← Fated Mates - Romance Books for Novel People
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- [00:00]
A
We gotta make this a tight one hour. Cause I got a chicken in the oven.
- [00:05]
B
Listen, talk about spooky stuff. Having raw chicken in your refrigerator and having to deal with it.
- [00:10]
A
Listen, Jennifer, it is time for spooky shit. I poured myself a beer.
- [00:17]
B
Ooh, you did?
- [00:18]
A
I've never had a beer when we've recorded.
- [00:21]
B
I don't. I definitely have not. I don't even think we have beer in our house. I mean, I don't usually have beer.
- [00:26]
A
In my house, but right now I'm into this. Like, I'm into this very particular kind of beer.
- [00:31]
B
So it looks like a Guinness. Like that has.
- [00:33]
A
It's an autumn. It's a nitro stout. It's similar to. Again, it's basically the same as a Guinness, but it's not a Guinness. I don't know what it's called. It comes in a six pack. Eric makes sure that it's here when it's winter.
- [00:43]
B
All of our Irish listeners.
- [00:45]
A
I'm sorry, everyone. It's probably made in Brooklyn, to be honest, because, you know.
- [00:50]
B
Sure.
- [00:51]
A
When in Rome.
- [00:52]
B
Exactly.
- [00:52]
A
Anyway, so who knows what's going to happen? Cause I'm one half of a beer deep.
- [00:58]
B
I am one day into grade report writing where I haven't written a single grade report.
- [01:03]
A
Yeah, you haven't. You just laid around and read romance novels all day.
- [01:07]
B
I 100% did. I 100% did. So welcome everyone, to Faded Mates.
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A
I'm Sarah MacLaine. I read romance novels and I write them.
- [01:17]
B
And I'm Jennifer Prokop, a romance reader and editor. And this week we are talking about sports.
- [01:22]
A
Spooky stuff. We are indeed. And I got new books.
- [01:26]
B
New books.
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A
I did research.
- [01:28]
B
I did research.
- [01:29]
A
When was the last time you did research?
- [01:32]
B
If by reading romance novels you mean research constantly. The last Halloween episode. Have we ever done a Halloween episode?
- [01:41]
A
I don't think so. Because our first season of the podcast, you might remember, Jennifer. Yes, we talked about a lot of spooky stuff every episode. We did.
- [01:50]
B
Now here's what's interesting. We did. Oh, I guess we did the monster romance episode last year. That was probably spooky stuff.
- [01:56]
A
No, those monsters are not spooky. Those orcs, they're cum taste like peppermint. And they.
- [02:02]
B
That's Santa.
- [02:03]
A
Actually, that's that Santa book we talked about at Christmas last year. But like, you know, like, it tastes like honey and like they're all soft and gentle and, like, kind and sweet. And they're not scary at all. 100%. They're just, like, sad Misunderstood monsters in the woods.
- [02:17]
B
They just want a bone. They. That's all.
- [02:19]
A
I'm haunted by Jenny Norback telling me that story about the.
- [02:23]
B
The.
- [02:24]
A
What's that? What are those, like, gargoyles on the side of buildings? And, like, the gar. Gargoyle who fell in love and then came to life and then just, like, loved the heroin. And I'm like, if you're a gargoyle, it doesn't matter. This is a whole separate thing.
- [02:39]
B
This is a whole separate thing. So here's the thing. We've never done a Halloween episode. We've never talked about spooky stuff, but.
- [02:45]
A
We have talked a lot about spooky things.
- [02:48]
B
Yes. But we never, you know, with intentionality for a whole entire episode. Although it is. Listen, everybody, I am sad because every year I say to Sarah, maybe next year is the year we do it. I was like. I say on Halloween, what we should do is a whole episode where all of the characters are named devil. Yes.
- [03:08]
A
Next year.
- [03:09]
B
Next year.
- [03:10]
A
Well, it's also technically our real deal. Anniversary Halloween.
- [03:14]
B
I know it is.
- [03:15]
A
Our first episode ever was released. Released on Halloween.
- [03:18]
B
It's perfect. I love it. A wolf without a foot.
- [03:20]
A
For those of you who listened to.
- [03:23]
B
Our moonstruck episode recently, since doing the paranormal, right? We had, like, a year. We talked about Crustley and paranormals. We don't really talk a whole lot about paranormals. And these books don't seem to even register in the same bucket as paranormal to many readers. Can we talk about that?
- [03:41]
A
Can we talk about that? I don't. They don't really register in the same bucket to me as paranormals. Now, here's my question.
- [03:48]
B
Yeah.
- [03:49]
A
One, are witches paranormal? Are witch romances paranormal romances? And I think the answer is no. And why is that? Is it because they're humans?
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B
Is it because of the patriarchy?
- [04:02]
A
Oh, God.
- [04:04]
B
I mean, I am very interested in the fact that, like, you name all the paranormal creatures, right? And it's like. I mean, in IAD it was, right? Witches and demons and vampires.
- [04:15]
A
Yes, but in iad. Yeah, counterpoint. I mean, yes, yes, obviously, it's patriarchy. Yes. But let's set that aside and pretend it's not counterpoint.
- [04:25]
B
Just like every day of my life, everyone, every day of my life, we have to get through, man. So, okay, continue on.
- [04:34]
A
But in iad, there are a handful of witches, right? Maraketta, Carol, some others. Carol, your favorite. My favorite, Alixta. Okay, so there are witches, but they are all immortal.
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B
Okay?
- [04:51]
A
Witches in witch romances are not immortal.
- [04:55]
B
Setting aside patriarchy, a paranormal is about, like, paranormal creatures who are immortal, but witch romances, because they're humans with magic. Like, just magic.
- [05:05]
A
Yeah.
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B
Okay, Fair. I like it.
- [05:06]
A
I think. I mean, if we're going to be making, you know, just arbitrary rules here.
- [05:11]
B
That's what I think.
- [05:12]
A
Which I think is what we're doing. Fine. It feels like if it's a witch and they don't die, yeah, that's paranormal romance. But why. Here's my thing. Why are like, vampires and demons and other stuff, phantoms say, not spooky stuff in our mind? Well.
- [05:39]
B
Okay, so I'm gonna now confess something which I've had a lot of people tell me they do not feel this way. I think one of the reasons I associate witches with spooky stuff and only maybe wanna read witch romances in October is because when that first big wave of witch romances came out, time has no meaning. A year ago, maybe two years ago. A year ago. Right. They all came out. It was like pumpkin spice season plus witches.
- [06:09]
A
Ah, so you were like. It was tabloid seasonal.
- [06:12]
B
Yes. Like, you have. You have set this up to be a seasonal reading experience for me.
- [06:19]
A
Yes. Okay.
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B
I asked this on Twitter because then, you know, you still get some witch romances throughout the year. And people were like, well, I don't think about it that way at all. Which. Okay. To fair.
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A
Right.
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B
Like, cool. But I was like, I feel very strongly that inadvertently or not, mainstream publishing, which really brought the witches to our front door, because I can think of 15 of them.
- [06:41]
A
Correct.
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B
Releases them all on September 1st, for the most part. And it's just like a big rush of them, and I feel like that's why.
- [06:49]
A
Yes. I also want to talk about two other things that have happened this fall that I think are witch related.
