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- [00:00]
Indeed Advertiser
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- [01:50]
Anna
Welcome to Flights of Fantasy, your Romantasy podcast book club. I'm Anna, joined by my book besties, Kim and Christina and. And together we're diving into the characters, theories, lore and magic behind all your favorite fantasy romance books. Hi listeners. We are so excited to be here doing another KU Rex episode. Kim and I. I missed the last one when you guys did romance reads.
- [02:20]
Kim
Yeah.
- [02:20]
Anna
So I'm absolutely thrilled to be here for this one.
- [02:23]
Kim
We're so excited you guys have been asking for more of these and it's just been so busy with ACOTAR and everything. We just haven't had time. But we are so pumped to be here.
- [02:32]
Anna
Yes. Okay, so before we do, like our general introduction and spoiler. Actually it'll be a spoiler free warning. Kim, will you give us some announcements?
- [02:39]
Kim
I would love to. Okay, so if you want even more of your book besties, we are having so much fun over on Patreon. There is so much good stuff over there. We have so many extra bonus episodes and just super fun things. So for our tier one book besties for only $5 a month you get all of our episodes a day early and ad free. And we are also going to be doing a lot more kind of book bestie hangs there. Anna and I recently did just a little fun book bestie chat video where we just hit record and Talked for like 45 minutes about all kinds of stuff and everybody loved it. So we are going to be doing more things like that over there. We also do a book chat between two of us or some written book reviews over there. It's so, so much fun. And then for tier two, our book betches you get all of that plus the full unedited video episodes of all of our episodes. And then we have so many fun series for tier 2 we have trending pages where we hop on and talk about a book that is like taking over booktok, taking over the Internet by storm. We have Christina is doing cauldron chats while we are on our Acotar revisited journey.
- [03:41]
Anna
Yes.
- [03:42]
Kim
And you guys get to vote on what topics she covers in those videos. She has done one on Miriam Draken Jurian. She's done one on Bargains. And then her next one is going to be a deep dive on her theory about Mor's powers.
- [03:55]
Anna
I'm so excited for that one.
- [03:56]
Kim
Me too. And then we also have of course our beloved SJM series and that is where we deep dive characters, couples and scenes from all of Sarah J. Maas series and do a really fun deep dive on it. Those have been so much fun. So there's a lot going on over on Patreon. So if you want to join our family, go to patreon.com slice of fantasy podcast and we hope to see you over there.
- [04:18]
Anna
Yes, we do. All right, so this is not a traditional spoiler warning because this is a book recs episode, right? These reviews will be all spoiler free. Now if you're a type of person who doesn't even like to hear anything about the plot or we might discuss some plot points just as like context for the book, if you're that type of person, then that's okay. Tune out. We're still gonna list the books in the show notes so you don't have to take notes on what you're listening to. They will all be listed. You can go pick them up there and download them onto your Kindle or order them from the library. Whatever floats your boat.
- [04:49]
Kim
Yep.
- [04:49]
Anna
And with that being said, let's go. Kim, will you kick us off?
- [04:53]
Kim
I Would love to. I also want to note that these are the book. They're on Kim Unlimited, at the time that we are recording this episode.
- [04:59]
Anna
Yes.
- [05:00]
Kim
Sometimes they get taken off. I guess when authors get picked up to be traditionally published, they might get taken off of ku. So we apologize if whatever you're listening to this. If you go, and some of them aren't on ku, we apologize, but they are as of the time of recording this. So just want to make a note of that.
- [05:16]
Anna
Yes, good point.
- [05:17]
Kim
You just never know, you know. Okay, so I'm gonna start with a duology of sorts by Tara DeWitt. And the first book is called Savor It. And I have had this on my TBR for forever. And really, I really wanted to get to book two, but I am too type A, and I needed to read book one first.
- [05:34]
Anna
So the opposite of me.
- [05:36]
Kim
So the opposite of Anna, who will read, like, book four in a series and just be like, yep, I love it. So these books are small town. Very much. Like, it's not Forks, Washington, but it's kind of that same kind of coastal town, but very, like, cloudy and misty. So it's like a very quirky coastal town. It's not like a beachy, summery, sunshiny kind of book. The place that they live is actually really unique and interesting, and I. I really liked that because a lot of the, like, small town books we read, it feels like Stars Hollow, where it's, like, perfect all the time and everything's totally. And this is very much like, no, the weather's not great. Like, it's pretty much cold here year round.
- [06:13]
Anna
It's Forks. That's a good comparison.
- [06:16]
Kim
Yes. Literally, in the Goodreads description, it's like, yes, the quirky coastal town, not Forks, Washington. So I thought that was funny. It's a joke in the series that they kind of get mistaken for Forks because it's a very similar type of vibe.
- [06:28]
Anna
Got it. Okay.
- [06:29]
Kim
Okay. So book one follows Sage, and she lives in this town. She's there her whole life, and she recently broke up with her boyfriend, who is like, the chief of the fire department. And this new man comes into town, and he is a very grumpy, recently dethroned Michelin star chef.
- [06:46]
Anna
Ooh.
- [06:47]
Kim
And he is here with his niece that he is raising after his sister's death. And they kind of come into town. He is going to help open up a new restaurant in town. And all of the people in the town are like, we don't need this fancy, schmancy, Michelin star chef and he's like, I don't want to be here. I'm just here to do my job. And I'm raising this bratty teenager who is acting out.
- [07:07]
Anna
Yeah.
- [07:08]
Kim
And Sage is very sunshiny. She's very. It's a very grumpy sunshine type situation.
- [07:14]
Anna
Right.
- [07:14]
Kim
He moves in kind of next door to her, and they kind of become friends, and they start to hang out, and they kind of strike this little alliance where there's this festival. It's like a hometown competition, And Sage wants to win it because her ex always wins it, and now he's dating somebody else. And they've entered the competition together, and she's like, excuse me, this is my town. Yeah, I'm gonna win this. And Fisher's like, well, I'll help you. We can do it. Because a part of the competition is a cooking competition. She's like, you're a Michelin star show.
- [07:44]
Anna
Let's go.
- [07:44]
Kim
Let's do this dance. We're going to win. I love it.
- [07:46]
Anna
I love this.
- [07:47]
Kim
And he kind of needs to get in good with the town because obviously, as things go in these small towns, like, you kind of have to know people where you can cut some red tape. And he's like, they don't like me. They don't trust me. So maybe if I enter this competition with you, then they'll allow me to kind of work on this restaurant and not get in my way and hate me. So it was very, very cute. There's some steam, some chemistry. Sage has a ton of animals. There's definitely a little bit of that Megan Quinn. Very quippy, kind of zany. I love that conversation. Like, they get themselves in these situations where you're just like, what's happening?
- [08:21]
Anna
How did we find ourselves?
- [08:22]
Kim
How did we get here?
- [08:23]
Anna
Yeah.
- [08:23]
Kim
And the banter is really funny. It was very, very cute. It is a rom com. But there is some things about grief. Fisher has lost his sister, and Sage has lost some loved ones as well. But it's not a heavy book at all. It's very, very sw. Really enjoyed it for what it was. I thought it was a perfect beach read, pool read, plane read. For sure. If you just want something super quick, you can pick up on an airplane. Loved that. So would highly recommend savor it by Tara DeWitt. But what I was really excited about was book two, which is left of forever.
- [08:50]
Anna
Okay.
- [08:51]
Kim
And this is a book about two people who were married and are divorced. And it's a second chance romance between a divorced couple, which I have never read before.
- [09:01]
Anna
Ooh Wait, were we sharing. Swapping divorce books the other day?
- [09:05]
Kim
I think we were. Yes.
- [09:06]
Anna
Okay. Yes. Keep going. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [09:08]
Kim
Okay. So I feel like this is maybe becoming like, a newer trend.
- [09:13]
Anna
I kind of like it because usually the characters are a little bit older.
- [09:16]
Kim
Yes.
- [09:16]
Anna
And so it adds a different element of, like, we've been married, we've been through it, and it's like a second chance in a different way.
- [09:23]
Kim
Yes. Like, to me, this is like a true second chance where it's like, you guys were married.
- [09:27]
Anna
Yeah.
- [09:28]
Kim
And now you're not. So this follows Rin and Ellis Bird, and they are teen lovers turned parents married way too young. They were buried by heartbreak and infertility, and life's just stress. So they broke up and they now live in the same town. They're raising their son Sam, and he is headed off to college. And Ellis, the husband, or the ex husband, convinces Ren to take one kind of last road trip together. They're going to drive Sam to school and drive back together in the same car. And on the way back, they're going to go do some, like, fun stuff together. He's kind of frames it as like a, let's celebrate. We raised Sam. We got him off to college. We did it. They had him when they were super young, like 16.
- [10:04]
Anna
Yeah. Wow.
- [10:05]
Kim
And he was like, we did it. Like, let's celebrate. We owe this to ourselves. But then there is a little bit of, like, that.
