Fall Into You by Caroline Frank

In chapter 33, Torry (she/her) and Robyn (she/her) recap Fall Into You by Caroline Frank (6:01). Then get into their Internet Investigation, Wonder Whys, Gripes and Grumbles, and Sequel Scoop (59:57). Content Warning: Brief discussion about loss of a parent throughout the episode. Take care! Spoiler Warning: While we explore Fall Into You in detail, rest assured that there won't be any spoilers in the episode beyond this book.  Robyn’s Previous Appearances Bonus 1: The Bachelorette Season 15 Premiere Recap Check out Robyn’s seasonal Spotify playlists mentioned in the episode. Leave a voicemail question or comment for Torry to include in a future episode. Suggest a book here. Upcoming Episodes: October 23: The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han November 6: Outlander by Diana Galbaldon November 20: The Trouble with Hating You by Sajni Patel Follow Torry on Instagram, Twitter, Letterboxd, and GoodReads. Check out Torry’s pop culture podcast: Ready to Be Petty. Subscribing and leaving a rating helps us find new listeners! Thank you. Music by Simon Tebbenham.

Episode Transcript

(00:20):
Welcome to Ready to be Romanced.I'm Tori.
And I'm Robin. And today we're discussing.
Thank you. Robin, welcome to the podcast.
Can you tell the listeners a little bit about yourself?
Yeah, thanks so much for having me on.
Hello everyone. Lovely to be here.

(00:41):
I'm calling in today from New Westminster, BC.
I live out here. I love it so much.
I've lived in BC for about 10 years and I used to live on the
island for couple of those yearsand that's one of the ways that
Tori and I really got connected.And the first time I was on the
pod, it was actually in Victoriaand we talked a lot about

(01:02):
Bachelorette. And I would say I'm still
watching just about as much Bachelorette as I was then, so.
I love that I didn't know that Ididn't know that that you kept.
Yes, you did continue to watch. Yeah, we're.
Still keeping up. I would say I don't maybe watch
as many episodes, but I'm like, I'm still up to date, you know,
I'm watching the recap videos, I'm following them on their

(01:24):
socials and I'm really obsessed with the Golden Bachelorette
right now because the men on that season are just so pure.
And it's it's very nice. So big fan.
I love that. And you are really part of the
RTBP, no, the RTBR universe because Mason is your husband

(01:44):
and Megan is one of your best friends.
That's. True, yes.
So I have heard about the experience of being on the pod
and I know that they thought it was so much fun.
So I was very honored to be invited on.
So thank you for having me. Oh my God, I'm excited.
I know this, but tell the listeners, are you a big romance
reader? OK, this is a great question and

(02:07):
I would say that I used to be very much into non fiction.
Like that's what I was mostly reading a few years ago, but I
recently got a Kobo and I have kind of gotten back into
reading. It kind of fell off for me a
little bit. Just overall, I wasn't doing it
as much and since I had this to be able to take wherever with

(02:28):
me, I've definitely been readingmore and I've been doing lots of
reading for school recently, butI started downloading a few
romance novels and just devouring them.
I think it's just nice to have areally easy read, something
that's very fun and light. And so I've been getting into
that. The one thing that I feel like I

(02:50):
need to say on this pod, becauseit's very much about the romance
books is everyone that I know ormost people that I know who are
interfeeding romance love series, like, you know, Acatar
or 4th Wing or whatever, those ones with fairies and all of
that. And I generally love fantasy.
Like I'm a huge Lord of the Rings nerd, but I for some

(03:12):
reason cannot get into that romance book.
Like that's so funny. First book in A Court of Thorns
and Roses to like 80% and then Iput it down and I just like
couldn't, I just didn't finish it.
I don't know. I just need it to be grounded in
the real world or, or something.I'm just like, who are they
talking about? What is this?

(03:34):
I don't know. So I'm sorry to all of you who
will try to those. My friends have been working on
it for years and it's still not happening.
But I have found that I really enjoy these types of novels that
we're talking about today. Yeah, so saying contemporary
romance novels, that is so funny.
But I famously also, the first time I read A Court of Thorns

(03:57):
and Roses fit like paused at the80% mark for like 6 months.
And then my friend I, it was either Megan or Courtney and
they were like, you need to finish, like you need to just
like actually finish it. And so I get that I it's not
everyone's cup of tea. Yeah.

(04:17):
And I think with like a lot of those series, like what I hear
repeatedly is like, you have to read the second book or you have
to let it get through. And I'm like, if I'm not getting
all the info in the first one, Ijust can't be bothered.
Like I don't have the patience for that.
That is, that is so fair. And like that's I think the best
part of romance is like everyonecan find their own like sub

(04:38):
genre to really like because it's so diverse.
Yeah, definitely. It's very fun and I really
liked, you know, the the trope here, which is brother's best
friend, which is very fun. I'm a big fan of that.
I definitely love a little, you know, Grumpy Sunshine.
There's a couple other series that I've read that I really

(04:59):
just, I feel like I can get intoit and I'm like, I know some of
it is silly and light hearted and that's what makes it work
for me. Totally.
I actually don't know this. You have siblings, but you don't
have a brother, right? I do have a brother.
I have an older brother, yeah. Did you ever have a crush on one
of his friends? So he's 5 1/2 years older, so

(05:22):
like a pretty big age gap. And I would say that I don't,
no, I don't feel like I ever have.
Like, I don't know that there's someone that I was like, really,
really into that he was friends with probably like a little bit
of a school girl crush when we were younger.
But I don't know if I would consider this person to be my
brother's best friend, more so than just my neighbor, my

(05:47):
brother, you know? So it's like, I don't know, but
the concept is great. I really like the concept too,
and it's funny, like I don't have a brother, but I think
yeah, it's just a cute concept for sure.
Yeah. OK, let's I think, dive into the
book. So spoiler warning, we're going
to be discussing Fall into You and just a brief content warning

(06:10):
that we will be, again, briefly mentioning, we won't get into
like the nitty gritty, but therewill be discussion about death
of a parent. So the book was written by
Caroline Frank. Have you read any of her other
books? I don't think so, but I saw that
there's another one coming out, which I'm sure we'll talk about
towards the end here. And I, I would read another one.