- [06:56]
B
Okay.
- [06:57]
A
One, I don't know if you've been watching Tom Brady TikTok, but you couldn't.
- [07:02]
B
Pay me American dollars to watch Tom Brady TikTok. But I support you.
- [07:06]
A
Here's why I am watching Tom Brady TikTok. Tom Brady is 45 years old and like, everybody says that he's, like the greatest.
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B
He's a very good football player.
- [07:18]
A
He plays. He throws that.
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B
The oblong one around.
- [07:22]
A
So he was great and played for the New England Patriots for many, many years. And he was married to a very, very beautiful woman named Gisele Bundchen, who is a model, a Victoria's Secret model, and then became like a supermodel and whatever. And according to Tom Brady slash divorce TikTok, they are now Their. Their marriage is falling apart. They are getting divorced. And there was a lot of discussion about the fact that Giselle has a little witchcraft in her. And he apparently gave a lot of interviews that were like, which, like, Giselle, like, makes me drink tinctures and tonics and, you know, burns candles and says things.
- [08:08]
B
You'd think he'd be fucking smarter then to cross the street.
- [08:10]
A
I go out there and I play great sports ball. And then she said, I would like for you to quit your job when you turn 40, because it feels like that is a long time for you to have been a Super bowl star. And then he did, and then he changed his mind and decided that he was not going to quit his job, and he unquit his job, and now he plays terrible sports ball for somewhere not the New England Patriots. I know somebody in their car is yelling at me. I don't care.
- [08:40]
B
It's probably my husband, but it's fine.
- [08:43]
A
Well, I hope Mr. Reid's romance does not have Tom Brady on his fantasy football. He would never. Because.
- [08:49]
B
Not. Not this year.
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A
It's not going great for him. Because according to witch TikTok, they believe that she has just said, fine, no more witchcraft for you.
- [08:59]
B
I like this very much.
- [09:01]
A
Me too. Here's the other one, though. There are two happening right now, and this other one is just me feeling like there's obviously witchcraft in play. And that is the Olivia Wilde's salad dressing.
- [09:15]
B
So I'm gonna tell everybody. Yeah, there are two types of people in the world. The type of people who have paid attention, like Sarah and then me. So I'm gonna be finding out the rest of you in that boat.
- [09:24]
A
Listen, we all know. We all watched that.
- [09:27]
B
You couldn't.
- [09:27]
A
You had to live under a rock to miss that don't worry, darling, mess that happened. Olivia Wilde was sort of married, not really, but had two children with Jason Sudeikis of Ted Lasso. Fan. We love. We love Ted Lasso here. We continue to love Ted Lasso. Yes, she was married to Jason Su. Or she was not married, but had two children with Jason Sudeikis. They were engaged for many, many years. And then she started making a movie with Harry Styles, who apparently also has his own kind of, you know, witchcraft. And she just became consumed by him and left Jason Sudeikis. Okay. Then there was, like, that whole mess with don't worry, darling, I can't get into it.
- [10:05]
B
Honestly.
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A
It's too much. Be a whole, whole episode here, here.
- [10:09]
B
I'm like the actual gif of spongebob. That's like three hours later too much.
- [10:14]
A
But now, recently it came out that when she left Jason Sudeikis for Harry Styles, it was discovered Jason texted the nanny, their nanny, that she was leaving him. And the reason why he knew she was leaving him was because she was making a special salad dressing that she only made for Jason Sudeikis and their family and taking it to Harry Styles. And he was so upset about this that he allegedly, allegedly. Don't come after us. Everyone lay down in front of her car in the driveway to stop her from taking the salad dressing to Harry Styles.
- [10:57]
B
Wait, and salad dressing is not a euphemism? No, it's actual salad dressing.
- [11:03]
A
It's a. Well, it's a euphemism for a fucking potion, Jen.
- [11:09]
B
Okay, see, look, spooky stuff.
- [11:10]
A
Listen, spooky stuff. Anyway, turns out, everyone, the salad dressing, you two can make it because it came from Nora Ephron's heartburn. And as we all know, Nora Ephron is a queen. And a queen made a great salad dressing. I just want to say my salad dressing also has grape upon mustard in it. And like nobody's laying down in front of my car. If I were leaving, Eric would be like, see you later.
- [11:36]
B
Next time I come, we can reinvent the whole scene. It'll be great.
- [11:39]
A
We'll taste it. So anyway, my point is, witches are in the air these days.
- [11:43]
B
All right, sure. I like it. I like it. TikTok is allowing every little micro group to have their five minutes of fame or salad dressing secrets revealed.
- [11:54]
A
Listen, I'm for it.
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B
I am too.
- [11:55]
A
So. So we've talked in the past about. Well, no, you know what, Jen? We brought up that Halloween book. The pumpkin book.
- [12:02]
B
That's right. Boo.
- [12:04]
A
Boo something.
- [12:07]
B
Pumpkin pounder. Oh no.
- [12:09]
A
Pumpkin pounder. We did bring that one up too, but there's another one. Halloween, Halloween, Halloween.
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B
Boo.
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A
I can't.
- [12:15]
B
Right? Isn't that what it is? Halloween Boo.
- [12:17]
A
Anyway, they came up because we were doing, as we continue to do, fated states phone banking. Yes, and our Halloween phone bank, the one that is closest to Halloween, which is actually this Saturday. Everyone, if you'd like to save democracy with us in the great state of Kentucky. Kentucky, you can join us. Links in show notes. Everyone comes in costume. At least we hope everyone's gonna come in costume. I'm excited about it. And then it was fun because we were talking about Pumpkin pounder and Halloween Boo in the chat, which is exactly the kind of chat you want during a political phone bank. And Laura, Laura was just there and.
- [13:00]
B
She was like Wait, that's my book. It was very cool. We have, I guess you're right, talked about some Halloween books in the past, but this is more, I think, broadly, like, spooky stuff.
- [13:09]
A
For what it's worth, I have one very spooky one.
- [13:12]
B
Okay.
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A
And then two slash three fun ones I have.
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B
I don't know how I would classify mine, but I feel like they all are. In the spirit of spooky stuff. So you want to start.
- [13:23]
A
Sure. I'm going to start with a classic. What I think is a modern classic, Aaron Sterling's the X Hex.
- [13:32]
B
Sure.
- [13:32]
A
Which is witchy and fun. There is a second one out right now called the Kiss Curse, but this is the first one in the series and it's very charming. And it begins with the line, never mix vodka and witchcraft, which I think is a solid piece of advice.
- [13:51]
B
September 28, 2021, by the way. Right. This is why I was like, oh.
- [13:55]
A
Yeah, this is one of the group.
- [13:56]
B
One of the.
- [13:57]
A
That's why you're making this face at me.
- [13:58]
B
Yeah. This is making me. This is one of the, like, primordial modern classic, which is all fall of 2021.
- [14:06]
A
Yeah. And now I say modern classic because I really feel like it's a. This is like a textbook which rom com. Also, Aaron Sterling, for those of you who don't know, is the pen name of Rachel Hawkins, who we have also spoken about on the podcast. She writes YA romance and also thrillers. But Erin Sterling is her romance name. And it is really charming, this book. It's so funny. Aaron is incredibly clever. The banter is just top notch. And the premise of this book is that our heroine, Vivian Jones, who was a young witch, had her heart broken by a very handsome Welsh witch named Rhys. And who among us has not had a Welshman break their heart?
