love interest in one book and we don't know, is he the guy? Is he not the guy? And then it switches to a new guy in the next book because it also adds to like, you get the romance in the first book, but then you get more slow Burn romance in the second book. And it's just.
- [10:16]
Lexi
I remember, like, I think it was one of your videos where you said that was your favorite trope. But you're also like. But I can't recommend any of those books to you because it's spoiling it. And it's like, it's true. Oh my gosh, you are right.
- [10:27]
Brett
I actually have a ton of books on my page that I recommend. They're a lot of my favorites. I probably think I have maybe seven or eight series that have this specific trope. Sometimes you expect it, sometimes you don't. And I'm like, yeah, just read the books. Just read all the books.
- [10:43]
Lexi
So as a fellow mom, I know that you have children as well, right around the same age as mine. How do you find the time to read? That's a big question I'm always asking.
- [10:51]
Brett
So for sure. Not sleeping.
- [10:56]
Lexi
Yeah, same.
- [10:59]
Brett
When I'm really into a book, I do just have poor sleeping habits. But the majority of the books that I'm reading, it's audiobooks. So I'll be driving. I do my kids, their school is like 30 minutes away. And so sometimes when I'm going to do pickups or doing errands, cleaning, cooking, my eye. My ears have very little idle time. So if I'm ever alone, just doing something, generally I have my headphones on and I'm listening to a book. And then I also find that just the immersion reading generally has made me a very fast reader. So I'm listening. When I'm listening and reading. This is going to sound crazy, but I'll listen and read usually at about a three times speed.
- [11:40]
Lexi
That does make sense. Because I've tried doing that and like I get up to like it's like it has to be at at least a two.
- [11:47]
Brett
Yeah. Because you have both senses working at once. I think it makes you just very fast. Like your eyes are trying to move at your ears pace and. And that relationship there. Yeah. It just becomes.
- [11:56]
Nicole
I am in awe of both of you because I think the fastest I could do what. What did we do for Onyx storm?
- [12:01]
Lexi
We did 1.7. 1.7. And then we bumped it up to 1.8. Because Kayla, when Nicole and I, you know, we rented room and literally just hold up for like two days to read Onyx Storm right when it came out because I needed to read it really fast and I couldn't be around my children. So we. But that's what we did because I'm a really fast reader and Nicole was like, you are not allowed to read ahead of me and gasp. You know, like have spoilers. Because that might have happened when we were reading another book a long time ago and she still hasn't forgiven me.
- [12:30]
Nicole
No.
- [12:31]
Lexi
But yeah. So like we were listening at like 1.7 and reading and it was like slow. So slow for me.
- [12:37]
Brett
You guys both like, you are deep divers. Right. I'm reading for vibes. I'm reading to have a fun time. I'm picking up on things still too, but not to the same extent where I'm analyzing line by line. Right. I think I do know that when I read Onyx Storm, I wasn't reading that fast. I had a copy of the physical book. I got the audio for it because I. My physical book didn't even get delivered until two days later. But I did find that I was. I was listening at a slower pace for that one.
- [13:02]
Nicole
Speaking of the Onyx Storm world, what this Gaia Quadrant would you be in?
- [13:07]
Brett
I would tell people that I'm a dragon rider. Realistically, I probably would have fallen off the parapet. More likely. I don't know what. So maybe a scribe.
- [13:20]
Lexi
Which Acotar Court would you be in? Shift in world.
- [13:23]
Brett
Same thing. I wouldn't have made it past the wall.
- [13:27]
Lexi
The Martek would have gotten you, huh?
- [13:30]
Brett
I would like to say that I would be in Night Court. I don't think I'm cool enough. That would be my choice where I would like to be. I would like to be part of Night Court. I couldn't. I couldn't be in Winter Court. I get too cold.
- [13:41]
Nicole
Which book character would you say you're the most?
- [13:44]
Brett
Like, I'd probably be some kind of side character like Carrion in Quicksilver. Oh, mine is him being like a little, you know, likes the time with the ladies, but more of like the. And more of like the. The funny side character maybe.
- [13:56]
Lexi
All right, Kayla, last question here before we really jump into the meat of everything. What has been your favorite read so far of 2025?
- [14:03]
Brett
Surprising, I would say the Red Rising series by Pierce Brown.
- [14:07]
Nicole
Lexi.
- [14:08]
Lexi
I know like I that talk about being on my tbr, like that is at the top of my tbr.
- [14:13]
Brett
It's funny my top probably three or four series from this year are not romantic fantasy. They're all fantasy or contemporary books. And then one of the other series that just broke my heart into tiny little pieces and put it back together was the Boys of Toman series. So again, that one is more like coming of age and adult issues but in a younger setting. So those would be my, my top series where I could physically not sleep. Like it was hard for me to put the books down to go to that. That's usually how I write my books isn't anything to do with anything except for how the emotional toll they take on me. And if I can't, you know what.
- [14:54]
Lexi
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- [15:09]
Nicole
We love quints here at ffg. So much so that I got two pairs of shorts. They are the exact same shorts in two different colors because I love them so much. They're the stretch crepe pleated shorts. I have them in khaki and I also have them in black. And now I've got my eyes set on the stretch cotton chino patch pocket shorts. I'm so excited to just be wearing quints all summer long.
- [15:26]
Lexi
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- [15:49]
Nicole
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- [16:26]
Lexi
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- [16:44]
Nicole
If you've been listening to the podcast for a while, you know that I have allergies and intolerances all under the sun and what I love about Hungaroo is it makes it so easy for me to have food that meets all those needs and that tastes really good.
- [16:56]
Lexi
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- [17:17]
Nicole
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- [17:35]
Lexi
The Skylight Calendar has really and truly been a game changer in our household. Between my work schedule, kids appointments and childcare juggles, an all in one always up to date calendar is essential to keeping our lives organized.