- [10:10]
Anna
Is he kind of like. But does he have ulterior motives? Motives? Is he like, I think I like you?
- [10:14]
Kim
I mean, maybe.
- [10:15]
Anna
Yes.
- [10:16]
Kim
Yes, maybe. And he's also a really hot fireman, and he's just very sexy.
- [10:22]
Anna
I love reading about that. Kudos to you if you're married to a man in uniform.
- [10:28]
Kim
Oh, totally. Oh, could never.
- [10:29]
Anna
It could never. It would terrify me.
- [10:31]
Kim
Yes. And there is definitely, like, a little bit of that because. Sorry. Ellis is Sage's sister from book one. And so she. It's Sage and Ellis, and there's two other brothers. And so there is definitely that element of they're going off to fight a fire. Are they going to be okay?
- [10:45]
Anna
Right, right.
- [10:46]
Kim
And there's some letters that are exchanged between Ren and Ellis, and Ren doesn't know that it's Ellis. So I love a letter. I love a little bantery letter back and forth, especially if one person doesn't really know who the other person is.
- [10:59]
Anna
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [11:00]
Kim
This was wonderful. I love this. Everybody says that they prefer this book. I liked both of them a lot in the series. This One just felt very different to me because it's a divorced couple, and they had to have some really raw, vulnerable conversations about, like, ye. Hey, if we're gonna talk about getting back together, we need to understand, like, what broke us down in the first place.
- [11:20]
Anna
Right, right, right.
- [11:21]
Kim
Because divorce is a big deal. You know, it's not just like a breakup. They had a child, and so I thought they handled it really, really well. There was a lot of sexual tension, a lot of intimate moments between them, because that was never an issue with them. Of course.
- [11:36]
Anna
Yeah.
- [11:36]
Kim
So they're trying to kind of fight that attraction. There is some funny side characters, like Ellis's siblings. You know, Sage is there with Fish. There's some brother little fun dynamics. And then as they go on this road trip, the family members kind of start to intervene and, like, cancel one of their rooms so they have to share a room.
- [11:56]
Anna
Oh, I love it. Everyone's in on it.
- [11:59]
Kim
And so the siblings are like, what? Like, I don't. It wasn't me. They're calling them like, so why did our room get canceled? I don't know.
- [12:06]
Anna
I don't know. Yeah.
- [12:07]
Kim
So funny stuff like that. Nosy but well meaning.
- [12:10]
Anna
Right, Right.
- [12:10]
Kim
There's a lot of one cabin, one bed situations, forced proximity, and, you know, we love that. So this was very deeply emotional, but in a beautiful, romantic way. And the steam was fantastic. I just really loved it. I feel like these are ones that I could very blindly recommend to people and be like, I think anybody would pretty much like them. There was nothing.
- [12:29]
Anna
Yeah.
- [12:30]
Kim
Unless you just are really like, I can't get behind the whole, we were divorced and now we're talking about getting back together, which I understand. But I think it's really interesting that writers are doing this now.
- [12:38]
Anna
Yeah, I agree.
- [12:39]
Kim
I kind of like it.
- [12:40]
Anna
I really like that. It kind of makes me want to read that one because I liked the other one that I read. But I think Tara DeWitt would be.
- [12:45]
Kim
A better writer, probably a fantastic writer.
- [12:49]
Anna
The one I'm talking about is Love and Tequila Make Her Crazy by Brittany Nicole and Brittany Nicole. I've talked about her a ton over on Patreon. She is very much a comfort read to me. I love her writing in terms of her hockey. She has a five book hockey romance series, which is all brothers. And there's. It kind of gives me Chestnut Springs vibes with all the siblings. So there's like a layer of not just friendship, but there's like a brotherhood and deep love between all the guys.
- [13:11]
Kim
Sure.
- [13:12]
Anna
Anyways. But she has tons of books. But love and tequila make her crazy. Is a very young couple in love since they were little. Get married, divorced. And he comes back into town, and he's, like, living in Nashville, trying to make it as a singer. She's like, I'm done. I'm gonna open a floral shop. And if you live in Nashville, actually, she has a. There's her name of her flor. Her name is Amelia. The name of her floral shop is Amelia's Flowers. There is actually a flower shop here. I was like, when was this written?
- [13:39]
Kim
What?
- [13:40]
Anna
There is a flower shop down the street. It's my favorite flower shop. They make the most beautiful bouquets. Listeners. Amelia's flowers. Elle Market. It's small, little flower shop. Ben knows that that is, like, the only place he can go get me flowers.
- [13:52]
Kim
Oh, my God, I love that. I love it. That's so fun.
- [13:56]
Anna
But anyways, there was aspects of it that were kind of, I don't know, like, lulls in the writing that kind of bugged me. But I think, Tara, this book sounds really, really fun.
- [14:05]
Kim
I think you would really like it. And you definitely don't need to read book one.
- [14:08]
Anna
Okay.
- [14:09]
Kim
I think. I mean, a lot of the series we talk about, right? Like, they're standalone.
- [14:11]
Anna
Standalones. Yeah, interconnected standalones.
- [14:14]
Kim
Absolutely.
- [14:14]
Anna
You might miss out on some of the dynamics.
- [14:16]
Kim
Yeah. But really, you just need to know that they were. Had a baby young, got married, tried to make it work, got a divorce. So I would highly, highly recommend especially Left to forever by Tara DeWitt. I think it is so fantastic, and I've heard from so many of you guys that you've loved it, too, so.
- [14:30]
Anna
Oh, awesome.
- [14:31]
Kim
Also, sorry, before you go, I was scrolling on TikTok last night, which is a problem, but Elsie Silver, I. She showed up on my for you page, and she was doing this little video with her, I guess, agent or somebody.
- [14:42]
Anna
Okay.
- [14:43]
Kim
And she was like, so what can I tell my readers? Can I. I tell them about my new Emerald something series? And the agent was like, no.
- [14:49]
Anna
Yeah.
- [14:50]
Kim
And she was like, what about my Wild or, you know, Rose Hill series? She was like, no. And she's like, well, can I tell them that Chestnut Springs is getting a. And her agent was like, no. And so it's like a funny little skit. And all the comments were like, wait, what? Chestnut Springs is getting a what? Is getting a what, Elsie?
- [15:03]
Anna
Is it getting a show?
- [15:05]
Kim
A movie? Like, what do you. What do you mean?
- [15:07]
Anna
What do you mean? We've got. We've done all the siblings. I Wonder if she's. Does she have a novella for the dad?
- [15:12]
Kim
So I'm wondering if it might be a Harvey spin off, like a novella or a book about Harvey.
- [15:17]
Anna
He's so old.
- [15:18]
Kim
Like a prequel about Harvey when he was younger.
- [15:20]
Anna
Maybe, like, oh, and his wife before she died.
- [15:24]
Kim
Yeah.
- [15:24]
Anna
Oh, that would be so.
- [15:26]
Kim
So everyone's, like, freaking out in the comments. Like, Elsie. Guys, tell us more about this Chestnut Springs.
- [15:31]
Anna
I love Elsie.
- [15:31]
Kim
Oh, my God, I love. She's fantastic.
- [15:33]
Anna
The only one that I didn't love was the last one, Beau.
- [15:36]
Kim
Yes, agree.
- [15:36]
Anna
That was. That was the only one that I didn't love.
- [15:38]
Kim
I don't even think Christine and I read that one. I think you read it.
- [15:40]
Anna
I read it and I was like, you don't have to.
- [15:42]
Kim
No, but like, oh, my God. Jasper and Daddy Kraal to me scene. And Theo Silva love it.
- [15:53]
Anna
Daddy, Theo.
- [15:55]
Kim
I love it.
- [15:55]
Anna
I mean. Oh, no. Cade, though.
- [15:57]
Kim
Cade.
- [15:58]
Anna
Cade, y'. All. That one rocked us to our core.
- [16:00]
Kim
Porch scene. And the hot tub scene.
- [16:02]
Anna
The porch scene.
- [16:04]
Kim
Rent free.
- [16:04]
Anna
Chef's kiss.
- [16:05]
Kim
Guys, if you have not read the Chestnut Spring series by Elsie Silver, stop. Actually stop this episode right now and go read it. Go find them.
- [16:12]
Anna
Yeah.
- [16:12]
Kim
They are perfection. I think our favorite cowboy romance series.
- [16:15]
Anna
Oh, yeah, no, no, they're absolutely great. And it's just everything about Elsie Silver, the way she writes, the dynamics. I love her Rose Hill series, but I think the Chestnut Springs series is better overall. There's like one book in Rose Hill that I really love, but absolutely. Go pick up Chestnut Springs.
- [16:28]
Kim
Yeah.
- [16:29]
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- [16:36]
Kim
Easy.
- [16:37]
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- [17:23]
Kim
This is the story of the 1. As head of maintenance at a concert hall, he knows the show must always go on. That's why he works behind the scenes.