- [15:00]
B
A Welshman named Rhys, of course.
- [15:02]
A
And she and her, like, best friend sit down and they have a little seance while drunk. And she curses Rhys and his line by accident. Like, she's basically like, you broke my heart. I curse you in your line forever. And she is joking around. She's drunk. She also, like, apparently, like, when you're drunk, it shouldn't take these curses. A curse should not take when you're drunk is the rule. But. But this one does. And over the course of the next few years, Rhys discovers that he has, in fact been cursed. And he goes back to town. He returns home to this small town to Vivian, and they have to work together to reverse the curse because she's also put A number of other curses on him by accident while drunk. And. And there's lots of shenanigans. And it's super fun. It's really fast, Very, very fast read. And it's like the perfect Halloween book, I think. Amazing, because it's just going to give you a lot of delight. It's also very, very sexy. And yeah, I haven't read the Kiss Curse, but I actually have it on deck for next week for Halloween, of course.
- [16:28]
B
Okay, so I'm just gonna mention really quickly what the Hex by Alexis Daria and, oh, yes, which was an Audible original, is now available in Kindle. Right. Like, so you know how it, like, it comes out first in audio and then like a year later, it just came out as Kindle. A Kindle book. And it's super cute. I listened to that last year when it came out. And then another group of witchy romances that you might like are by Juliet Cross, the Stay A Spell series, Wolf Gone Wild. My favorite title. Well, hard to say. Always Practice Safe Hacks or Resting Witch Face. That one actually comes out on Halloween this year. And I just want to say I appreciate very much leaning so hard right into, like, that Halloween.
- [17:21]
A
What a cool thing.
- [17:22]
B
Yeah, I love it.
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A
I also love the title, Resting Witch Face. You know, I mean, I love a pun.
- [17:27]
B
So, I mean, there's so many witch books. I honestly feel like we don't even really have to talk that much about them. They really have. It's a big witchy season and there are lots of witchy books which apparently you do not have to only read in the week before Halloween, everybody, just.
- [17:41]
A
So you know, they're not necessary. It's not necessary. This week's episode of Fated Mates is sponsored by Terry Green, author of the Swordmaster's Daughter.
- [17:51]
B
Sarah, we have so many people who have been asking us, where are the medievals?
- [17:56]
A
It's me. I am so many people.
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B
It's in Tara Green's pocket.
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A
Yeah.
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B
She has pulled out a fantastic sounding adventure romance about the daughter of a swordsman. Her name's Lucinda Evans, and her father has banned her from continuing to fight after an unfortunate incident.
- [18:14]
A
Fathers.
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B
She's not gonna listen. Instead, she recruits a small group of women with an urgent need to defend themselves and trains them in secret. And they call themselves the Sisters of the Sword.
- [18:27]
A
Yeah, they do. And do they go around stabbing men?
- [18:30]
B
Well, only the ones. There's a cruel predator on the loose and.
- [18:35]
A
Oh, no.
- [18:35]
B
Lucinda meets up with Robert McCrae. He is an infuriatingly attractive heir to A Scottish lord.
- [18:41]
A
I bet he wears a kilt.
- [18:43]
B
He was unable to protect his sister. So even though he doesn't understand why women need to sword fight, he does seek Lucinda's help.
- [18:51]
A
He could use his sister of the sword.
- [18:53]
B
That's right. Together they are out. And there's a world of politics and duplicity. There's a lot of pushing and pulling. A bunch of danger.
- [19:01]
A
I love it.
- [19:01]
B
Of course we do.
- [19:02]
A
And swords of many kinds.
- [19:04]
B
I hope I would. Without saying fun, fast and feisty history with a mystery. That is the Sisters of the Sword series. And this is book one.
- [19:11]
A
You can learn more about the Sword master's daughter or any of Terry Green's books in show notes or@terrygreenauthor.com that's Terry. Terry with an I. Also, you can find Terry on Instagram Terry Green or on Facebook at Terry Green, author. The book is available in print and ebook right now. And thank you to Terry for sponsoring the episode.
- [19:38]
B
Okay, so I'm going to talk about a book that also has a witch. And I'm going to be honest, this is like a k a short kid ku read that is mostly just like sex. It was fine. And I'm not saying there's anything sounds good. It's called Blood Moon. A rivals to lover vampire and witch romance. And what happens is our witch character, her name's Hazel. Oh, the author is Gillian Graves and this is a novella. It just came out on the 18th. Hazel is a witch and she owns a bar and she's really upset because there's a new bar across the street called Black Door, which made me laugh. The Black Door.
- [20:25]
A
Nice.
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B
And it's run by a vampire or. And she is pretty sure that this bar is trying to put her bar at out of out of commission. And so she's kind of, she's really upset about it. But she goes, you know, she shows up one night at her coven's kind of like party, like week, you know, monthly party or whatever and has a very smoking hot one night stand with a very handsome vampire named Vlad, as one does. And then what do you think she discovers? Vlad is the owner of the Black Door. Of course.
- [20:59]
A
Of course.
- [20:59]
B
Of course he is.
- [21:01]
A
Obviously.
- [21:01]
B
I mean, Sarah, come on. And so there her what she thought was just gonna be like an anonymous one night stand. And it's really like funny. I don't know. Like, I think one of the things I like about witch romances, I think they lean really hard into like it being funny or a sense of humor. So she arrives and her friend Is kind of like your aura is off. And she's like, go take a shower and then, like, come out to the party. She goes into the shower instead, has a one night stand, and comes back out. And her friend's like, wow, that shower you just. And I was like, I'm sorry. Like, I'm a sucker for that kind of humor. Right. So Vlad can read her mind.
- [21:37]
A
Of course he can.
- [21:38]
B
Now that he has had her blood. And so she decides, my favorite. Sneak into his bar and be bespell or bewitch a mirror so she could spy on him. And the whole thing is just kind of like wacky hijinks. And, like. And it's 100 pages and they probably have sex seven times. And it was great.
- [21:57]
A
Listen, I'm getting it right now. That's what I want.
- [21:59]
B
KU is gonna deliver what you need. Blood Moon.
- [22:03]
A
Okay, well, if we're gonna just do like, pure sex books.
- [22:06]
B
Okay.
- [22:06]
A
I mean, if that's. If that's the part of the episode we're in, I think that is the.
- [22:11]
B
Part of the episode.
- [22:12]
A
Headphones in, everyone.
- [22:14]
B
I also feel like Halloween as an adult.
- [22:18]
A
Sure. Sexy zombie, sexy cheerleader.
- [22:21]
B
Right. I just feel like sexy doctor. Right, exactly. If with kids, it's about candy and adults, it's a different kind of candy.
- [22:30]
A
Okay. As you all know from past episodes, the end of season four, where Jed and I just fully peeled back part of our brain and just poured our kink directly into your ear holes.
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B
Daddy.
- [22:45]
A
One of my very favorite things ever is Daddy. But I have a very particular daddy kink. Sure. Which is ex boyfriend's daddy.
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B
I'm not even mad about it.