- [17:46]
Nicole
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- [18:05]
Lexi
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- [18:25]
Brett
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- [18:55]
Paige
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- [19:32]
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- [20:17]
Lexi
All right, well thank you so much for sharing those rapid fire questions there. Getting to know you a little bit. Have a nice little warm up here. So now let's kind of move into the segment where we are going to be talking about, you know, a lot of the times I know that you get this as well where it's like, okay, I've now finished reading ACOTAR or 4th Wing or 1 of the other real mainstream fantasy books that people kind of like. That's what gets people back into reading or gets people into reading in the first place. And then it's like, okay, my world is open. Give me all the book recommendations now that give those similar vibes. So passing the microphone over to you here, Kayla, let's start with fourth wing. Please share your recommendations that give fourth Wing vibes and also why those give.
- [20:54]
Brett
Those Fourth Wing vibes. So when someone says, oh, I like Fourth Wing, I'm like, well, there's a plethora of reasons why you may have liked liked it. And I think often it comes down to maybe, well, obviously the romance, but there's the found family element and then also the Academy setting. And so for that Blood and Steel. So four book completed series. You guys haven't read Blood and Steel?
- [21:16]
Lexi
I haven't read it yet.
- [21:17]
Brett
You know, yeah, yeah, we have a female warrior or we have a female main character. She wants to be a warrior and she gets paired up with this guy Wilder, who's kind of broody and he has to train her. So we have a mentor mentee relationship. But at an Academy setting. Again, we have magic. They are humans, so there's no Fae. But we also have like really great found family that you will find in the Fourth Wing series. This one is probably on the spicier side. There are some growing pains with book two and three, but overall I think it's a really good series and it's complete.
- [21:50]
Nicole
Is it a trilogy?
- [21:51]
Brett
Four books.
- [21:52]
Nicole
Four books.
- [21:53]
Lexi
I'm literally taking notes with a book. I was gonna say I also have.
- [21:56]
Nicole
My notes app open.
- [21:58]
Brett
Yeah. Number two, a book series that recently, I don't know if you guys seen it's been blowing up on TikTok Dire bounds. So the first book is out in this one. I call it just Fourth Wing with Dire Wolves. I know that's probably a disservice to the book because it is more than that. But they do the mindspeak with the wolves and there's some interesting twists in it that maybe that you won't expect. And again, like you have the Academy setting. Another one I would say is on Wings of Blood and this is more of a vibes read. So don't come at me for the sentence structure and the grammar. This one was also recently released on audio too, but we have a female main character and she wakes up, she's on a pile of corpses, she doesn't know why she's there and she gets put into an arranged marriage with this guy who's a vampire.
- [22:44]
Nicole
I love arranged marriage. Oh my God.
- [22:48]
Brett
Yes. So yeah, so she gets Put into this arranged marriage and this guy vampire. And everyone at the people at the school aren't very nice to her. So we have this enemies to lovers situation going on again. What else? Oh, Kingdom of Shadows and Wings. This is so fourth wing coated. We have these. I don't know what they're called. They're not drag. Well, there are some dragons, but there's these other kind of flying creatures who are dragon. They're not Wyvern, I was gonna say.
- [23:11]
Nicole
I was about to be like. Can you tell me more about this dragon?
- [23:15]
Brett
We have a dark and broody instructor who has to train a. So what happens actually at the beginning of the book is her sister. So this is. Sorry, it's called Kingdom of Shadows and Wings. Her sister is at this dragon riding school and she goes missing and no one knows where she is. And she has to go and take the place of her sister as part of the contract. And she's afraid of flying, of course. And so there's twists in this one. I think three books in the series are out. I've read the first one. I plan on reading the next two. That one's really fun. And you've got the flying creatures. If you're looking just for dragons, like, if that's why you liked 4th Wing. I recently read Fear the Flames. The male main character is such a flirt. She has to. They have to quest to find their dragons and they become reluctant allies. What else? If you like dragons, obviously you guys have dragons.
- [23:58]
Lexi
I'll go ahead and throw in. Right now we are reading Fireborn for our June book club. And it's definitely more ya. And at least as far as I've read it so far, I'm only about it.
- [24:08]
Nicole
It is definitely more ya.
- [24:09]
Lexi
Yeah, it is ya. And it's a little bit more like how to train your dragon esque. But it also has very much those same, like, I'll say, societal hierarchy, like who should be in charge and like the way that the world should be. And it really kind of makes you like inwardly think very much in the similar way that Empyrean does. So. And then they also do have like bonds with their dragons. It's not the same kind of talking bonds, but it is a little bit more like when the moon hatched kind of bonds with the dragons. Yeah.
- [24:35]
Nicole
Any other fourth wing vibes before I move into a different beloved book series?
- [24:40]
Brett
Silver Elite would be one that I would also think has that fourth wing element where you have the academy setting, you have the dark and broody male main character. A little bit dystopian, minus the dragons, but I feel like it kind of hits a lot of those marks. And again, more of a fun vibes read.
- [24:57]
Nicole
All right, the A Court of Thorns and Roses vibes. If you have finished the Acotar series, what do you recommend next, Kayla?
- [25:04]
Brett
So when someone asks me when they say I liked A Court of Thorns and Roses and they lean into the romance side of it, like they love the romance. 100% trial of the Sun Queen. I describe it as the Bachelor meets the Challenge. I don't mean to wait.
- [25:23]
Lexi
What is the challenge? What's the challenge?
- [25:25]
Brett
So almost like Survivor. The Bachelor meets Survivor.
- [25:29]
Lexi
Oh, okay, cool.