- [17:32]
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- [17:34]
Kim
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- [17:54]
Anna
Okay, so I am Gonna Do Quickly 2 Mafia books by the same author that I read that I absolutely have had so much fun reading. So Neva, I am so sorry. I looked up how to pronounce her name and I cannot find, like, a broken down phonetic spelling.
- [18:11]
Kim
Okay.
- [18:11]
Anna
But Neva N E V A altage or Altege A L, T A J. So she writes tons of Mafia books. She has an entire series called Perfectly Imperfect. And basically there's like 12 books. I think there's going to be 13 books in the series. Wow. It really is. Choose your own adventure. You can go either on Amazon, you can go on Goodreads, you can on her website. And she breaks down the tropes in each one.
- [18:35]
Kim
Oh, I love that.
- [18:36]
Anna
And the first eight, I think, are like 300 pages or less. Like, they are supposed to be really fast. Just mafia hot and heavy, kind of insta lovey hot and heavy for me. I've read them over, like, not all of them. I have not read all of them, but I've read quite a few of them. Like I think five or six out of the 12. And they are what I pick up when I have four days between us doing a fantasy book. And I just want something that is totally different palette cleanser. But I can read it fast and I don't have to, like, overthink anything and I don't have to get emotionally invested in, like, one of my normal romance books. So Perfectly Imperfect. The whole premise of the series is they are disabled heroes. Some of them have come back from, you know, some of them have ptsd. Some of them are mute, Some of them are deaf.
- [19:20]
Kim
Wow.
- [19:20]
Anna
One guy is in a wheelchair and overcoming and, like, learning how to walk again. There is something about each of these books where in this world, specifically the mafia world, it would be a weakness. And so, like, how do they overcome that? And then the women like helping them through it and. Oh, I love that it adds a different layer to it. So there's like a sweetness to it, I would say. Of course, that's Mafia. So obviously the world they're in is dangerous, violent, and. But these are not dark romances because the men, I mean, it's mafia, so there's arranged marriages. Okay, It's. But the men are very much head over heels. I mean, at first, there's usually like, angst enemies to lovers. Sure. But if they overcome it, there's never anything that they do to the woman that, at least in the ones I have read, that are, like, crossing feminist boundaries, if that makes sense.
- [20:05]
Kim
Yes. Which is not always the case with some of these books Anna tells me about.
- [20:08]
Anna
That's not always the case. But I feel like I went through my dark romance phase and now I tried them again and I'm like, ugh, I just don't like them anymore.
- [20:14]
Kim
Oh, really? Yeah.
- [20:15]
Anna
I went through a phase where I was like, okay, I'm getting into this. But I'm like, eh, it's not for me anymore. But I love Mafia books because I still get that danger element.
- [20:22]
Kim
It's like White Christina love a danger. We do. You love sexy danger. That's what I call it.
- [20:26]
Anna
We love a sexy danger.
- [20:28]
Kim
I love it.
- [20:29]
Anna
So that's the whole Perfectly Imperfect series. But Beautiful Beast is second generation, so it follows the daughter of the first couple in Perfectly Imperfect series, book one. And she is a Mafia princess. Her name is Vasilissia. We're gonna call her Vassy Vasa. I think that's best because I cannot say that.
- [20:47]
Kim
Yeah, that's a mouthful. That's a mouthful right there.
- [20:49]
Anna
And Raphael runs a assassin's syndicate in Sicily. She is, like I said, a Russian princess. Mafia princess. She is a hacker. She is very good with computers. Her father does not approve because he's like, that's dangerous. You're going to get in trouble. Blah, blah, blah. And she loves to hack into companies that she thinks aren't doing nice things. And she just basically donates money for them. She steals their money and, like, donates it.
- [21:14]
Kim
I love it.
- [21:15]
Anna
Of course, Raphael has a security breach. He's like, what the hell? Who donated $12?
- [21:20]
Kim
Oh, my God, that's amazing.
- [21:21]
Anna
She, like, just takes little bits here and there. And her dad again gets so mad at her and he's like, you have to stop this.
- [21:27]
Kim
Yeah.
- [21:27]
Anna
So she's kind of like a little computer nerd. But she's gorgeous. Okay? Of course, you know, she's gorgeous. So it's a Beauty and the Beast. I forgot to say this. It's a Beauty and the Beast retelling. And it's one of the best I've read in, like, various genres because she is beautiful, but she dresses, like, kind of frumpy because she gets again in that world. She's very much a trading commodity as a woman. And so she doesn't like that. And she just. She's Like, I'm smart. I want to go to college. I want to get a PhD or whatever. And Raphael in Sicily is our Beast. He is severely scarred and burned, and he feels like nobody will ever love him. For him, it's just his money and whatever. So he kidnaps her. When she breaks in, he's like, I need you. Since you're a good hacker, I want you to redo all my firewalls.
- [22:15]
Kim
Oh.
- [22:15]
Anna
And he tries to bribe her with money, and she's like, fuck off. I'm rich. I don't need your money. And so he's like, well, I'm gonna hurt your family. So there's that Beauty and the Beast element of, like, when he captures the father.
- [22:25]
Kim
Oh, yes.
- [22:26]
Anna
So he's like, like, I'm gonna hurt your family if you don't do this. And she's like, okay, that's the one thing that will get her to do the job.
- [22:31]
Kim
Of course.
- [22:32]
Anna
But, of course, as she's working on the firewalls, she's purposely kind of taking a longer time because she's getting to know him, and he's kind of trying to understand why he has these, like, feelings for her.
- [22:43]
Kim
Yeah. Oh, my God.
- [22:45]
Anna
He's doing all the things that the Beast does. He literally gets her a golden gown. He buys her, like, all this stuff. And he's insulted that she doesn't want any of the. The beautiful necklaces and jewelry. And what he doesn't realize is that she just wants pieces of him, and he doesn't know how to share himself, and instead, he's trying to woo her with material items.
- [23:03]
Kim
Yeah.
- [23:03]
Anna
And so there's this beautiful, like, them opening up. It's kind of a slower burn, but lots of sexual chemistry. There's even, like, she is walking around the house, and he doesn't like people around him because of his past. Right. And so everybody. No one's allowed to talk in the house. The servants are all very quiet, and she makes a throwaway comment of, oh, gosh, I miss my big family. Like, it's so loud. I feel like I miss that. The next day, she wakes up, and it's, like, cacophony of noise, and the gardeners are yelling at each other. There's painters outside. He was like, oh, okay. She likes noise. And it's like the servants in Beauty and the Beast.
- [23:40]
Kim
Yes, yes, yes.
- [23:42]
Anna
He, like, literally gives them scripts of, here. I need you to argue about this. Make noise. Stop it.
- [23:46]
Kim
It's these, like, sweet little things.
- [23:48]
Anna
I don't know. It was just so different. And like, fun. Yeah. I just had a great time reading it. I think it was very different and a great kind of Beauty and the Beast retelling. I thought about it for weeks and weeks after I finished it. I recommended to a few friends. They all loved it.
- [24:04]
Kim
Oh, I love that.
- [24:06]
Anna
So I think that would be a really fun. If you like Mafia, it's kind of a different spin on Beauty and the Beast. It was just fun to read. That one was a little bit longer. I think that one was like 400 pages. Okay, the next one I want to talk about is Darkest Sins by Neva Altaj. This is actually a part of the Perfectly Imperfect series, not the Second Generation. Okay, I'm gonna just read the synopsis. So Neera, that's our main female. In a night of blood and death, fate brought us together. I thought I was saving the life of an innocent man, a man I'd never see again. I was wrong. A slight shift in the air, A glint of silver eyes in the darkness. I may not see him, but I know he's there. My angel of death, lurking in the shadows, watching over me. A man who took a bullet for me. But he won't touch me, love me, or even share his name. Kai. Darkness, pain, blood. It's all I've ever known. An empty shell of a human being. No heart, no soul, no dreams. But then her light shone through my darkness, breathing life into my dead soul. My fearless tiger cub. My only reason to keep living. So best way to describe this book. This one is a little bit. I think this is like a dark comedy.
- [25:08]
Kim
Okay.
- [25:09]
Anna
It's very interestingly done. I had skipped this book in the series because stalker books are not normally my thing. But my friend Cheryl. Hey, Cheryl. Was like. This was one of her favorites in the series, and she was like, I think you need to read it because it's unlike any other stalker book. She likes stalker books. She's like, he genuinely is socially awkward and all he wants to do is make sure she's safe. There's no, like, doing creepy, weird things to, like, stalk her. It's just, I'm your guardian angel. That's essentially what he is. Okay, so the best way to describe Kai is if you know the show Dexter and the movie the Bourne Identity with Matt Damon.
- [25:44]
Kim
Yes.
- [25:45]
Anna
If Dexter and the Bourne Identity had a baby, that is Kai. He is a child. He was severely traumatized, awful. Raised in an orphanage. And then top secret government agency came in. He, like, failed all empathy tests and was like, we're taking you. And he's Brainwashed and becomes a killing machine. Oh, so just like the Bourne Identity and Dexter. Like, literally, those two merge.