- [22:57]
A
Listen, I'm your mom now. Is my whole kink. Listen, it's great. So I want to talk about Sarah Blue.
- [23:17]
B
I think we just all need to admit that KU really just stands for Kink Unlimited. Like, just.
- [23:22]
A
It's time to do a clever tot.
- [23:24]
B
It's just time to just admit the truth.
- [23:29]
A
That's why we're all in there.
- [23:30]
B
This is what KU is for.
- [23:32]
A
Nobody is reading the traditionally published romances that the publishers are tossing in there. It's not for that.
- [23:39]
B
No, it's good. Nice try, everybody. It's Kink Unlimited.
- [23:43]
A
Yeah. I mean, we'll keep your secret. You can tell your friends that. But between us, okay. Sarah Blue, who apparently writes a lot of Omegaverse books. And we're gonna learn. We have an episode coming. We're gonna learn about Omegaverse from experts, but she wrote a book called Charming youg Dad, and it flew past my Instagram feed at some point. And I was like, oh, well, that's.
- [24:06]
B
Obviously for me, really quick.
- [24:08]
A
And also perfect research because there's a.
- [24:10]
B
Ouija board right on the COVID What's that thing?
- [24:13]
A
The. Like, sure. What is that thing? The little. Let's call it a paddle. For this purpose, for the purposes of this bucket. It's suits. Blair is a witch. Our heroine is a witch. She is dating immortal. At least she thinks he's immortal. And he is a jerk to her. He's not nice to her at all.
- [24:35]
B
He's not nice.
- [24:37]
A
And so she. He's cheating on her. And so she's like, you know what? We're done. And I'm your mom now. She goes off and she tries. Yes.
- [24:50]
B
The. In the. I read the beginning. I've read some of this book. I'm gonna admit I read it and then was like, okay, I'm just gonna skip to the sex scenes. But it's particularly galling because he has been the. The son, like, playing it real straight and making her feel bad about herself. Right. It's awful.
- [25:06]
A
He's terrible to her. Yes. So she's basically like, fine, I'm a witch. You're immortal. I'm gonna bewitch your dad, and then that's gonna be that. Like, I'm gonna fuck your dad. Sure. And that's gonna be that. That's going to be your punishment. Except what she doesn't realize is that his dad is a demon. Oops. And, like, not just a demon. Like, first of all, deeply charmed by the first scene with the dad, who is literally in a meeting in hell with Lucifer. Like, they're just, like, having. It's like they're in a conference room.
- [25:41]
B
Yes.
- [25:42]
A
Having a conversation. Anyway, her dad is a demon or his dad is a demon. She discovers this. Lots of things happen. There's a point where they get. There's lots of danger. Lots of things are happening. Lucifer's an actual character in this book, but mainly this is just, like, main.
- [26:02]
B
If you want.
- [26:02]
A
If you want Halloween stuff. Spooky shit, but with a little side of like. Or a big side of Daddy. Daddy kink. This one's for you. You should check your content warnings on this book. There is some stuff that happens in this book that, like, some people might find take issue with. There's, like, a sleep sex thing that goes on between them that, like, I was fine with. But I appreciate that some people would find that a consensual problem. So just, you know, check your content warnings. Sarah's Got a whole list of them on her website and.
- [26:41]
B
Perfect.
- [26:43]
A
Listen, I was really very delighted by this book.
- [26:47]
B
And you know what?
- [26:48]
A
That, like, it hit the spot.
- [26:50]
B
The spooky spot. The spooky kinky spot.
- [26:54]
A
Exactly. Yes.
- [26:55]
B
All right. I have one like that. You are gonna love this one, Sarah. It's called.
- [26:59]
A
I believe you.
- [27:00]
B
It's called Demon Lover by Heather Guare. Guerrero, maybe Heather Guerrero, I'm going to say.
- [27:07]
A
Okay.
- [27:07]
B
All right. This book starts off again, consensual sleep issues aside, Right? So everybody, you know you're gonna have to check content warnings. I think I'm probably all these. Because spooky shit can really be too much for some people.
- [27:19]
A
Well, there's some weird stuff that goes on.
- [27:21]
B
Yeah, of course.
- [27:22]
A
Right. Like, you know, I mean, you're talking to the podcast that, like, spent many times we counted blood blow jobs.
- [27:28]
B
Yes. We on our first, we kept track of lost limbs. We have a higher threshold for this weird shit.
- [27:34]
A
Okay, agreed.
- [27:35]
B
So in this book, the main character's name is Autumn, and it starts off with her having a sleep dream that's like a fantasy. And the thing that's really interesting, though, it's like a pirate or something. And he keeps saying. He keeps saying, yeah, he's an incubus. And he keeps saying, like, do you consent? And she's kind of like, well, that's weird for a dream. But, like, yes. So the next night, she has another amazing sex drive.
- [27:57]
A
By the way, Heather, great work, great work. Just, like, sliding, right?
- [28:01]
B
So the second night, I'm buying it right now. The sec. Listen, Sarah, this book's for you. The second night, again, amazing sex dream, but with, like, a different kind of, like, fantasy, right? And. But, like, that same language where he's like, do you consent, you know, to having to, like, whatever we're about to do? Yes. Okay. The third night, she's like, why do you keep asking me that? And all of a sudden, like, the entire dream, like, kind of blinks out and she sees the actual incubus in front of just hanging out, and he's like. And he kind of freaks out and he's like. Like, falls out of the bed and, like, gets tangled up in the lamp. And she starts laughing, and he's like, why aren't you scared? I'm this huge, blue, naked demon in front of you with, like, hooves.
- [28:42]
A
You could tell from the horns. The COVID like, this is for those of you, like, blue things in your romance.
- [28:49]
B
And she is kind of like. I don't know. I've just never really. I'VE always been able to remember my dreams or whatever.
- [28:55]
A
So he.
- [28:56]
B
She's like, what's going on? And he describes to her that he's an incubus and that her, like, need for an orgasm has called him and he has to give her an orgasm. That's how he gets pleasure. And then how at the end, I know it's his entire job.
- [29:12]
A
Spooky creature.
- [29:13]
B
And she's like, well, can we just do it with you like this? And he's like, no one's ever wanted to do it with me like this. And she's like, listen, give me those horns. And listen.
- [29:23]
A
I swear, Jennifer, I can't believe you saved this for the episode and you didn't text me immediately upon horn. Sorry, Kate Claybourne.
- [29:30]
B
I know. Here's the part that's. Honestly, it's so sweet. So she starts saying, like, well, do you have to leave right away after I come? Right? And it's her pleasure that, like, gives him pleasure. And he's like, no, I could stay here. And then it's, like, getting into winter, and so the nights are longer, and so sometimes she wakes up in the morning and he. He's still there. And now she starts setting her alarm earlier so that she can, like, spend more time with him. And it turns out that he has been an incubus. He was cursed to be an incubus after leading a slave revolt against the Tower, the people who made the Tower of Babel. And how.
- [30:07]
A
Look, there's a lot of mythology in these books.
- [30:09]
B
Yes.
- [30:10]
A
Sometimes it's cool, sometimes it's weird. But listen, I'm for it.