- [25:31]
Brett
So we have.
- [25:31]
Lexi
Okay, I'm invested here. Tell me more.
- [25:33]
Brett
This female main character, she is in a prison and I think the first line of the first line of the book is Bitch stole my soap. Like you are into it from the first line of the book. And she gets taken from this prison and she's told like, hey, you have an opportunity to win the hand of the King and you have to do compete in this competition. And the trials, like there's so many books with trials. And I'm kind of don't want to say, like I'm kind of over it at this point, but the trials are so good. Like you will be in it. So she is in it with a certain number of other Fae females and has to compete. And then so that's the first book. And it's so hard to describe the rest of the series without giving too much away, but you have all of the lore, all of the fantasy elements. Things start to go for real twists as you go on. Great romance. And it is slow burn. It is slow burn over multi book. So that is definitely one of my favorite series to recommend. It's like, so I feel like you.
- [26:30]
Nicole
Just described my favorite things of that.
- [26:34]
Lexi
Was like Nicole had to literally pin it right now for us on Audible.
- [26:40]
Brett
If I'm not mistaken, the first two books are still free right now. Like completely free on Audible with the membership. And then I think the second two books are on Kindle Unlimited. So you could technically just read them all.
- [26:50]
Nicole
Yeah.
- [26:50]
Brett
Another series I would recommend definitely Serpent and the Wings of Night. So this is a multi book series, but the first two books act as a completed duology. There's a little novella in between. And this was definitely the series that got me over my Acotar hangover. I read probably five or six books after finishing A Court of Thorns and Roses and I just kept putting them down. And so this One we have a female main character and she has to compete in these trials against different vampires. And I believe it's that she's granted one wish at the end of the trials. Second book is a little bit more political but it overall really good. Completed duology. And then if you like that the second two books are an incomplete duology. They follow different characters. All part of the Crowns of Nyaxia Crowns of Naxia universe. Another series that I would recommend would be Empire Flame and Thorns. And this one is increasingly getting more traction in TikTok Booktok incomplete series. Three books or the third book is actually coming out this week. So by the time this podcast airs it will be out. Oh but she is Fae and he is a dragon shifting commander and the dragon shifters are you know, higher, like above, more elite than the Fae. And so she is competing in this tournament so that she can get her freedom and he does not want her to win and we don't really know why. And there's this push pull between like enemies to lovers. I think at one point he handcuffs her to his bed. Not for the reasons you may think he just but like a fun. So you have, you know, you have dragons, you have Fae, you have trials, you have romance, you have twists. Some you might expect, some you might not. So that one's a really fun one and that one's also, that one's also on Kindle Unlimited and also on Audio. You should know that like 99% of the recommendations I give are gonna be on KU because that's the main way that I read. So people are always like can you make a list of ku? And I'm like, it's almost every single one. These books. House of Beating Wings is also I think a lesser known one. So that's a three book completed trilogy. There are some books that have been also put out that are like prequels or tangential to the series. But again like really cool world where we have Fae demi Fae shifters and the female main character is absolutely in love with this guy who's a prince. And meanwhile someone comes up to her and they task her with finding these crow statues. I know it sounds weird. So she has to go on a quest to find these crow statues and it. The world is really immersive and cool. Like we have these because some of the shifters are crow shifters. So we have this houses in the sky, lots of twists and again like slow burn multi book romance which is my jam as I've mentioned. And then yes, more recently I would think I. I feel like Shield of Sparrows had acotar vibes.
- [29:49]
Nicole
I would agree.
- [29:49]
Lexi
Like, I could see that.
- [29:50]
Nicole
Yeah, I could definitely see that. Yeah.
- [29:52]
Lexi
Oh, man. The beginning, like I say, Shield of Sparrows, the beginning and the end of that book, like, six stars for me, the middle was. Was still really good. It was like a little bit of a slow pace. Somebody was like, oh, it's kind of like a crazy fantasy, but with monsters. And it's like, absolutely. But like, the book as I. It gave me such witcher vibes, and I'm a huge, like, witcher girl and. Oh, my gosh, I loved it so much.
- [30:16]
Nicole
Yeah. Yes. So good.
- [30:17]
Lexi
All right, so now another big question that we are often asked, and I know you are too, is recommendations for completed series. Because I know Nicole and I, we particularly lean toward incomplete series just because we love our theories, we love all of that kind of stuff, and we also understand that sometimes people need some completion in many different ways.
- [30:38]
Nicole
Yeah, they do.
- [30:40]
Brett
People always ask me, like, is this complete? And I will say that if it is an indie author, I always strongly suggest to read as the books come out, just because sometimes you need that support to be able to. We are wholeheartedly on their series, but I definitely have some favorites that are complete. So Trial of the Sun Queen, which we talked about. Blood and Steel, which we talked about, is complete. Zodiac Academy.
- [31:04]
Lexi
Oh, my God.
- [31:05]
Nicole
At so many point, we're gonna just have to read it at the same.
- [31:08]
Brett
Point of mine, depending on how you want to plunge in to the series. My good friend Jamie has a recommended reading order. I tried to follow it, but I truly only read, like, the Core 9 and a bit of the prequel.
- [31:20]
Nicole
I love.
- [31:21]
Brett
I like Zodiac Academy is one of my guiltiest pleasures. I love.
- [31:26]
Lexi
Is it a. Or. Because I.
- [31:28]
Brett
No, no.
- [31:28]
Lexi
Okay, sorry, sorry. Okay.
- [31:31]
Brett
The way I've described it before in my videos is it's like if Love island was at Hogwarts and everyone at Hogwarts was pretty mean, like, they were all in Slytherin house.
- [31:41]
Nicole
Remind me what the premise of Love island is like.