- [26:08]
Kim
Got it.
- [26:08]
Anna
Then. Then comes Neera. She is the daughter of the Italian mafia. She's the princess. But her father has let her go live on her own. She's studying to become a veterinarian, and she stumbles upon him bleeding in an alley. And she's like, I know I shouldn't go in the alley. Like, it's a dangerous man is bleeding.
- [26:27]
Kim
Yeah.
- [26:27]
Anna
She's like, I'm brave and I have to save him because I like to save people. I like to save animals. Sure. She brings him back to the veterinary clinic after hours, and she stitches him up. And he, like, doesn't have human interaction. Nobody has really ever shown him any care or anything. And he doesn't know what to do. And he's like, why are you doing this? Like, what can I. Everything is a trade for him.
- [26:44]
Kim
Yeah. It's, like, transactional.
- [26:45]
Anna
Transactional. And she's like, no, this is just what you do. Like, I'm. I'm helping you. So he ends up, like. He keeps, like, hurting, like, cutting himself and, like, showing up after hours. But he's like. He's like, I fell again. And she's, like, looking at him.
- [26:58]
Kim
Oh, my God.
- [27:00]
Anna
And he calls her his tiger cub because she's pretty and cuddly and cute, but she's, like, sassy and fierce, but, like, also doesn't know when she shouldn't be in danger because she's like, I'm fiercer than I like. But he's like, no. Like, stop putting yourself in danger. And he watches over her, and he looks up that there's, like, a really bad guy living in her building who's, like, a sexual predator and, you know, somehow got off not getting convicted, and he has an accident.
- [27:22]
Kim
Uh oh. Oh, dear.
- [27:24]
Anna
He's like, can't be the neighbor of my sweet tiger cub.
- [27:26]
Kim
That's right. We can't have that.
- [27:28]
Anna
So this is, like, where, like, the darker. Oh, I love that stuff comes in. But the way it's written, there's just these lighter moments that really make it, like, he sees all of her plants. She's allergic to pollen, and he doesn't understand why she has weeds is what he calls them. And so he's like, why don't you have flowers? And she's like, well, I'm allergic. And she's like, but my parsley keeps dying. So at 3am in the morning, he's like, I gotta go find her parsley.
- [27:52]
Kim
Oh, My God.
- [27:53]
Anna
And he, like, breaks into a greenhouse, but he has a moral coat. He doesn't steal. So, like, he leaves money.
- [27:57]
Kim
Stop. I'm dying.
- [27:59]
Anna
He can't read. He's, like, completely illiterate. And so he can't figure out what the parsley is, but he sees parsnips, and so he gets, like, panics and just grabs a bunch of parsnips and bowls, and he, like, leaves them on her front porch, and she knows they're for him, and so she plants them and puts them on her desk where she studies. And he sees them the next night when he's watching over, and he's like, oh, my God, she used the bestest bowl for my parsnips.
- [28:22]
Kim
Like, she really likes my parsnips.
- [28:24]
Anna
But he thinks they're parsley.
- [28:25]
Kim
Parsley. Oh, that's so cute.
- [28:27]
Anna
Anyway, so they. It's like a slow burn because they really take time to get to know each other, and he doesn't feel like he's worthy. And then there's a little second chance aspect to it. Time passes. For reasons. I'm not gonna say the fact that he's illiterate is a big part of some catalysts that happen that separate them at some point. And I normally don't like Second Chance, but this was done really well, and I just really had fun with it. It was very different. There's a lot of actually, other dark comedy moments woven in that are just kind of like, make you just roll your eyes, but also laugh. You're just like, I can't believe he thinks this. And she's always like, what are you talking about? Yeah, I found myself kind of, like, kicking my feet under, but he's like an assassin.
- [29:11]
Kim
But it's. He's sweet, but he's sweet.
- [29:14]
Anna
And he will never let anyone hurt her.
- [29:15]
Kim
Right.
- [29:16]
Anna
And he also loves that she is so smart. And he falls asleep listening to her read about. Like, I don't know. It was just very different and fun.
- [29:23]
Kim
Yeah.
- [29:23]
Anna
That is Darkest Sins by Neva Altaj. And again, it's choose youe Own Adventure. You can go look up all of her books, and they are. For the most part, I've had fun reading them.
- [29:31]
Kim
Yeah. They sound really different from your usual Mafia romances. They are like, I feel like there's different aspects to them than you usually talk about.
- [29:38]
Anna
That's why I like them, if I'm being honest. I feel like there's a different. It adds another layer. Yes. Some of them are shorter, so you might not get as much Character depth and arc. But honestly, sometimes for a Mafia, I just want that. I just want it to be tortured souls who, like, fix each other.
- [29:52]
Kim
Yes. Oh, we love to see it.
- [29:54]
Anna
So, Kim, what do you have?
- [29:55]
Kim
Okay, so next up, I have two books by one of my favorite romance authors, Elizabeth Oor. I have talked about her books so many times. She also wrote under a pen name. I believe it was L? Oor the. Remember, it was like a time travel parallel. I didn't even know that was something else. Yes, that was her under a different name.
- [30:17]
Anna
Oh, my gosh.
- [30:18]
Kim
Yes. So she wrote those time travel books that I talked about. I mean, a long time ago. Ago. And I absolutely loved. And she also writes one of my favorite romance series, I believe is called the Grumpy Devils. And I don't like that. So I'm gonna call it the Devil series. It's like A deal with the devil. If you go look that up on Goodreads.
- [30:37]
Anna
Wait, she wrote A Deal with the Devil?
- [30:38]
Kim
Yes.
- [30:39]
Anna
Is that also under what pen? What name is that?
- [30:41]
Kim
No, it's under. I believe it's under her. Elizabeth o'. Rourke.
- [30:43]
Anna
I feel like I read that.
- [30:44]
Kim
Go look at. It's called A Deal with the Devil by Elizabeth o'. Rourke. And it's. The series is called again, Grumpy Devils, But I respectfully reject that title because I don't.
- [30:52]
Anna
I love that. That's hilarious.
- [30:54]
Kim
I don't like it. Highly underrated Rom com. More romance than rom com series. But, like, so, so good. I feel like not enough people talk about it. I absolutely love it, but that's not what I'm talking about today. So. She has recently come out with a new romance series called the Favorites. And book one is my favorite. Bad decision, Christine. And I read this. I read it and was like, oh, my God, I love it.
- [31:17]
Anna
No, I had it on my tbr.
- [31:19]
Kim
I want you to read this, Anna.
- [31:20]
Anna
I know, I know. And it was just like when I went to New York.
- [31:23]
Kim
Yes.
- [31:24]
Anna
I was barely having time to read. And anyways, I wasn't in a good mindset to read it.
- [31:28]
Kim
I know. And that's just sometimes how it happens. If we're all traveling and stuff and we recommend a book, sometimes we just can't get to it right away. That's how it was with, like, Wolf King and Night Prince. I think I was traveling when you and Christina read that or something. You were.
- [31:39]
Anna
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [31:40]
Kim
But Anna, this book in particular, I know that you would love. So the thing about Elizabeth o' Rourke is she loves a kind of forbidden romance.
- [31:49]
Anna
Okay.
- [31:50]
Kim
Not like too much. Okay.
- [31:53]
Anna
We're not like step siblings.
- [31:55]
Kim
Well.
- [31:55]
Anna
Well, I guess that's not blood. That's not even.
- [31:58]
Kim
Hold on. That might be book two, but stay with me.
- [32:00]
Anna
Oh, hey, I've read two, and they were done well if done well.
- [32:03]
Kim
Clueless. We all loved Clueless. Okay. And they were step siblings, right? Were.
- [32:08]
Anna
Yes, yes. Emma. Yeah.
- [32:10]
Kim
Keep that in your mind. Keep that in your mind. Okay, so book one. So kid is the main female character, and Miller is the main male character.
- [32:17]
Anna
Okay.
- [32:17]
Kim
And Miller dated Kit's sister.
- [32:20]
Anna
Got it.
- [32:20]
Kim
One summer ten years ago. And her sister is married. Has been married, but she's still. Miller was kind of the one that got away for her sister. And her sister still kind of talks about it with Kit sometimes. Cuz she's unhappy in her marriage, which that's awkward. We'll get to in book two. And so Kit has not seen this guy. So since he broke up with her sister and, like, left. They were all in the Hamptons. He was there for a summer. Him and Kit had like, some sort of, like, moments, but she was his girlfriend's little sister. And so he up and left one day, and she never knew why, never saw him. So she hates him.
- [32:51]
Anna
Okay.
- [32:51]
Kim
Because she's like, you broke my sister's heart. You broke her heart. She still kind of talks about you sometimes. Is like the one that got away. She's not over it. And so therefore I hate you. Because, you know, sisters, like, she's ride or die first sister.