- [30:13]
B
Yeah. And so the whole thing is, like, he's. And, you know, he's been cursed to essentially, like, service, like, women. He calls hostess. And she keeps saying, like, call me autumn. I don't know, like, there. So it starts off with, like, all this sex, but then it really develops this relationship. And then she starts to try and figure out, like, is there a way I. Of course I can free him from this life that he's living? And I've got to tell you, it really goes in a different way than you think. But it is also super hot.
- [30:43]
A
And.
- [30:44]
B
And, you know, he's been cursed by this evil goddess. And I. It's all Mesopotamian lore. I'm for it.
- [30:52]
A
I was for it.
- [30:52]
B
It's great.
- [30:54]
A
I will tell you that I have. I've had a thing about incubuses. Incubi. For a long time, since I was a tot. And the reason why is because. And those of you who have read the Casino series will know this, because this painting is actually in the Casino series. It is in the Fallen Angel. I'm dropping it into chat for Jen to look at so we can discuss it now. And it is not sexy, but for some reason, this painting, I must have seen it when I was a child, and it just imprinted on me.
- [31:21]
B
Oh, I love that.
- [31:22]
A
Called the Nightmare.
- [31:23]
B
Yes.
- [31:24]
A
Ooh. And it's by Henry Fusilli. And we'll put it on the.
- [31:28]
B
You'll be looking at it right now with us.
- [31:30]
A
Put it on. On the. On the episode so you can look down if. If you're. You're. You're a podcast catcher. Shows images and. But we'll also link to it, and it's an oil painting, and it's called the Nightmare, and it's literally an incubus sitting on top of a sleeping woman.
- [31:48]
B
Yeah.
- [31:48]
A
And, like, look, it's. I appreciate that this is a big problem, but also, I mean, like, I can't be held responsible for the fact that at some point, my mother must have taken me to the Detroit Institute of the Arts when I was too young to be looking at paintings.
- [32:03]
B
It's fascinating. I mean, and I think the thing that's, like, really interesting about any. And. And I mean, to me, this is, like, I think why I love Demon from the Dark, right? Which is, like, you have this demon. Demons are off. So it's funny because we start off by talking about, like, witches, Right. Demons almost always are sort of trapped, Right. Like, no demon really outside of, like, I guess Kaden Ridestrom are like, it's great being a demon, right? So this is, like, it really, like, I don't know. It really hit a lot of my. It pushed a lot of my buttons about, like, sort of a man who desperately wants to be with her, but there's something literally that he cannot get past. And then she's like, don't worry, dude. I'm going to figure it out. But in doing so, like, puts herself in danger. Right. And so the other thing that's interesting is they promise each other, like, we're not going to keep any secrets. Like, we don't really know how long our experience time together will be, because once her. Her, like, need calls to him and it could turn off at some point, right? So he has to keep coming to.
- [33:13]
A
Her, and then he might just, like, end up with somebody else tomorrow night.
- [33:17]
B
Oh, my gosh.
- [33:18]
A
Yeah.
- [33:18]
B
So it's really. It's. It was delightful.
- [33:22]
A
I love that.
- [33:23]
B
I love the, like.
- [33:24]
A
So we have to get as much of each other as we can before it's over.
- [33:27]
B
Yes. Yeah.
- [33:28]
A
I love that in. We should do an interstitial about that, because I love that.
- [33:32]
B
Yeah. As like, a trope, I mean. Okay. So the other thing that I think played into a lot of my, like, kind of spooky shit, I don't know, like, feelings about, like, what makes this trope work or what, like, kind of makes, like, rings that bell for me is the I. They were. They're both very lonely, right? And so she's really lonely because her boyfriend broke up with her and kind of took all the friends, and she worked there and lost her job. And he, of course, was lonely because he's, you know, has no human connection. He's fascinated with humans. So, like, at one point, like, she's like, we're gonna go out. Like, she goes and buys him, like, baggy clothes. And, you know, she's an artist, so she puts all this makeup on him, and they go to a movie theater, and he's just, like, fascinated with the other people. And it's really, like, I don't know, like, it. And so I'm also fascinated because I think a lot of, like, Halloween things are about, like, loneliness, right? Like, about being alone, about, like, this primordial question about, like, life and death and loneliness and all that stuff. And I think that this book was really smart about, I mean, okay, being really hot, but also really, like, what is it like when two these two very different people, like, find each other across time and space? I mean, it was great. It was great. And steering with horns.
- [34:48]
A
I love that. You just did a great job book talking that book. I'm gonna read it tonight.
- [34:56]
B
This week's episode of Fated Mates is brought to you by Alexandra Harvey, author of how to Marry a Viscount.
- [35:02]
A
Okay, this one, you can put it directly into my veins. Lady Tamsin Bell is the daughter of a duke and has everything a lady could want. She's rich and she's beautiful, and she has this collection of private artifacts, but she does not have Captain Henry Talbot. And the reason why she doesn't have Captain Henry Talbot is because he is a big dummy. While he was away pining for her across the. The sea while at war, and she was all she he could think of. He knew in his dumb hero brain that he was not good enough for her, that he would never be good enough for her, no matter how tempted he was by her. But he does know she is beautiful and magnificent, and she is his proper son. And he will do Anything he can to keep her safe and shining bright, including fighting thieves and punching bully earls and just being the greatest.
- [36:03]
B
Listen, the tropes included in this book, right? Regency daddy vibes. Touch her and die. A fated mate's favorite. Found family, friends to lovers. So if you would like to find out more about how to marry a viscount, you can check out Alexandra Harvey at her website, alexandraharvey.com that's with a Y. On Twitter, she's Alexandra H. And on Instagram, she is AlexandraHarvey author. This book is available right now in KU. You can also pick up a print copy or listen to it in audio. Thank you to Alexandra for sponsoring this week's episode of the show.
- [36:42]
A
I have a scary one.
- [36:44]
B
Ooh. Okay.
- [36:46]
A
And so here's something that's interesting and maybe. So this is like going back to that sort of nightmare question, right? Like, the painting is. You and I have talked, and when we did the dark romance episode, we sort of danced around the idea that, like, the closest thing that romance gets to horror is that dark romance piece.
- [37:05]
B
Right.
- [37:05]
A
Which I think is a really fascinating way of thinking about particular parts of.
- [37:10]
B
The pool to a book.
- [37:12]
A
I mean, what's interesting, though, is every once in a while, someone will tweet about us or Instagram us, tweet us or Instagram us and tell us that they can't do IAD because it's too scary.
- [37:24]
B
Yeah. Right.
- [37:25]
A
And it's fascinating because it doesn't feel scary to me at all. At no point do those books feel scary to me.
- [37:33]
B
Does that in this sense mean violent? Like, does. Right. Like there is. I mean, we kept a lost limb, obviously. Right.
- [37:43]
A
Violent.
- [37:44]
B
Right. So I.
- [37:45]
A
But the violence feels like cartoon violence in a lot of ways. Because they're immortal.
- [37:49]
B
Sure. Right. But I think that's because we're heathens, you and me. Right? I mean, I, I, I, I think sometimes high level, high barriers. Yeah, right. No, so, I mean, I often cause, like, to me, scary. It's like. What is scary about, like, horror is. I don't do very like, Mr. Reads romance loves horror. And I do not.
- [38:12]
A
Well, you don't like, like a jump scare?
- [38:14]
B
I don't like a jump scare.