- [31:45]
Brett
Hooking up with people.
- [31:47]
Nicole
Okay, cool. Cool, cool, cool, cool.
- [31:50]
Brett
It really feels like. It feels like you're binging a show on the CW and you're, like, going back to your favorite show and you just kind of read the book so quickly because it's just this fun, bingeable series, but you have to get over the fact that it's intentionally cringy. Like, there's Facebook. Rather than Facebook, there's Harley Dragonson. Like, it's intentionally supposed to be like cringey and. Yeah, because some people read it and they're like, it's so lame. I'm like, it's making fun of itself. Like it's not.
- [32:18]
Lexi
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's like you gotta go in with a certain mindset there. I've gotta start reading it. Yeah.
- [32:24]
Brett
100. If you are looking for something more serious though, Daughter of no Worlds. So that's I answer to Throne of Blast. Trying to think of some, some other series here. Eternal Reign, which I think is underrated. So this is by the same. The Twisted Sisters, same authors as Zodiac Academy. But the vibes are different in this one. I feel like the writing is. It's not like, it's not intentionally cringy. There's these two. There's this world, this dystopian world where vampires rule and they are two human girls and they are chosen. There's once a year where there's this choosing day where humans are chosen for their blood and they're taken away by these, these vampire princes. And then we also have this storyline where we have these Viking vampire slayers like these that have awoken after hundreds of years. And so it's a seven book, multi book completed series. And it's a fun time. I would actually say it kind of is in that same vein of like the fun acotar vibes with lore. And there's this puzzle we're trying to solve. So that's a good one. Favorite. Oh, Heartless Hunter. One of my favorite stories.
- [33:29]
Lexi
Oh yes.
- [33:30]
Brett
I should say that was actually one of my favorite reads of this year. I love, love, love that Duology.
- [33:35]
Lexi
Same.
- [33:36]
Brett
It's one of my favorite YA book. I don't know if you'd consider that YA or new adult. It's on the right.
- [33:41]
Lexi
Like that's one of those where it's like older ya, but yeah, yeah. Like I, I could not put it down. And the way that Kristen does it. Yeah, we were talking to Kristen on a panel and we were talking about just a concept of magic and she really emphasized that she loves creating rules with her magic system and then she has to find ways to like work around it. It is the best. Like enemies to lovers, enemies back to lover. Like it's just like flip, flop, flip flop, fluff, fluff, fluff. Yeah.
- [34:08]
Brett
I love a betrayal. I live for a betrayal. I live for a betrayal. Speaking of betrayals, another one would be Bridge Kingdom. So that is like multi book again with duologies and you've got the arranged marriage. But the first two duologies are Complete and so you can read those. Love that. Same with the Ever King, if you like pirates. Pirates, yes. Taken. You have the Everett King. The first duology is complete. And then my other favorite YA trilogy, Once Upon a Broken Heart. Absolutely adore. Absolutely adore. It's like an adult fairy tale and it's fun and it's whimsical and whenever I'm feeling sad.
- [34:44]
Lexi
What was it called?
- [34:45]
Brett
Once Upon a Broken Heart. So the Ballad of Never after is the second book and just. Oh, I love it so much. You would probably. The writing is really big too. You'll feel like a Rhodes scholar because you'll finish all three books in like two days.
- [34:56]
Lexi
I love it.
- [34:57]
Nicole
I love that so much.
- [34:58]
Lexi
Oh, my gosh.
- [34:59]
Nicole
I really want to read the Ever King and Ever Queen duology. We love our indie authors here at Fantasy Fangirls. We know you do as well. Can you tell us about some underhyped indie authors who need all of the hype?
- [35:11]
Brett
Yeah, well, I. Oh, man. I feel like almost all of the books.
- [35:15]
Nicole
Almost, yes.
- [35:16]
Brett
Are indie and so I feel like I'm going to leave people out. So Melissa K. Rourke, who wrote the Legacy series, I think some of her work may be traditionally published in some countries, some it's indie. But Legacy is Reign of Shadows and Endings is my favorite dark fantasy romance book. It has this really interesting world. So you have these Legacy who are descendants from the gods, and then you have Fae who are lesser than. And then you have humans. And we don't hear very much about the humans in the books, but Legacy are allowed to choose one Fae, male or female, to be their power source. And to be their power source, they have to bond to them. So emotionally, physically, there's like these seven different or however many points of like, bonding that they have to go through. And so Tessa is our female main character who is chosen to be bonded to Theon. She has to live with him. They are basically treated like slaves. So if you read Acotar and you remember when Tamlin locked Nesta, or, sorry, Tamlin locked Feyre in the mansion and you felt that feminine rage. It is like that. But Tessa is more like Nesta and she doesn't put up with stuff. And so it is just like the feminine rage in these books, like, you will want to throw your book. But the characters also have these amazing character arcs. There is all of this, these fantasy elements. And I mentioned that they'll draw pieces from her different series. And so it is just. It's fantastic. Another one of my favorite under Hyped indie authors recently would be Kylie Snow. So she wrote the Lies of Lena, the Sins of Silas. So we have a female main character who is a secret witch and she falls in love with this guy and he doesn't know she's a witch and something happens. So the beginning of the book starts out. They are teenagers, they are in young love. And then there's this time jump five years into the future and they are not together anymore. We things happen. And the tension and the angst and the yearning is. It's unparalleled. You will just like the yearning you can feel from the pages. And then book two things start to really happen. So you've got witches, you've got the undead, you've got lore. And it kind of throws everything together. The only piece I will say is that sometimes you'll see some colloquial speak in these books, which I think, you know, it's her first series, she's an indie author, but it's so much fun. Like just screw off if you don't want to hear about pizza. But it's. The vibes are there. It's such a good vibe. Yeah. Kayla Edwards, also great writer. She wrote City of Gods and Monsters.