- [33:01]
Anna
Of course. Course, yes. If my sister hates you, I hate you.
- [33:04]
Kim
Exactly. You get it?
- [33:05]
Anna
Also, best friend rules.
- [33:06]
Kim
Exactly. Who are we hating? Who are we mad at?
- [33:08]
Anna
Who are we hating?
- [33:09]
Kim
Exactly. So, okay, I'm just gonna read this. Kit Fisher never wanted to spend eight days climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. And she definitely didn't want to do it alongside Miller west, her sister's ex and the guy her family considers enemy number one. But the thing about long hikes with no showers, thin air, and constant proximity, it has a way of turning old grudges into new sparks. So this is enemies to lovers, forced proximity, full of. Of the wittiest banter. This is Elizabeth's funniest book by far. We're talking Megan Quinn level banter. There's so much chemistry.
- [33:38]
Anna
God, now you're really making me want to read it. Okay, go ahead, because I have questions. There's reasons I haven't started it.
- [33:43]
Kim
Okay, so this starts as like, you're the last person I would ever want to be here. With, and it turns into, like, maybe you're the only person I want to be here with. And it's funny. It's messy. It's swoony. This setting is so unique. They're literally climbing Mount Kilimanjaro together with, like, a small group.
- [33:57]
Anna
That's my question. Question. Because the. That's where it lost me a little bit, was I was like, wait, we're climbing a mountain?
- [34:03]
Kim
Yeah. So you are.
- [34:04]
Anna
So there's, like. I guess there's forced proximity because there's, like, camping and the tent.
- [34:08]
Kim
They're camping there. So there's tents also.
- [34:10]
Anna
No showers.
- [34:11]
Kim
No showers. Lots of wet wipes. Yeah. So that was hard for me. I'm not gonna lie to you. That was hard. But it's a slow burn. It's a slow burn. So, like, it's. It's not necessarily, like, there's a whole thing take place.
- [34:22]
Anna
Like, do we eventually come off of Kilimanjaro? The.
- [34:24]
Kim
Yes. Oh, yeah.
- [34:25]
Anna
Okay.
- [34:25]
Kim
Yeah. That's just part of it. So then there's, like, another part where they're together elsewhere in a much more traditional, conventional.
- [34:33]
Anna
With running water.
- [34:34]
Kim
With running water. And baths. And showers. And soap.
- [34:37]
Anna
Got it.
- [34:37]
Kim
Okay. Lots of soap.
- [34:38]
Anna
Got soap.
- [34:39]
Kim
So, you guys. I'm not an outdoorsy person. I don't hike. Being outdoors is like, I'm on a patio.
- [34:44]
Anna
We're outsidey. We're not outdoorsy.
- [34:46]
Kim
Exactly. Anna. We are not outdoorsy. I don't like hiking. So I feel like if I like it, I can. Can pretty confidently say that anybody would like it. And again, it's just a small portion of the book. They're not hiking the entire time.
- [34:57]
Anna
Noted.
- [34:58]
Kim
It's a little bit of a longer book. And so there's a lot that takes place kind of once they get off the mountain, but that just serves to force them to kind of have some conversations about, like, her sister and what really happened and his perspective of things and also forces them to, like, be together. And he's very, like, protective of her because she is not prepped for this physically, really, at all.
- [35:16]
Anna
She just, on a whim, decided, I'm gonna climb a mountain. And not just any mountain.
- [35:20]
Kim
Mount Kilimanjaro.
- [35:21]
Anna
Like, really?
- [35:21]
Kim
Which is like.
- [35:22]
Anna
I know. Yeah.
- [35:23]
Kim
And so he's very much like, oh, my God, you're going to get yourself killed. So he's constantly trying to, like, help her and, like, grab her elbow, and she's like, get off me. I hate you. And he's like, okay, okay. So it's enemies to love her from her end. He's very much like. I mean, he loves to, like, goad her and rile her up and stuff. She, like, hates it, but does she.
- [35:42]
Anna
But. But keep going.
- [35:43]
Kim
But, like, don't stop. But the whole thing is Elizabeth loves to provide that tension, like a reason that they can't be together. And that's kind of where the forbidden romance thing comes into play, right? Where it's like, well, this is my sister's ex. But then you're like, okay, they dated 10 years ago for a summer. It wasn't like they were teens. They were like 19, 20.
- [36:00]
Anna
Right, right.
- [36:01]
Kim
And now they're in their 30s. So it wasn't like this was a long term relationship that her sister had. I mean, just because her sisters hung up on it doesn't necessarily mean that it was as serious as she thinks it is. Okay. I absolutely love this. Christina absolutely loved it. It is so good, you guys. I would highly, highly recommend this to anybody. Elizabeth o' Rourke does such a great job at that. These tension filled romances and these kind of. It's angsty, but not in like a. I want to rip my hair out. And y' all are driving me crazy.
- [36:29]
Anna
Totally.
- [36:29]
Kim
Because there's valid reasons for why these characters can't be together. It's not just like, yeah, yeah. Oh, but I'm bad for you and I'm a bad boy. And you're like, shut up. Like, just be together.
- [36:38]
Anna
You're like, right, right, right.
- [36:39]
Kim
The whole time I'm like, yeah. I'm very curious how this is gonna work out, to be honest with you, because this seems a little messy. I freaking loved it. The steam and the spice was incredible. There's the. This yearning and angst about her books. That is so, so good and highly, highly recommend. My favorite Bad decision.
- [36:57]
Anna
Okay. It's bump up.
- [36:59]
Kim
Yes. Anna. Everyone harass Anna to read my favorite Bad Decision. If you've also read it, I know she would. Absolutely.
- [37:05]
Anna
I know I would love it. I still download it on my Kindle.
- [37:07]
Kim
I know, I know. So, okay. The second book in the series just came out as of recording this like two weeks ago. And it's called my favorite Lost Cause. And it follows the sister.
- [37:17]
Anna
Right? An unhappy marriage.
- [37:18]
Kim
An unhappy marriage. Her husband is a complete dick.
- [37:22]
Anna
Good.
- [37:23]
Kim
And this follows her and her stepbrother Charlie. Now, hold on again. Elizabeth loves the forbidden romance, but this is the movie Clueless. You guys. Like, their parents got married when they were in college. They've never lived together. They've never even really been close.
- [37:37]
Anna
It's like when I read for the fans.
- [37:38]
Kim
Exactly.
- [37:39]
Anna
Which was based on a true story.
- [37:40]
Kim
Really? I didn't know that. Oh, that's so interesting.
- [37:43]
Anna
Yeah, it's based on a true story in the catholic church and all that.
- [37:46]
Kim
Oh, wow. Oh, that's right. I remember that. I remember that. So this is about marin and her stepbrother charlie, and they are step siblings, but they've really never been close because their parents got married when they were in college. Both of their parents have been married, like, five times. So it's kind of one of those rich, messed up family situations.
- [38:01]
Anna
Very clueless.
- [38:02]
Kim
Very clueless. And so they've never, like, lived under the same roof. So technically, they are stepbrother and stepsister, but yes, only technically. So she ends up in south carolina. Her stepbrother Charlie, his mom died, and she left him this crumbling mansion in south Carolina. And so he needs to go down and kind of of see what he wants to do with it. And she ends up going. Because she wants to escape her terrible marriage. And the two of them can barely stain each other, but they're being thrown together in this very eerie, atmospheric house, and it has some ghosts and some other situations, and it kind of forces them together. And she convinces charlie to, like, he was going to just demolish it and, like, sell the land.
- [38:36]
Anna
Yeah.
- [38:36]
Kim
And she was like, no, you can't do that. This has been around for forever. This is historical. Your mom lived here. Like, we need to renovate it. We need to bring it back to, like, its full glory, and then you can decide.
- [38:46]
Anna
Right.
- [38:46]
Kim
And so she decides to stay with him and help him. So obviously, this is a very forbidden romance. It's very slow burn tension, but with these southern kind of gothic vibes, because you've got the renovations and then the family baggage between them. And there's a little bit of a ghost element, which I really, really like. Okay, it's not a ghost story, but there is just a tiny paranormal element of it.
- [39:09]
Anna
Right, right.
- [39:10]
Kim
And I actually really enjoyed that, and I thought that was really fun. So it's like a haunted house renovation forbidden love story. Very slow burn. Which I think is appropriate, given the situation, you know?
- [39:19]
Anna
Totally. Absolutely.
- [39:21]
Kim
You shouldn't just be jumping into bed with your stepsister without really thinking this through.
- [39:24]
Anna
Yes.
- [39:24]
Kim
So if that's something that you guys are like. Can't get past that. But again, they were not raised together at all. They were adults when their parents got married. Right, right, right. So I really, really enjoyed that. Gosh. She just does this tension and angst but it's like this intensity to it because they are adults. And again, I like like that they are adults. They're in their mid-30s, so they are. We're that age. And so it's nice to read books with people that age. Like, we love a hockey romance, but they're like 23 and sometimes I'm like, I can't relate to what we're doing here.