- [38:15]
A
You can't really have a jump scare in a book.
- [38:17]
B
But I. There's a kind of violence that horror traffics in that is way too much for me. I'll watch, like, you know, a billion handsome men blow things up. Fine. Handsome men like being ripped literally limb from limb.
- [38:30]
A
Oh, no. I mean, like. Yeah, well, that's torture porn. That's like a different beast. Okay, well, so this book is a little spooky to me. Yeah, Like, I could see it here. Okay. It's Cherish reads. I'll come back for you.
- [38:43]
B
Okay.
- [38:44]
A
And it also, interestingly, has that Ouija board motif on the front of it, which is why I bought it a million months ago. She posted about it on Twitter, and I instantly was drawn to this cover. It was really very cool. But. So the premise here is Whitney and her sister Helen. This one's for those of you who like an older heroine. Whitney is 39. I always try to flag that because I know a lot of people are interested in that. Whitney and her friend Helen and her sister Helen have inherited their grandmother's bed and breakfast in upstate New York near Lake Ontario. So this bed and breakfast has gotten a number of, like, bad reviews and part of the. And, like, people. And a number of these bad reviews are basically from, like, tourists who were unsettled in the space. And the book begins with a kind of creepy beginning where Whitney wakes up in this bed and breakfast and she senses that something bad is in the room. Like, something's with her. She's had a bad dream. And so she says out loud, like, a little, like, a little incantation that, you know, clearly is, like, an instinctual thing for her. But, like, this goes it when the book begins. So that's the prologue. And when the book begins, it's very clear that, like, this has all gone poorly. And so they have hired the Ghost Punters television show. I love that name, Ghost Punters. To come to the bed and breakfast and, like, do, like, a ghost huntery type episode about the bed and breakfast and, like, find the ghost and, like, punt it from life. Jen, the cameraman for this show happens to be somebody that Whitney got drunk with and almost. And kissed, had one drunken kiss with, like, years ago. And because he's a decent dude, she was super drunk. They were both super drunk. And he was like, we need a rain check. And they never got their rain check. But guess what happens now?
- [41:02]
B
I think they're about to get that rain check.
- [41:04]
A
So Dion shows up. He's the, like, handsome cameraman as part of the crew. There's like, the lady who runs the audio and the, like, doofy host of the show. And they all come and they all, like, choose their rooms in this, like, big bed and breakfast for the weekend while they're going to film an episode of Ghost Punters. And Dion's is such a good dude that he, like, chooses a room that's outside of the main building of the bed and breakfast. Because, like, he doesn't want to be. Like, he appreciates that it could be weird. Maybe she doesn't want that rain Jack. But of course she does.
- [41:36]
B
Of course she does.
- [41:37]
A
So it's super sexy, these two. Like, and what's cool about it is, like, Dion. So Dion's like, this is fake. Like, we. He sort of feels bad because he's like, these girls, these women have. Have brought us in to, like, because they believe that something's up right in this bed and breakfast. And, like, we're like, this is fake. This is all made up.
- [42:00]
B
Like, we.
- [42:00]
A
It's not real. None of it is real. But, Jen, it is real.
- [42:04]
B
Yeah, of course it is.
- [42:05]
A
And this bed and breakfast is completely fucking haunted. Haunted by a previous owner who is terrible.
- [42:15]
B
Wow.
- [42:15]
A
Like, scary and terrible. Like, this is some real ghost shit.
- [42:20]
B
I love it.
- [42:21]
A
And, like, the end of this book is, like. So the romance is really beautiful because it's these two people who, like, really, like, like each other, and they're, like, decent people who just, like, want to be together. And the conflict of this book is, except there's a ghost haunting this bed and breakfast, and it wants Whitney dead. And, like, at one point, there's, like, this, like, great moment where, like, she's trapped on one side of a door, and, like, the ghost is going for her, and he's on the other side of the door, and he can't get to her, and they're, like, shouting their feelings at each other.
- [42:57]
B
I love it.
- [42:58]
A
It's really great. It's a really, really fun, spooky read, and I enjoyed it.
- [43:05]
B
All right, So I have one that's very. Has a similar. Like, not like some beats of that are similar. Right. So you all know I love Cynthia Williams, and she has a Harlequin special edition series called Heart and Soul. The first one is called Summoning Up Love. But I read the second one called the Spirit of Second Chances.
- [43:27]
A
Nice.
- [43:28]
B
Yeah. And what it is, is, okay, so in the spirit of Second Chances, the hero, like. Okay, I love the first of all. The town is like Sunshine beach, which is great because. Amazing, right? And Wesley and his two brothers have always been real interested in spooky shit, and so they hurt. His name's Wesley Livingston. And in the first book, I now. I haven't read the first book. Although. Interesting.
- [43:54]
A
Lee.
- [43:54]
B
The brother's name. The first book is Dion, because it's the three brothers.
- [43:58]
A
Oh.
- [43:58]
B
So anyway, in the second one, Wesley. So Dion is. Has found love and Is like moved away. And his other brother, I can't remember his name, is essentially like off, like kind of work. They have a TV show, a paranormal TV show that they have, they have made, but it hasn't aired yet. Right. Like, it's essentially like ready to go, coming soon or whatever. And so the other brother is kind of like, woo, I'm going to go, you know, sell the TV show. But really he's kind of like partying and Wesley is sort of stuck, like, taking care of the family home and really kind of like, what am I doing? When his. The girl he had a crush on in high school, Sierra Green, shows up back in town and she is divorced. She's divorced. She's a young daughter. Um, she's been divorced for a couple years. Her ex husband is a real dirt bag and they were real estate agents and she like did all the work, but her husband took all the credit and then essentially like engineered it so he was gonna buy like the brokerage and didn't tell her and take all the credit. And it was just like. And she was kind of like all this bad stuff and she was like, you know what? He is not a good person. I need to divorce him. And so she tries to start her own real estate business and her parents are like, great news. We got you the catch of the like, right? Like the biggest commission in town is this big mansion on the outskirts of town, only it's haunted. It was an explantation. Right. And so Sierra. Yeah, right. So Sierra goes to Wesley and they were like really good friends in high school. They were lab partners. And. And she like. It's one of those things where he's like mad that she dumped him and she's mad that he dumped her friendship. Like they. Neither of them really exactly knows what happened, but like they both kind of blame each other for a falling out they had. And so she comes to him and it's kind of like, look, if you help me figure out what is going on with this haunted house, I will help you sell your family home so you don't have to be responsible for it. Like, it'll be kind of this perfect quid pro quo. A trade. Yes. Right. And it's so great because the spooky stuff in this one I would say is less like. Right. Like less threatening. They don't live there. It's not her home. But it's just the reason that's like gonna bring them together. And it's like a really cool look too at like, you know, I love the idea of like, what, you know, her saying, like, God, I remember you tell me all these stories about things that happen in town and you know that he's always been really interested in, like, the history of the town. And so to go into this like, big mansion slash plantation and figure out like, what's really going on there is like a huge get for the show. Right. So he is, you know, at one point she. I love this one little detail. She comes and she's like, I tried to take pictures to stage the house, but like, all the pictures were all up and he's like, those are spirits. I loved it. So it was. It was really like if. If the chairs might. Charis Reid book sounded interesting, but maybe a little too scary. Maybe the Synithia Williams series will hit the right spot but being a little less scary. Yeah. Spooky. It's terrific though. I love it.