- [37:47]
Lexi
Oh, I've seen that one all over.
- [37:49]
Brett
Yes. That series to me is like an answer to Crescent City. The first book actually feels very House of Earth and Blood.
- [37:55]
Nicole
Yes. Oh my God.
- [37:56]
Brett
Like you'll read it and you'll be like, is this kind of like House of the Blood? But then the second, third, fourth book and then this fourth book which is coming out actually next month. So it will be completed series as of July. Those books have really have their own legs. But the first book in the series we have a female main character whose best friend goes missing and she has to team up with this guy Darion, who is the most unlikely of allies. And he is completely morally gray to everyone except for her. So he's like the golden retriever for her. But he's also this badass who has this gang of devils and it's all modern day and so like very Crescent City coded.
- [38:34]
Nicole
Yeah.
- [38:35]
Brett
I'd also include so C.N. crawford who wrote the Avalon Tower series. Like the Face by Academy series that again, also kind of acotar coded. So her books are always semi modern day. Like I don't know if you would call it urban fantasy, but like you have like modern day France, but also with Camelot. Like you, one of her books, the FaceFi Academy series, the female main character is vacationing in the south of France and She gets abducted by her ex situationship and she has to go to this spy school to learn to spy on the fae. And then the second book in the series, she's infiltrating Fae court and they are just so much fun. And you have like, you have really great villains, like who's the love interest kind of thing. So I really like her. And then Marianne Blackwood, who wrote the Empire, Flame and Thorn series, which I talked about earlier. And then one of my favorites, standalone fantasy books by Ella Fields Amid Clouds and Bones. Love her book. If you were looking for something, if you liked Acotar actually, but you want something like dark and you're a dark romance reader, you like things dark. That's one that I would recommend is Amid Clouds and Bones.
- [39:36]
Lexi
Amazing.
- [39:37]
Nicole
Oh my God. You're over here saying, like, I'm just a vibes reader. And then you're able to list the books and what happens in them. And I feel like I have like.
- [39:45]
Brett
A little bit of a. Like, I don't know if it's like a photographic memory, but it was amazing.
- [39:50]
Lexi
I was also gonna say really great about sharing about the book but not giving away spoilers.
- [39:55]
Nicole
I'm amazed by it.
- [39:56]
Lexi
I. Tell me more, tell me more.
- [40:00]
Brett
Part of the reason that I started a TikTok was because, like, I love when. When I'd be scrolling. I just want to know, like, I don't like there's a place for people to give detailed analysis and I like that. But when I'm like looking for a book, I wanna just know, like, how did it make you feel and what was it like? Like, what are the books you like and will I like it based on that? Without giving away.
- [40:20]
Nicole
Yeah, I'm the same way.
- [40:21]
Brett
Yeah, what's the joy?
- [40:22]
Nicole
See, I like that with the first part. And then when I love a book, I want to go to the second. I want that deep dive analysis. Hence why fantasy fangirls exist.
- [40:29]
Brett
That's the only reason.
- [40:30]
Nicole
But I'm the same way. I want to know, how did it make you feel? I'm not so much. Sometimes I'm not so much a tropes girly. Like if it, like, if it's like, you know, like the bait and switch like you were saying earlier, like, if it's kind of like more spoilery tropes, but like competition tropes, like stuff like that. I love knowing like, I have so many stars next to Trial of the Sun Queen. I am going to be getting that. All right, Lexi already got it. I'm gonna be Listening to that as.
- [40:53]
Lexi
We already got it.
- [40:53]
Brett
Yeah.
- [40:54]
Nicole
So switching gears a little bit, what about specifically BIPOC, FMC's person of color, FMCs, et cetera.
- [41:01]
Brett
My favorite, as I've probably talked about this multiple times now. Trial of the Sun Queen. Yes. And Nisha J. Tuli generally. I know she writes a lot of FMCs who are BIPOC and she actually has a recent release to Not Safe for Work, which is a contemporary romance which I would highly recommend.
- [41:16]
Lexi
Oh, I've seen that all over the place.
- [41:18]
Brett
Yes, yes, some of those issues, but that's for sure, like one of my top favorite series. Another one I would recommend definitely is Heavenly Bodies and we have. I should have recommended this one when we were talking about Acotar earlier because we have a male main character in this one who Enzo, who is 1 million percent race coded. And then there's just interesting astrological magic in the books as well.
- [41:42]
Nicole
That's cool.
- [41:43]
Brett
Yes. Book of Sin, which is an indie book. I believe the second book is out now. And the fmc. What is interesting about this one though? Female main character who has shadow magic.
- [41:53]
Nicole
Shadow Mommy.
- [41:54]
Brett
We love the Shadow mommy.
- [41:55]
Lexi
Yes, yes.
- [41:57]
Brett
Yeah. And then another would be Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Su Lin Tan. And so this one, the female main character has been sequestered on the moon and her powers start to rise and she has to train and catch his feelings for a prince. And. And it's a really sweet one too. I think. I would consider that one more young adult ish fantasy.
- [42:18]
Lexi
Speaking of like ya, Legendborn, I recently finished that. That is such a great spin on King Arthur. And it's also in modern day too, so I really love how contemporary it is and how historical it is too with a lot of racial issues woven in so beautifully with how it is represented for the female main character.
- [42:38]
Nicole
Well then I'll also throw in because I know really high on my TBR is Music of the Night, which like just speaks to my little Phantom of the Opera heart because I'm pretty sure I heard it described as Phantom of the Opera but for romantasy and I said, well that's high on my tbr.
- [42:52]
Lexi
We were like done. I said done.