- [39:53]
Anna
Yeah, I know, I know. I get. I got you.
- [39:54]
Kim
So that is my favorite. Lost Cause by Elizabeth o'. Rourke. Highly recommend her books in general. If neither of those sound up your alley, please just go look her up on Goodreads. She has so many other incredible romance books. There's something for everybody. She is one of my favorite romance authors of all time. I really, really recommend her books. There's also the Devil series like I talked about, but highly recommend both of those. They are Chef's Kiss.
- [40:15]
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- [41:10]
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- [41:26]
Anna
Okay, I'm going to quickly touch upon Gloves off by Stephanie Archer, which is book four in the Vancouver Storm series series. Guys, we have talked about this. If you follow us on Instagram. If you don't go, follow us because we post there. Kim and I especially will post a lot of what we're reading lately and we save it to a highlight. Anna's reviews, Kim's reviews.
- [41:43]
Kim
Yep.
- [41:43]
Anna
And I personally have every single review on the first four books in this series. Yep, this one, though, was by far our favorite. All three of us read it.
- [41:51]
Kim
Oh my God, you guys.
- [41:52]
Anna
Chef's freaking Kiss.
- [41:54]
Kim
It's incredible.
- [41:55]
Anna
The best, at least in a hockey romance. Enemies to lovers so good. I'm gonna actually read Christina wrote a review for this and did a little, like, summary of our Patreon. So I'm gonna read from Christina. This is what she wrote.
- [42:07]
Kim
Yay.
- [42:07]
Anna
Alexi is the oldest and grumpiest player on the team. Georgia is the brilliant, no nonsense, team doctor. And they genuinely despise each other for valid reasons. Until a marriage at convenience forces them to move in together. She needs access to her inheritance. He needs to stay in the country. So obviously, fake marriage it is. Uh huh. Georgia's convinced she can't have it all. And Ale, he's terrified of losing everything he's built. But the way their animosity evolves into this electric passion and then into soulmate. Deep love is truly a gift to read. And the spice was, y'. All. The spice was so good.
- [42:41]
Kim
Oh, my God.
- [42:43]
Anna
Like, no notes. Actually, they literally. They have hate sex.
- [42:46]
Kim
Oh, yeah, they do.
- [42:47]
Anna
And it's hot.
- [42:48]
Kim
And it's so hot.
- [42:50]
Anna
There is a one point, I think, where he is like, they're having sex and he like, checks in on her and he's like, are you okay? Because this man is gone for this woman. Oh, he just has to hide it. And she's like, I hate you, you.
- [43:01]
Kim
Yeah.
- [43:01]
Anna
So they're having sex and he's being a little, like, rough. And he's like, oh, are you okay? And in her head she's like, this asshole is checking on me. And she's like, her response is, I barely feel it. It must be like a baby carrot. And then he's like, all right, hellfire, let's fucking go.
- [43:16]
Kim
Let's go. Oh, my God, you guys, this is one of the best sports romances we've ever read. It's so fun. It's so freaking good. This is enemies to lovers. Like, this is what I want. I want, like, I hate you, but, like, I want to rip your clothes off.
- [43:31]
Anna
There was just enough angst with also sprinkled sweet moments and, like, him being observant of what she needs and tending to those needs in a way that because her independence and her wanting to do things herself is so important to her. He's like, very cognizant of that.
- [43:48]
Kim
Sure.
- [43:48]
Anna
And then she is much more slower on the uptake of, like, oh, I think I like him.
- [43:54]
Kim
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [43:55]
Anna
They both have very good reasons for wanting what they want and behaving the way they do.
- [43:59]
Kim
Absolutely.
- [43:59]
Anna
I don't know. I love the forced proximity, the marriage of convenience aspect. The enemies to lovers. There were so many good tropes in this. And I think all three of us were kicking our feet under the covers. Oh, the My wife moments were amazing, guys.
- [44:17]
Kim
It's so good.
- [44:18]
Anna
It's so good.
- [44:19]
Kim
I cannot overstate this. Even if you don't want to read the other books in the series, I think you could just read this one.
- [44:25]
Anna
You could just read this one one. But I will say, this entire series is really good.
- [44:28]
Kim
Agreed.
- [44:29]
Anna
I'm the queen of read what you want to read in whatever order you want to read it. But I have read them as they've come out, and I would not do it any other way.
- [44:36]
Kim
Agreed.
- [44:37]
Anna
Because I feel like you build up to specifically Alexi's character because you see him being this grumpy man throughout the rest of the books. Oh, God, it's so good. And Georgia is just. I don't know. I really love Georgia's character. I think we could have taken her and she could have gone too far one way, and then she could have been off putting, but she's not at all. And, like, what she wants and the things that she strives for in her life that are important to her, it really makes sense. And it. As a woman in, like, as seeing friends that are in medicine, women in medicine, the amount of shit that they have to put up with and what they have to do to, like, just keep up with the guys, not because they're not any more talented, any more intelligent. It's just a product of having a bunch of. Of older men as their superiors.
- [45:19]
Kim
Yep.
- [45:19]
Anna
I really appreciated that. So, yeah, I really. It was a great book, guys.
- [45:24]
Kim
It's truly perfection. There was nothing I didn't like. There was nothing that didn't work for me. It was just so good, guys.
- [45:30]
Anna
There were Twilight references.
- [45:32]
Kim
Yes.
- [45:32]
Anna
Where the hell you been, loca?
- [45:35]
Kim
I died.
- [45:36]
Anna
It was so funny.
- [45:38]
Kim
I love it. Texting each other, dying, laughing, like. It's so, so good, you guys. That whole series, so good. It's fantastic. Like Anna said and Gloves off was by far, I think, the best sports romance I'll read this year.
- [45:48]
Anna
Yes. Agree. Kim. I think you have one more before we round out.
- [45:52]
Kim
I do have one more. So we're gonna go a little thriller, guys. A little bit thriller, mystery, kind of. We're going Pretty Little Liars vibe. Okay. Ooh. So this is called Thrashers by Julie Soto. Julie Soto also wrote that Roses and Chains book, and she's also written several other books. This is her first foray in into young adult thrillers. Okay.
- [46:14]
Anna
Okay.
- [46:14]
Kim
So this is very Pretty Little Liars. If you are like, oh, I missed that show before. It kind of went off its rocker and went insane and had all these crazy twists and turns. But you love the original aspect of getting these texts.
- [46:26]
Anna
Yes.
- [46:26]
Kim
And you kind of don't know who to trust in your friend group, and it's very dysfunctional. Okay, so I'm just gonna read this. Either you're in or you're out. Welcome to the Thrashers, the elite friend group at New Helvetia High. They're everything everyone wants to be. Jod Dylan was never meant to be one of them. Julian, Lucy, Paige, and the infamous Zack Thrasher are rich, sophisticated, and love attention. Jody feels out of place, but Zach's her childhood best friend, so she's in. Then Emily Mills, who desperately wanted to be a Thrasher, dies, and the whispers about the Thrashers begin. As Emily's journal surfaces, detectives close in, and Jody faces an impossible choice. Betray her friends or protect herself. But as eerie messages and strange occurrences escalate, it becomes. Becomes clear Emily isn't done with them yet.
- [47:08]
Anna
Oh, my God. This is very Pretty Little Liars.
- [47:10]
Kim
Very like, oh, my God. Did we. Did we?
- [47:13]
Anna
That's fine.
- [47:13]
Kim
It's all about guy named Zack Thrasher, who I'm picturing as the main guy from Saved by the Bell.
- [47:19]
Anna
Remember him? Yes.
- [47:20]
Kim
Isn't his name Zach?
- [47:21]
Anna
Zach. His name is Zach.
- [47:22]
Kim
Yes. Yes. So very much Pretty Little Liars. I won't really get into it too much, but you've got, of course there is, like, a little bit of a supernatural vibe because there's, like, these flickering lights and weird texts and chilling accidents, and it's like, is Emily haunting them or is it the guilt? And the police and the detectives are closing in on them because Emily left a journal.
- [47:40]
Anna
Oh, boy.
- [47:41]
Kim
But is it true? Are the things that she wrote in there true? Or maybe was she trying to sway the detectives and the police and the town a certain way because she's upset about maybe not being in their group? She was this kind of awkward, nerdy girl who they were kind of being nice to, just trying to be kind to her. And maybe she. She misinterpreted things, and the group kind of all bands together, but Jody is a little bit on the outside, and so she's kind of wanting to find out the truth. And so she's kind of our main character.
- [48:08]
Anna
Right.
- [48:08]
Kim
And finally kind of being like, wait, this isn't okay. How we treat people isn't okay. And what really happened with Emily? Yeah. Yeah. So I absolutely loved it. I love Pretty Little Liars I love a thriller. There was a twist at the end that I didn't see coming that I really enjoyed. And I think if you're just kind of looking for something nostalgic to give you that Pretty Little Liars vibe, you want something quick and easy. It's not too scary. It's not graphic. It's not intense.