- [47:17]
A
I do think you're. It's occurring to me that one of the, like a haunted house book that we love that is, in my mind not at all scary, but, you know, is the book that we recommend anytime anybody wants to enter iad, but not read the whole thing, which is Dark Needs at Night's Edge, where it's about a giant house in Louisiana in the. In like outskirts of New Orleans, haunted by a ghost who was murdered there in the 1920s. The heroine of the book, Naomi, is a magnificent, beautiful, just perfect heroine who is a ghost. And the hero is a blood drunk addict vampire named Conrad Roth. My sweet baby, Conrad Roth, whose brothers buy the house and chain him to a radiator in it, sure to dry him out, not knowing that it is haunted by the most beautiful ghost who.
- [48:26]
B
Has ever been amazing.
- [48:27]
A
And they have great sex.
- [48:30]
B
Oh, that book is so perfect.
- [48:32]
A
It is fantastic in many ways.
- [48:34]
B
I love them.
- [48:35]
A
And if you've never read an IAD book because you don't want to commit to 19 books, we totally understand and we recommend reading this one. You can read it out of order. You can start right there. You could just read it and put it down and pretend like the rest of the series does not exist.
- [48:49]
B
Oh, it's terrific. Conrad Roth.
- [48:53]
A
Conrad Roth. I have other, like, little ones. Do you have another?
- [48:57]
B
I have one more big one, I guess, which is the undertaking of heart and mercy.
- [49:05]
A
Yes. Tell me about it. It came out the same day Heartbreaker came out.
- [49:09]
B
It did.
- [49:09]
A
And everybody loves it.
- [49:10]
B
Yeah. By Megan Bannon. And it's so. It's really interesting because I would say this to me is a fantasy romance. Right.
- [49:22]
A
So.
- [49:23]
B
And I'm not a great fantasy reader, so I'm kind of like, ah, like it's. There's some portal to another place. And this is where they live, right? And in this place they live. There are like this, like, kind of like these zombie creatures that can essentially like, inhabit you. And so it is a law that anyone who goes to this place, because you can like, make money there, there's like, you can harvest things like whatever, has to have, like a special key. And essentially it is a key that you. You have to pre arrange and prepay for your funeral. So if they find your dead body or your body has been like, zombified or whatever, the key will say, like, where to take your body. And he is essentially, he's something called a marshal. And his job is to, like, go out into the world and like, kill these zombie creatures and then like, take the bodies to the undertakers. Oh.
- [50:22]
A
Because you. If you're attacked by one of them, you become one of them.
- [50:25]
B
You become one of them. I get it. I get it. Okay. Okay. And so the marshals, essentially. Sad. Yeah, right? It is. It's really sad. So it's like you're taking this big risk to go there, so you have to protect yourself and your family by like, prearranging your funeral. And so actually, like, this. His name's Hart Ralston. When I was like, oh, good romance hero name is a Marshall. And then Mercy Birdsall is an undertaker. And her family's undertaking business is like a small one out on the edge. It's called Birdsall and Son because her younger brother is supposed to be the one taking over the undertaking business. And of course, man, I love a.
- [51:06]
A
Sister with an errant brother.
- [51:08]
B
Oh, and does he want anything to do with being an undertaker?
- [51:11]
A
Of course.
- [51:11]
B
Course not. Of course not. And she, you know, one of the things I really like about this book is she's so concerned with, like, giving these bodies, like, the dignity of, like. Right. It really, it really respects the idea that, like, your. Your job as an undertaker is to, like, treat this body with respect and dignity. And. But the thing is, is heart and mercy have never understood each other at all. Like, they just got off on the wrong foot the first time they met. And they are like, right. Constantly butting heads. So you're kind of like, okay, well, what's gonna then happen? Well, it turns out. And this is. This part you also love. I'm sorry. I know. It's like complicated fantasy. Takes all this, like, blah, blah to explain. He is lonely, right? He's really lonely and alone. And so someone suggests that he should, like, try, like, writing a letter, Right? Like, just, like, write a letter. And he just addresses it to dear friend, and he is gonna drop it in, like, the magic M. And he.
- [52:12]
A
Leaves it accidentally in her thing.
- [52:14]
B
No, no, it gets delivered to her. The magic mail is like, yeah, this is for you. And she's like. It just says, the magic mail. Yeah, right? And it's, like, delivered by, like, an owl in a suit. There's a lot of confusing things I didn't really understand in this book, but I'm making my peace with it. And so she's like. It just says dear friend, and he's like, yeah, but it's addressed to you. It's to you. Like, the magic tells me that it's for you. And these two become magical pen pals without knowing that they are right to each other. Which is your favorite fucking thing?
- [52:44]
A
Oh, my God, it is my favorite thing.
- [52:46]
B
So here they are, like, writing letters to each other while also, like, hating each other's guts while they're in Zombieland. It's. Honestly, it's so tender. I don't know.
- [52:59]
A
It's some India Holton shit, though. Listen, if this appeals to you.
- [53:04]
B
Yeah.
- [53:05]
A
Not having read Undertaking of Heart and Mercy, but that is super charming. And now I'm pushing it up the pile. If this appeals to you. One of my favorite books of last year, which was on our best of the year list, was the Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels, which also has witches and magic and flying houses and, like, cuckoo stuff all over the place. But. And has a real charming. Yeah. Like, there is, like, a charming layer on top of all of the stuff. The business that's going on. The spooky business.
- [53:43]
B
Yeah, yeah. I mean, and this. What's interesting about this book is so there's, like, the charming stuff, but then, like, the actual, like, physical work with bodies. Like, it starts off where he's bringing her one that's, like, really banged up, and it's kind of leaking. And I don't know if I've ever told you the story about, like, everybody Mr. Reads romance works at a medical school. And one day he called me and he's like, oh, yeah, the Hazmat team's here. And I was like, do I want to know why the cadaver truck was leaking? Exactly. So to me.
- [54:13]
A
To me.
- [54:13]
B
Right. But I was really interested in it, too, because it's hard not to think about this. Like, okay, now you have read Angelica, Frankenstein, and I Have not. Yes, but I am.
- [54:26]
A
That was one of the ones that I was gonna just sort of name check.
- [54:28]
B
Yeah.
- [54:29]
A
About it before.
- [54:29]
B
And I, I. So, you know, I've read one and not the other and vice versa. So I cannot speak to, like, what is going on. But it is always really fascinating to me when, like in the Zeitgeist, like to have two books that are so explicitly about, like, the work of dealing with the dead. Well, right.
- [54:51]
A
Not to bring it down, but look at the last two and a half years. Right. Like, it makes sense.
- [54:58]
B
Of course.
- [54:59]
A
This is also. Listen, I want to have this conversation. I've been meaning to have this conversation with you not on the podcast, because I don't know how to have it on the podcast. So, you know, put a pin in it. But one of the things that I will say is that we romance, contemporary romance, particularly right now. And this is obviously both of those stories. So Angelica Frankenstein is the. Sally Thorne has retconned the story of Frankenstein, Dr. Frankenstein to give Dr. Victor Frankenstein a sister, Angelica, and that book. And Angelica Frankenstein makes her match, quite literally. Title name is Destiny. Angelica Frankenstein. It begins with Angelica and Victor Frankenstein in the morgue choosing the parts of the. Of a body for her. She is making, quite literally making her match a match for herself. And it is a romance and it is really weird. And everybody who listens to podcast knows that. I love it when people do stuff that's super bizarre in romance because I think, like, that's interesting stuff.