- [42:54]
Nicole
So I haven't read it yet, but I've heard really good things about it.
- [42:57]
Brett
Legendborn is so high on me. I'm actually shocked. I haven't read it yet.
- [43:03]
Lexi
It's really good. Another great audiobook there too. It is very dense with the world building and all of that, but it is a ya, so it's. It's digestible, you know, but it is one of those where you really got to pay attention when you're listening to the audio.
- [43:14]
Nicole
I feel like that would be a really good immersive read.
- [43:16]
Lexi
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Nicole
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Lexi
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Nicole
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Nicole
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- [46:02]
Lexi
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- [46:14]
Nicole
What?
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Lexi
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Nicole
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Lexi
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- [46:42]
Brett
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- [47:12]
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- [48:24]
Nicole
Absolutely. All right, what about some LGBTQ themes?
- [48:27]
Brett
Lies of Lena, which I just spoke about. Definitely some representation in that one. One of my favorite, favorite, favorite relationships would be in the Zodiac Academy series, and it is with the two of the main characters.
- [48:39]
Lexi
Oh, good.
- [48:40]
Brett
But I can't say who because it would spoil it. But they're probably like one of my top favorite relationships. So that would be Zodiac Academy lead in Aether.
- [48:49]
Lexi
Okay, I've heard of that one. Yeah.
- [48:51]
Brett
Yeah. So again, like, he trains her Academy setting. This one is definitely more romance forward versus if you are someone who reads romance and you want romance in a fantasy setting, I would definitely recommend Blood and Aether. And then on my TBR this month, male. Male romance is Wolfsong.
- [49:11]
Nicole
Well, I know something I've kind of talked about, not really talked about on the podcast is Bonded by Thorns. This was a book club book for us and it was described to us as like a why choose Beauty and the Beast fantasy book.
- [49:22]
Brett
Oh, I've read this. Okay, that's on my list. We have Bonded by Thorns by Briar.
- [49:26]
Lexi
Yeah, it is YT by Elizabeth Helen. The two sisters. Yeah.
- [49:31]
Nicole
So I was like reading book one and book one was very predictable. It was very like almost beat by Beauty and the Beast, but with more. More dicks in the penises. But then when you get to books two through four, I was like, oh my God. I am actually so invested in this love story. And there's. It's very. It's Polyamorous. But it is very like one of the things I don't like about why choose is when it's one girl and multiple guys and all the guys are are just obsessed with a girl and no one's. There's not like intermingle love. It's just like all of them with her. And I love that book because it is so they are all in love with each other and it's just, it's so beautifully done. I just think I love that book so much. I cannot wait for book five coming out soon.
- [50:13]
Lexi
Shifting gears here, it's not out yet. It's going to be coming out in March. But our good friend who people know of online as High Lady Jo, she is going to be releasing her debut called Chasing Starlight. I am so excited excited to see that and the representation in that one as well.
- [50:26]
Nicole
Well then right now my, my book development editor gave me homework to read Gideon the Ninth, which is more sci fi than fantasy.
- [50:34]
Brett
Well, I've heard really good things about this.
- [50:35]
Nicole
I fucking love this book. It is so well done. The main character is so funny and it is a lesbian romance as well. And here everybody.
- [50:46]
Lexi
Did you just pick up on that hint for Nicole's book there? Okay, found it.
- [50:51]
Nicole
But. But it is really phenomenal book and it's so entertaining. So I highly recommend getting on the 9th. I'm only halfway through, so don't come at me with spoilers. I don't want to be spoiled at the end of this book.
- [51:03]
Lexi
All right, well, oh my gosh. First of all, thank you so much, Kayla, for all of those. We're still not done though here, friends. I hope that your TBR lists are just about as mile long literally as mine is here that I've been writing down this whole time. And so now we're going to try a different kind of rapid fire game, but this one is going to be focused on tropes. So Kayla, we are going to share a trope and you are just going to list off. Doesn't have to be a whole lot, but you know, like several books that do fall under that that you first think of. So are you ready?
- [51:30]
Brett
Yes.
- [51:31]
Lexi
One bed at the end.
- [51:32]
Brett
Once Upon a Broken Heart. Although I will caveat with this one that they don't sleep in the one bed which is probably the most angry. Oh, I'm supposed to be going fast. Okay, sorry.
- [51:43]
Nicole
Knights of Obedience.
- [51:44]
Brett
Reign of Shadows and Endings. Avidian Kingdom of Cloth.
- [51:48]
Nicole
All right.
- [51:48]
Lexi
God, you're so impressive. All right.
- [51:50]
Nicole
Slow Slow Burn.
- [51:52]
Brett
Trial of the Sun Queen House of Beating Wings. Road of Bones. Kingdom of Claw. Reign of Shadows and Endings.
- [51:59]
Lexi
All right, who did this to you?
- [52:01]
Brett
My favorite. Who did this to. Outside of Heir of Fire in Throne of Glass would be Daughter of no Worlds. A Stark Few Good Dystopian. Read. Rebel Witch.
- [52:13]
Lexi
Yes.
- [52:13]
Brett
Lies of Lena. Phantasma. Trial of the Sun Queen. When the Moon Hatched.
- [52:18]
Nicole
Oh, I love this so much right now. Love that. Okay. Apprentice and Mentor. Or Mentor. Mentee.
- [52:25]
Brett
Daughter of no Worlds.
- [52:26]
Nicole
Yes.
- [52:26]
Brett
Riftborn. I guess throw in a blast.
- [52:28]
Nicole
Like Eric.
- [52:29]
Lexi
Yeah, I would throw that in there, too. I haven't read Riftborn yet, but we were sent the book, and I did lend it out to my friend who loves romantic reading to. She came back to me being like, oh, my God, give me more of this. And so I just gave her the sequel now, too.