- [48:31]
Anna
Right.
- [48:32]
Kim
And you're kind of just wanting those, like, fall, kind of spooky vibes.
- [48:35]
Anna
Yeah.
- [48:36]
Kim
Highly recommend. Thrashers by Julie Soto. I really loved it for what?
- [48:40]
Anna
It was good. Okay. That actually sounds really fun.
- [48:43]
Kim
It is really fun. I really enjoyed it. I thought it was a really interesting. It's not a unique premise, but it was interesting, especially for those of us who watched Pretty Little Liars. And it was kind of a pivotal part of our growing up. It was such a big piece of media as we were, like, teenagers and going into college and stuff.
- [48:57]
Anna
Yeah. Oh, my God. I actually stopped watching it.
- [48:59]
Kim
Me too.
- [49:00]
Anna
When it went off the rails.
- [49:01]
Kim
Me too.
- [49:01]
Anna
Yeah. I was like, well, I'm just gonna let this live. The first few seasons that I loved. We're gonna live at that.
- [49:05]
Kim
Exactly. I did the exact same thing. I was like, no, I'm out. There's too many. I can't keep track of who A is. There's been, like, six days.
- [49:11]
Anna
Like, I'm done. I'm done.
- [49:12]
Kim
Okay, what's next?
- [49:14]
Anna
Okay, so we're gonna round out with some Highlander romances, and one of them Kim and I actually read together. And the name of the book is When a Scott Ties a Knot by Tessa Dare.
- [49:24]
Kim
Yeah.
- [49:24]
Anna
Now, when Kim texted me, she was so cute. You were like, I don't know if you've read this, but this was, like, a really fun. And I was like, have I read it? Yes, I have.
- [49:32]
Kim
I've read it, actually, multiple times. And then Anna reread it with me.
- [49:36]
Anna
Read it for, like, a third time with Kim. And I hadn't read it in a couple years, and so I forgot some of it, and I had so much fun. So I'm just gonna read to you what I wrote because I posted this on our Patreon at the end of the summer.
- [49:47]
Kim
Yeah.
- [49:47]
Anna
What does a young lady who suffered from social anxieties do when she is thrust into the season and must take a husband? Well, she makes up having a Scottish beau, of course. For years, she writes letters to Captain Mackenzie. At first, Maddie is just detailing her grand scheme, but the letters turn into a diary of sorts where she is also sharing vulnerable pieces of herself. But, of course, the charade must come to an end. So she tragically kills him off. But when a very real Captain Mackenzie shows up at her Scottish castle years later, claiming to be her long lost love, while they have no choice but to continue the ruse. This book, guys, was adorable.
- [50:25]
Kim
Amazing.
- [50:26]
Anna
So Maddie, our main female character, has what I would probably say today is, like, similar to agoraphobia, probably not that intense. But she's got severe social anxiety. She clams up in a crowd.
- [50:36]
Kim
Yes.
- [50:37]
Anna
Actually has panic attacks.
- [50:38]
Kim
Yep.
- [50:38]
Anna
And she can't stand to be at the balls and all this. So she makes up that she fell in love while on vacation and is engaged now to a Scottish soldier in the army. And they're all fighting the Napoleonic wars. So she writes to him for years, you guys, Years.
- [50:53]
Kim
And actually, she sends the letters.
- [50:55]
Anna
Yes. She mails them. Then she also writes mail back to herself because it'd be weird if she never received mail.
- [51:02]
Kim
Right, Right.
- [51:02]
Anna
So she has to write letters from Captain MacKenzie to herself, and then she has to, like, send them from another post office to herself.
- [51:09]
Kim
Love it.
- [51:09]
Anna
It's very detailed.
- [51:11]
Kim
It is.
- [51:11]
Anna
But she, like, shares parts of herself, and she loves to draw, and she's kind of a scientist. And think of, like, a thesaurus of animals and science where she likes to do the illustrations.
- [51:20]
Kim
Exactly.
- [51:21]
Anna
So when Captain MacKenzie shows up with all these Scottish men, which was a very real thing back then, when the Scottish came back after the Napoleonic War, a lot of the English had taken over their lands, and so he has nowhere to go. But she inherited a Scottish castle, and so he's like, hey, we were engaged, and now we're gonna get married, and my men are gonna live here.
- [51:39]
Kim
Yep.
- [51:39]
Anna
And she's like, what?
- [51:41]
Kim
You're not real. He's like, oh, but I am. And this castle in this land is gonna be mine because you said we were engaged to be married, and then you killed me off, and you killed me.
- [51:49]
Anna
And he's, like, personally offended that she killed. He's like, I can't believe. Because, like, these letters are actually a lifeline for him. He loved them. And then he's like, yeah, imagine my surprise when I get the letter that says, I'm so sorry I have to kill you.
- [52:01]
Kim
Kill you. Because she obviously never thought she made him up. So she's thinking, I'm mailing these letters off into the oblivion. She obviously didn't know that they were actually going to. She didn't think Logan McKenzie was a real person. So she's like, these are just going off into the abyss.
- [52:12]
Anna
Yes.
- [52:12]
Kim
And they were going to him the whole time. Oh, you guys.
- [52:16]
Anna
It was really good. The side characters, all of his friends.
- [52:19]
Kim
Who his men that he grew up.
- [52:20]
Anna
With and that were in his regimen. And there's one in particular who just has like a tragic but beautiful story. And I got teary eyed reading parts of his character.
- [52:30]
Kim
Me too.
- [52:30]
Anna
And it's so funny because she's combative but also a proper lady.
- [52:35]
Kim
Yeah.
- [52:35]
Anna
And so it's like very witty and fun to see the dynamics and you know, he likes to get a rise out of her, he likes to see her blush and she is, you know, not the easiest to like, woo.
- [52:48]
Kim
Yes. She's very prim and proper and he's a little rough around. I mean he's been at war. He's fighting for his life and his men and he's like, I am going to have a place for my men to stay and I will do whatever it takes to make that happen.
- [53:00]
Anna
Yes.
- [53:00]
Kim
And so there's kind of this battle between them, like a battle of wills of sorts and it's. Oh my gosh, it's so good.
- [53:07]
Anna
I really loved it. She has pet lobsters that she's trying to see if they'll mate. That's a big part of the story, is her watching the lobsters. There's just like these really great elements of comedic moments.
- [53:17]
Kim
Yep.
- [53:17]
Anna
There's spice, there's love, there's tension.
- [53:20]
Kim
Yeah.
- [53:20]
Anna
It was a wonderful book. Clearly. I've read it through three times.
- [53:23]
Kim
Yeah. It's so well rounded for a historical romance. I absolutely loved this so much. It was such a delight. So much about this worked. I loved his men and I think her aunt lives there with her, right?
- [53:34]
Anna
Yes. And she's so funny. She's very nosy. She puts herself into the situations and she's trying to like make them fall in love and.
- [53:42]
Kim
Yep. Yeah.
- [53:43]
Anna
You know, it's great.
- [53:44]
Kim
I love the tension in a historical romance because there's this propriety aspect of it. Right?
- [53:49]
Anna
Yes.
- [53:49]
Kim
And so they're of kind, kind of fighting that as well. Of like, well, this isn't done. And it's these yearning glances and touches.
- [53:55]
Anna
She's like, we can't be in the room alone. He's like, well, we're engaged. And she's like, not really. I don't know you.
- [54:00]
Kim
Yeah, you're a complete stranger.
- [54:02]
Anna
It's like really sweet. Yes. And that's what makes, that's why I love historical romances because it makes all of those little touches and glances and the moments they do get alone Even more meaningful.
- [54:13]
Kim
Yes.
- [54:14]
Anna
And so I want to finish out this episode with a book. Book called the Bride by Julia Garwood.
- [54:19]
Kim
Okay.
- [54:20]
Anna
And this is actually not on ku. You do have to purchase this one, and I have not finished it, so I can't give my full endorsement yet.
- [54:26]
Kim
Okay.
- [54:26]
Anna
But I am trying to finish it because I'm doing another recent reads with Anna over on Patreon in a few weeks. And I wanted to just touch upon this, though, listeners, because if you do like Scottish Highlander books, this one so far is ticking all the boxes.
- [54:39]
Kim
Okay.
- [54:40]
Anna
Now, this one, though, takes place in the 1100s.
- [54:42]
Kim
Whoa.
- [54:43]
Anna
This is much older than a lot of my other books. So we have by edict of the Scottish king and the English king. They're trying to, like, blend the two lands and stop the infighting. So a Scottish guy has to marry an English girl, and it's an arranged marriage. And so he comes down, he, like, picks her up. Her name is Jamie. And he keeps being like, why do you have a boy's name?
- [55:03]
Kim
Yeah, I was gonna say that sounds like a boy's name back then.
- [55:06]
Anna
And she's like, well, then that's because it's my father's name. And he doesn't have any sons, and he's. He wanted to name his final daughter Jamie.