- [56:05]
B
Right.
- [56:05]
A
But dead bodies plus what's happening right now in contemporaries, which is really. And I know you've heard me say this separate from the podcast, but like, is really so much about grief right now. There's so much death in romances, especially. I'm thinking about like, like Ashley Poston's, especially in the last, like, six months. It feels like there's a lot of death in romance. Ashley Poston's the Dead Romantics. Her editor dies, right? He's the hero. Her father dies. She goes home. Her parents have a funeral home. She has to plan a funeral for her dad. It's a really fascinating thing that romance is grappling with right now. And it just goes back to what we've always talked about, which is romance is the genre that reflects the world. All art reflects the world, but romance does it in a really overt way. And so it doesn't surprise me that these books are all kind of doing this thing anyway. That was, like, way less fun than incubi and.
- [57:09]
B
No, but I mean, I Do think that that's. And look, I am certainly on record for sometimes being like, that's not what I want right now. I want to escape it.
- [57:20]
A
But I saw somebody.
- [57:21]
B
Right. But I just also think that if you, if you, if you want it to be in partnership with your romance, like, these books are out there and some of them are more explicit than others. Right. Like, there are folks who are like, look, I just don't wanna read about cancer. And some of it is coming out in contemporary romance as like, very explicit. Right. And then you get the ones that are instead dealing with it in like, fantasy and magical ways.
- [57:46]
A
Yeah.
- [57:47]
B
Interesting.
- [57:48]
A
Like different ways.
- [57:49]
B
Right. But I think it's the same work.
- [57:52]
A
I think it. I absolutely think it is. I've been seeing a lot of like, murmurings about people being upset, like, not want, you know, being frustrated that so many contemporaries are tackling like, parental death or, you know, I mean, there's, you know, and death in general. There's this book coming out, Sarah Adler, I think her name is, has a book coming out called Mrs. Nash's Ashes, like, which is literally about like ashes in an urn.
- [58:16]
B
Yeah.
- [58:17]
A
And so. And I think, like, I can totally understand why people feel this way about these books, but I do think, like, if we're not aware. If we're not, we should all at least be aware of why.
- [58:30]
B
Right. Of course.
- [58:31]
A
It's not just because, like, well, let's make death funny.
- [58:33]
B
Yeah.
- [58:34]
A
No, it's like we're all kind of trying to work through what's going on in the world right now.
- [58:39]
B
Well, and listen, there's a million Americans have died. I mean, I don't know the total worldwide. But you know, like, death is something that, like, we are. And you know, the.
- [58:53]
A
And we're not good as a culture, at least in the United States. Like white. White America.
- [58:59]
B
Yeah.
- [59:00]
A
This is a very like, white thing. But. And you know, waspy. But like, we're not great at death. No, we're not great at talking for a thing that happens to literally all of us and that we all experience in multiple ways, like over the course of our lives.
- [59:13]
B
Right.
- [59:13]
A
We're not great at unpacking it or talking about it or like looking at head on. And so I think in a lot of ways, like these, these stories, like maybe this is all relevant to the spooky shit episode. Like, these stories all do sort of tackle. Yeah. They help us sort of look at death through a refracted lens.
- [59:36]
B
Right. Well. And like one of my favorite parts about the Sunithia Williams book is like I mentioned that it was a plantation and like this is a place that the two that Sierra and Wesley had like gone on a field trip when they were kids and the owners of the house had tried like a million different ways to like kind of make it anything but a plantation. And it's like very clear that like the whole like you can't. Right? Like you can't. It's there. Yeah. And, and, and there's a. It's really, I think, interesting to think about how in all of these books, right, a big part of Spooky Shit is that like one or more of these people is very intimately familiar with death. And that's what makes these books the Spooky Shit books.
- [60:23]
A
Yeah, I want to talk about, I just want to name check Zoraida Cordova, friend of the pod. She's been on the podcast to talk about fantasy romance and about fantasy in general. Her series, the Brooklyn Brujahs series is a three book series about witches. The first is Labyrinth Lost, the second is Brujah Born and the third is Wayward Witch. And, and they are all ya. There is love in them, there's romance in them if you want to. There's lots of magic. The first one, Labyrinth Lost, Alex is the main character and she is the most powerful witch of a generation, but she hates magic. Hates it. And so she performs a spell to rid herself of her power, but she sends her family, she like disappears her family in the balance. It's great. So if you have a young person or you yourself really love YA novels or love, you know, coming of age stories and you want something to read over the course of, you know, the next week or so, all three of those are, I highly, highly recommend. Alex is not the main character of all three. There are three separate characters, three separate witches or brujas.
- [61:39]
B
Amazing. Anything else?
- [61:44]
A
No. Jennifer, Happy birthday.
- [61:47]
B
Thank you everyone.
- [61:49]
A
It was Jennifer's birthday. It was Jen's birthday last weekend.
- [61:52]
B
It was talk about Spooky Shit getting.
- [61:55]
A
Older and I can't wait. She hasn't opened her present for me, but I'm very much looking forward to her telling all of you about it.
- [62:01]
B
I am very excited. I'm gonna wait until my actual birthday to open it. That's my plan everyone.
- [62:07]
A
As we said, it is the autumn and we have two more weekends of faded states phone banking this weekend. You can join us to phone bank for Charles Booker who is running against Rand Paul in Kentucky. Also in Kentucky there is a very restricted restrictive abortion amendment on the ballot. So we are making calls this Saturday from 3 to 5pm Eastern Time. Next Saturday, we are calling for John Fetterman in Pennsylvania. We are excited to end the pre election season strong with a very important swing state and hopefully bring home a senate sequence seat.
- [62:53]
B
That's true.
- [62:55]
A
What else? What else do we have for our friends?
- [62:58]
B
Thank you to everyone for supporting our sponsors, Terry Green and Alexandra Harvey. As always, you can support us by supporting them. And thank you to everyone. We hope that you have a read some great spooky stuff. Have a fun, innocent, sweet Halloween if that's your vibe. Or a fun, sexy Halloween if that's your vibe.
- [63:20]
A
Jen, are you gonna wear a. Are you gonna wear a costume? Do you costume up to give out candy?
- [63:24]
B
No. Trick or treat. No one comes to our neighborhood for candy. Oh, really? It's honestly great.
- [63:32]
A
I am gonna be a witch.
- [63:35]
B
Yeah, you know what? There are a couple. There are like some new houses on my block, so maybe I'm gonna prepare just in case some little kids come.
- [63:43]
A
Somebody on my block said get two bags of Costco candy. So we got two bags of Costco candy.
- [63:49]
B
Yeah, I bought myself a hat, but no Laffy Taffy.
- [63:53]
A
So listen. No, but I'm. I told you, I'm gonna tithe the kid. That's how it should be for you.
- [64:01]
B
That's how it should be. All right, everybody, have a great one. Happy Halloween.