- [52:43]
Brett
I think you need to get through. Like, Riftborne is one of those books where you have to read book one and get to book two, if that makes sense.
- [52:53]
Lexi
Yeah. Oh, absolutely.
- [52:54]
Brett
Like, it really. Things really pick up on. On book two.
- [52:56]
Nicole
Yeah. All right. Rivals.
- [52:58]
Brett
I find that often enemies to lovers and rivals get, like, interchanged, and usually it's just rivals.
- [53:04]
Lexi
Yeah.
- [53:05]
Brett
But I'm gonna go Riftborn Divine. Rivals. I love that book.
- [53:09]
Lexi
Forced proximity.
- [53:11]
Brett
Like, every single book.
- [53:15]
Nicole
Right.
- [53:16]
Brett
Like Serpent in the Wings of Night. Like, when is it not forced proximity? The Ever King, Reign of Shadows and Endings. Knights of Obedience.
- [53:23]
Lexi
A book that we have.
- [53:24]
Nicole
I was just gonna.
- [53:25]
Lexi
The Serpent and the Wolf. It's also arranged marriage.
- [53:28]
Nicole
Kayla, you must read that book. Okay, okay, okay. It's so good. Oh, my God.
- [53:32]
Lexi
So good. That. That is one of my favorite reads of 2025. Is the hands down. Yeah.
- [53:36]
Nicole
Oh, it's so good. All right. Found Family.
- [53:38]
Brett
I'll go with my top ones for this one. So I'll say Blood and Steel. They also have my favorite banter inside characters. The Road of Bones has, like, the best Found Family. And then also I would say Spark of the Everflame has really good found.
- [53:51]
Lexi
It does. Yeah. We just were covering that.
- [53:54]
Nicole
Or was it episode three?
- [53:56]
Lexi
It was. Yes. Yes. And I did a whole thing about all of that. Yeah.
- [53:59]
Nicole
Yes.
- [54:00]
Lexi
A love triangle. Done. Right.
- [54:03]
Brett
I would say these hollow vows, which is. Oh, that's a very acotar adjacent, too. But that's definitely, like, a good love triangle. I don't know if you would consider this a love triangle, but the Rose bargain.
- [54:13]
Lexi
Okay.
- [54:13]
Nicole
I've never heard of it.
- [54:13]
Brett
20 on 10 recommend. Put that on your list. It's like Bridgerton. Oh, sorry. I'm supposed to be doing rapid fire.
- [54:19]
Nicole
That's okay.
- [54:19]
Lexi
Who cares? Yeah, it's all good.
- [54:22]
Brett
It's like Bridgerton. If the queen grants magical wishes to the girls at the beginning of debutante season. It is so good. Highly recommend the audiobook. Absolutely loved it. It's young adult, but the tension and the romance are so good.
- [54:33]
Lexi
What was the name of it?
- [54:34]
Brett
It's the Roseburg.
- [54:35]
Lexi
The Rosebergen. Okay.
- [54:36]
Brett
And I don't know if you would consider this love triangle maybe the Wolf King.
- [54:39]
Nicole
All right, Kayla, one horse.
- [54:45]
Brett
The Road of Bones has a really good, good one horse trope, I think. Was there one horse in Shield of Sparrows?
- [54:50]
Nicole
Yes, there was one horse. And also in Glow of the Everflame.
- [54:54]
Lexi
Yes. That is why I have my coconuts. Clippity clop.
- [54:58]
Brett
Yes. Kingdom of Shadows and Wings. Wolf King. Metal slinger has one horse.
- [55:03]
Lexi
Yes. Oh, yes.
- [55:05]
Brett
Feathers so vicious. Which is, like the darkest of the dark romance. Check your triggers, please. And Blood and Steel.
- [55:10]
Nicole
All right. Fake dating, arranged marriage.
- [55:14]
Brett
Okay, so obviously, Sheilda, Sparrows. Kiss of Iron is really good fake dating. Avalon Tower, the second book, has really good fake dating. House of Bane and Blood. White horse, Black Knight's another arranged marriage.
- [55:25]
Nicole
One dark window is another one I throw. One Dark Window has fake dating. That's right. I always forget about that. But I love that book.
- [55:33]
Brett
And then Fire in the Sky, Sophie Jordan. We also got dragons, arranged marriage, and did I say House of Bane and Blood? It's a completed duology. It's like Gangs of New York kind of vibes. 1920s New York, but with magic. Oh, and an arranged marriage. It's really good.
- [55:49]
Nicole
Oh, my God.
- [55:50]
Lexi
This is so eye opening to me because, like, I feel like we do kind of tend to get a little bit stuck in, like, the same kinds of worlds.
- [55:57]
Nicole
Yeah.
- [55:57]
Lexi
And I'm hearing all these other things. It's like, there's a whole new world of books out there.
- [56:01]
Nicole
I know.
- [56:01]
Lexi
I was, like, amazing.
- [56:03]
Brett
I read so much that I kind of, like, get sick of. I'm like, okay, let's try something else.
- [56:07]
Nicole
Yes. Oh, I love it.
- [56:08]
Lexi
I love it.
- [56:09]
Nicole
All right.
- [56:09]
Lexi
And of course, finally, enemies to Lovers. And different books that have already been said.
- [56:14]
Brett
Okay, well, I'm gonna see Zodiac Anything by the Twisted Sisters. So I just feel like they do Enemies to lovers so well. And the character arcs of the men in the series. Like, you think, like, I read the first Zodiac Academy book, and I said, I will never like these guys. They will have to crawl over broken glass for me to like them. They are so, so Terrible, like that kind of feeling. But then you fall in love with them later in the series. So the Zodiac Academy also neverkeep, which is their other series, Echo Fort just came out yesterday, which now it'll have been out for a little while, I guess now when the podcast airs. And like, the hate, there's like pure hate. And then maybe when I haven't talked about umberking. So this is a romance in a prison world. So she is sent to this prison world for 500 years for committing a crime, which maybe wasn't much of a crime. And she falls in love with the prison king.