- [55:12]
Kim
Got it.
- [55:13]
Anna
And his name is Alec. So it's an arranged marriage, and he picks her up, and she has. As the youngest in the family. She is very much the oldest, though. She runs the household. She was not his biological child. Her mother was married to someone else. He died, and then her father's wife died or her stepfather's wife died, and so they married. And he's basically raised her, though, since she was an infant.
- [55:32]
Kim
Okay.
- [55:33]
Anna
And he's taken her in as his own.
- [55:34]
Kim
Got it.
- [55:34]
Anna
But she has three older siblings, and. And they don't do anything. It's kind of. There's like a Cinderella aspect to it.
- [55:40]
Kim
I was gonna say sounds like Cinderella, but, like, she.
- [55:42]
Anna
It doesn't have the hate in there, but she definitely does way more than anybody else.
- [55:47]
Kim
Got it.
- [55:47]
Anna
And all of her drive. There's a little bit of feyre in that she needs to take care of people, and that's what her purpose is in life. And so she marries Alec. Because it's the 1100s, though. There's also a lot more. I will say, I think this book does so far, showcases the time period in a little bit more of a realistic way than I would say, some of the other.
- [56:08]
Kim
Okay.
- [56:09]
Anna
Highlander books, like, women don't have rights. And that is a battle in the beginning of this book. So that was interesting to read and probably very appropriate for the time period.
- [56:18]
Kim
Accurate? Sure, yeah.
- [56:19]
Anna
It took me about 15% to get used to the writing style. It's a very stylistic way of writing of that time period. I feel like she really kind of, like, leaned into.
- [56:27]
Kim
Got it.
- [56:28]
Anna
So I had to kind of get into the groove of the writing and, like, the way it's just kind of rolled off my tongue. But then once I got past that, it's been really fun. She. Jamie has a backbone. She is like, this is the way I like to do things. I'm gonna make the best of the situation. Alec is very like, I'm just marrying you because I have to. I don't want to be in love. But there's also a whodunit aspect. Oh. Because the prologue opens, Alec is already married, and he's burying his first wife. And everybody thinks that she died by suicide. But there's. The prologue's POV is from the murderer's perspective, and so not Alec, not Alex's perspective. The prologue is from the murderer's perspective. But you don't know who the murderer is.
- [57:10]
Kim
Okay.
- [57:11]
Anna
No, no.
- [57:11]
Kim
Okay. But it's not the main male character. Right. That killed her.
- [57:14]
Anna
No, no, no, no. They were, like, newlyweds, and he didn't really know her, and so he's, like, burying her. She can't be buried in a cemetery because she died. Died by suicide. That's what everybody thinks.
- [57:22]
Kim
Intrigued.
- [57:23]
Anna
So Jamie is like, I'm marrying somebody.
- [57:26]
Kim
Whose wife has died under kind of mysterious circumstances.
- [57:29]
Anna
Yes. And things are happening. And things are happening to her, and I don't know. It's really fun.
- [57:34]
Kim
Intriguing.
- [57:35]
Anna
Yes, it's really fun. And she very much loves to find loopholes in what Alec gives her. She's like, so I would like to rearrange the kitchens. And he's like, fine, do whatever. But she uses the word rearrange. And he thinks she means just, like, move things around, whatever. Because she's the lady of the castle now.
- [57:51]
Kim
Yeah.
- [57:52]
Anna
No, she literally means I'm going to rearrange in terms like, I'm moving the building because I don't like the building being this far from the castle.
- [57:58]
Kim
Stop.
- [57:59]
Anna
He's like, why is there a hole in my castle?
- [58:01]
Kim
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, my gosh.
- [58:03]
Anna
There's all these moments, like, she loves to get a rise out of him. And she said, will you ever raise your voice at me? And he says, no, I will never hurt you, and I will Never yell at you. And she's like, well, you must be quite the man to be able to never raise your voice. And he's like, I will never hurt you. And she's like, okay, okay. So then when he does undoubtedly lose his temper, she looks at him with like, I can't believe you did that. And she takes money out of this. It's a Catholic church. The indulgences. You could pay the priest an indulgence to basically shorten the amount of time that someone's life would be in purgatory. So basically, every time he yells at her, she's like, you lied. I'm gonna take the coin and go pay the priest to save your soul.
- [58:37]
Kim
And, like, stop it.
- [58:38]
Anna
And she does it with, like, such a. Like, look how great I am.
- [58:41]
Kim
Yeah. Oh, my God.
- [58:42]
Anna
He doesn't have the heart to tell her, like, the priest keeps coming back with all the money. He's like, we don't accept English coin here. I don't know what to do with this. And he's like, just put it back in the box. And so she keeps taking the same.
- [58:53]
Kim
Coins and doing it.
- [58:54]
Anna
And he's just like, it's the same 10 coins over and over again.
- [58:58]
Kim
Oh, my God. That's so funny.
- [59:00]
Anna
There's these really great, funny moments. The spice is good. I'm having fun with it, but I haven't finished it. So I think I know who did it. And I will say if I'm correct.
- [59:10]
Kim
Correct.
- [59:10]
Anna
I might have a hot take on that. Okay, so I will follow up. But I might have a hot take on who did it.
- [59:16]
Kim
If I am correct, you'll have to post on stories and do, like, an Anna's review and then save it to a highlight.
- [59:21]
Anna
I will. I will. I really think, Kim, I think you might like this.
- [59:23]
Kim
Oh, I did. I'm intrigued.
- [59:25]
Anna
You just have to kind of get used to the writing style.
- [59:28]
Kim
Okay, got it. I am intrigued. A historical romance with a whodunit. I know.
- [59:32]
Anna
I will say it's light whodunit.
- [59:33]
Kim
Sure, sure.
- [59:34]
Anna
It doesn't come in a lot till maybe the second half.
- [59:36]
Kim
Got it.
- [59:36]
Anna
But it's called the Bride by Julia Garwood. Okay, perfect. And it's fun. It's not on ku, so I want to.
- [59:42]
Kim
Before we end this episode, I wanted to touch upon. So when Christine and I did our last episode, which was actually current romance reads, I believe, because a lot of them weren't on ku. I will link that in our show notes if you have not watched that. But in that we did our TBRs and Christine and I both mentioned that we really wanted to read the Magnolia Parks books by Jessa Hastings. Well, tell listeners besties we did and we absolutely freaking loved them. It became our whole personality. We flew through them. We just were so sucked into this world and it just took over our whole lives. And so we read all of the books. We did book chats over on our Patreon for both tiers for the first four books in the series. We did not do a chat on the fifth one because we were kind of back and forth on whether Christina was going to read it. There's a video. Very big element of grief in that book. So we didn't do one on the last book. Well, the last one that's out, Jess is taking her time with the sixth book. But we absolutely loved them. So those chats are over on Patreon. Please go follow us over there and you can search Magnolia Parks and all three of them should come up. We cannot recommend them enough. Just what a wild ride. It's the closest thing that I've. It's not at all Throne of Glass, but it's like you start off this journey with these characters and you're with them for five books and they're long so you feel like you go on quite the journey and adventure with them and by the end of it you feel really attached and close to them. Hence kind of my comparison to Throne of Glass. But I absolutely love them. If you guys have any questions or anything like that, feel free to DM me on our Instagram. Happy to always chat about those books. Friend of the podcast, Lindsay Rogers, who we went to the Ars tour with and is now one of my like very good friends. She's reading them and she's sending me all these really fun voice notes and texts and it's kind of like ACOTAR and Tog where it's really fun to like relive it through your friends reading it. Cuz there's so many, many ups and downs, there's so many roller coasters, there's so many reveals.
- [61:28]
Anna
Right.
- [61:28]
Kim
And it's just really, really fun. So highly recommend that entire series if you have not. And please go check out our chats over on Patreon for those.
- [61:37]
Anna
All right guys, we are going to wrap it up here. This was so much fun.
- [61:41]
Kim
Yeah, it was.
- [61:42]
Anna
And just a reminder, we will have all the books that we talked about in order listed in our show notes. Kim and I will also put a couple books that are on our TBR at the bottom. Bottom. So things that we are looking forward to that are coming out in the next like month and a half or things that we have just been excited to wait till it's fall to read.
- [61:58]
Kim
Yeah.
- [61:59]
Anna
And so yeah, so check the show notes for all of those and until next time, cheers and happy reading.
- [62:03]
Kim
Bye Bye. Well friends, that wraps up another episode of Flights of Fantasy Podcast. Don't forget to join our book club community on Instagram and TikTok at flights of Fantasy Podcast where you can share your thoughts, theories and favorite moments with us and fellow listeners. We'd love to hear from from you. If you enjoyed today's episode, please rate and review us on your favorite podcast platform. Your support helps us spread the magic of Romantasy to even more book lovers. Until next time, keep dreaming, keep reading, and remember every good story deserves to take flight.
- [62:44]
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