- [57:08]
Lexi
One book series that we haven't talked about here today yet is the plated prisoner series. And that is another very dark.
- [57:14]
Brett
How have I not mentioned.
- [57:16]
Lexi
Right. Like, I've been thinking, it's like, how do I insert this? And I don't know if this would be like. I'll call it like the staple enemies to lovers, but it of course does have those vibes. And you are going to be wondering where the hell is that? Mmc. I was gonna say, I promise.
- [57:31]
Brett
If you guys had asked me my favorite audiobook.
- [57:34]
Nicole
Oh.
- [57:35]
Brett
Or yeah, same. Slade. Slade is the ultimate. Or if you'd ask favorite book boyfriends, we would have.
- [57:41]
Lexi
Oh, my gosh. Yes. Played a prisoner series that, like, you said the audiobook. Anytime anybody's like, what is your favorite audiobook? I really do think that that might be my favorite series. It does cover some really dark themes. That is so well done. Raven Kennedy is phenomenal with character development for the female main character. I think that she might have my favorite character journey, aside from Nesta Archeron, but. Oh, my God. Yeah. But yeah, just check the trigger warnings on that one. But that's is one of my favorites. Yeah. Force, proximity, enemies to lovers, all the things Slow burn. That's another good slow burn.
- [58:13]
Brett
There's going to be a few that come up. I like, looked back on my bookshelf and I'm like, oh, there's like quite a few books that maybe we didn't talk about.
- [58:19]
Lexi
Oh, darn. I guess we'll have to do this again. I know. So bad. Kayla, this has been so much fun. I know that it's been so much fun just getting to know you on social media, you know, like, as a fellow content creator who we really admire and respect, your book recommendations and how you portray them are so much fun. Real quickly, I know that this is a question that a lot of us do get, and so we'd love to hear your experience on this Is how did you become a full time content creator?
- [58:42]
Brett
Yeah, so very accidentally I think I mentioned, like I'm very much an accidental content creator. I started on TikTok like as a user probably like two years ago. I started just watching book content there and after reading the Acotar series back last, I guess it was January, I decided I'm like, you know what, I'd like to contribute a little bit and like maybe post funny memes and just funny content. And so I started doing that on TikTok. Just silly, these silly little videos. Then I started to post my book recommendations too and people started following along and I'm like, you know what like would be really cool is if I could maybe get like a couple free books from publishers for doing so. It just kind of cascaded and then has kind of become this thing that I never realized that it could grow into or I never realized that I could make a career out of it or like, you know, I mentioned earlier that I started my Instagram a few months ago and I had really put that off because I was worried about people in my personal life.
- [59:41]
Nicole
Yeah.
- [59:42]
Brett
Like seeing my book content and now it's kind of become a beast of its own and I'm, you know, I love it. And it's. There's this huge community out there of like minded book people. And so to say I had a strategy, I would be lying. It's just been kind of something that's accidentally happened and I'm always kind of pinching myself. I'm like, I can't believe people are interested in these weird, you know, recommendation videos and my like quirkiness. But it seems to work and, and yeah, it's been really fun to, you know, get involved and be part of this community.
- [60:14]
Lexi
Absolutely. Yes.
- [60:15]
Nicole
Where can people, if they are not already following you, which they we highly recommend. Oh my God, where can they follow you?
- [60:24]
Brett
So I am on TikTok Kayla books and my name is spelled with an I. So K A I L A Books. And then on Instagram, same handle. And then more recently I'm also on Facebook so you can find me on all three platforms.
- [60:40]
Nicole
The saga of the Facebook.
- [60:41]
Brett
Oh my God.
- [60:43]
Nicole
We commend you. We commend you. Thank you, thank you. Thank you so much for joining us today, Kayla. This was so fun. My TBR both loves and hates you a little bit right now.
- [60:53]
Lexi
Oh yeah.
- [60:54]
Nicole
So great.
- [60:55]
Lexi
But really and truly, thank you so much. Really appreciate you taking the time to share all of your book knowledge. Not even all of it. I know that we Were just saying, like, we're looking behind the shelves and you're like, oh man, there's so many other books that I could say, you know too. But that's great, people. Now you get to go and follow her on social media so you can see all the more book recommendations.
- [61:10]
Brett
Yay.
- [61:11]
Nicole
Thank you as always to our executive producer, Hayden, AKA our sanity manager, and of course, as always, our content content researcher, Brooke, for making the PDF for all of the books that you can find in the show notes that Kayla said today.
- [61:24]
Lexi
Yes. So if you were like, oh my gosh, I need to know what these books are, you know, like, you weren't able to write them down while we were talking. Don't worry. We literally have a PDF to go with this episode for you. So after you be sure to follow Kayla on Instagram and slash short TikTok. Please be sure to follow us at fantasy fangirlspod. We have lots, lots of stuff, maybe not nearly as many book recommendations as Kayla, but hey, that's why you follow her to too.
- [61:46]
Nicole
Exactly. And last but not least, while you're clicking buttons and stuff, hit that five star button. It is so helpful not only for this podcast, but for any other podcast that you listen to. And if you're feeling extra generous, please write that little love note in the review section.
- [61:59]
Lexi
All right, thank you, everybody. Thank you so much, Kayla. We will see you again soon. Bye.
- [62:03]
Brett
Bye.
- [62:07]
Paige
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