(06:32):
I thought the writing was, well,we'll get into that.
But I thought the writing was decent enough that I'm like, I
could read another book for her.Yeah, no, totally.
Me too and it was published January 1st 2021.
I just want to before we like start the recap like what were
your like just off the top thoughts about this book because

(06:52):
we were we were DM ING about this and like lol ING about some
things. Yeah, so I ended up reading this
book on the plane to and from California, where I was a couple
weekends ago. And I just, I went through it so
fast. Like it did not take me very

(07:13):
long to get through. So I appreciated that.
I would say I had a lot of feelings as I was reading it.
Mason was, of course, with me onthis trip.
And at one point we're in the bar at the airport on our way
back and I'm close to the end. And I'm just like, I cannot
believe that this man is doing this.
Like, I just, I had a lot of feelings about it.

(07:33):
And he was like, save it for thepod.
Don't tell me. Yeah.
So lots of feelings. I would say this, you know, it's
kind of mid tier, but it broughta lot out of me.
So I, I don't know if that's necessarily good or bad, But the
one thing that was really working for me right now while
reading it, I mean, we're recording this on October 4th.

(07:57):
So it's starting to be fall. And we actually changed what we
were planning to read together because I had seen some of these
fall themed books and you were so gracious too, to change and
and read something different. But I'm now thinking about what
other fall themed romances I might like to read because it
just feels like it gets you in the spirit of things. 100% I

(08:19):
have actually never like themed my reading according to the
season and that I thought was like game changer.
Like I loved when they like wentto the pumpkin patch and like
they were just like in cozy likesweaters and stuff like that.
I that like made the entire bookfor me.

(08:40):
Yeah, it just felt correct. And I'm ready for the other one
we talked about reading is Pumpkin Spice Cafe, and I will
absolutely be reading that. And I've been thinking about, I
know that hockey romances are big right now and I haven't
actually gotten into that yet, but I feel like November,
December is the perfect time forthat.

(09:00):
Absolutely, yeah. I really like that.
And this book, like I actually like really, really liked like
the 1st 3/4. It was just the ending that was
like a little nuts. Like I actually was crazy.
It was a huge like I was shocked.
Yeah. Like I I was like fully shy.

(09:22):
Let's let's save the spoiler forlike the end of the episode.
But like, I actually was like, like I gasped.
I, I, I just did not see that happening at all.
So I, I really, really liked thefirst like little bit.
I wish the ending was like a little bit tweaked but.
Yeah, well, that's the part liketowards the end where it goes

(09:44):
off the rails. That's where I was like in the
airport bar being like, what thefuck is going on like?
I truly was like, like screaminglike I literally was like I was
like, I need to talk to someone about this.
Like I was like, this is insane.So so our main character is Liza
and she's a psychology grad student living in New York and

(10:08):
we meet her getting dumped by her fiance Jeremy, who is a
professor. And I love books that start with
a dumping. I don't know why but I do this
is. The first time I've ever read
one with that being the start, and I was just like, oh wow,
we're really jumping right in here and now we know who the

(10:29):
enemy is, so that's great. Totally.
Yeah. We immediately have the enemy
and we're like immediately rooting for Liza.
Yeah, and he also reveals to herthat he's seen someone else.
So not only is he dumping her, but he was cheating on her.
And they were engaged. They were engaged.

(10:50):
I know that's so brutal, but shelike realizes like very quickly,
like even when he is saying the words that she that she's like
kind of relieved because her heart just, like wasn't in it.
Yeah. Yeah, it was one of those
perfect from the outside sort ofrelationships, like checks the
boxes, but there's nothing really under the surface.

(11:12):
Totally. And so she heads to Long Island,
I believe, where she grew up, and she's telling her brother,
Vinny, who's a doctor, about thebreakup.
They're at their family home. Their dad had recently died, and
so it's the mom, Liza, Vinny, Danielle, who is Vinny's wife

(11:36):
and their two kids. And they're like a big Italian
family making dinner. And Vinny's kind of like, you're
gonna just like, take this one on the chin because I don't
think that he was like your soulmate.
I think he actually says, I don't know that you've ever been
in love or something to that effect.
Like it's a pretty big accusation to me.

(11:57):
But also she's like, maybe you're right.
That would be such a like, I would be like, OK, well, I can't
come to dinner now because I'm gonna go like, like, yeah, I'm
gonna go cry and, like, have a midlife crisis.
But like, thanks, Finney. Thanks so much, that's such a
brother move though honestly. Yeah, yeah.

(12:18):
I just, like, see them like tossing, like their Caesar salad
or whatever, like getting the cups down from the cupboard.
And he's just like, yeah, so I don't think you've ever been in
love. Yeah, also, food is a big theme
in this book. I feel like there's a lot of
discussion about what they're eating, the preparation, which I
guess makes sense. They're like playing into some
of these Italian, like New York,Italian stereotypes.

(12:40):
But I was appreciative of that, 'cause I'm like, oh,
Thanksgiving food like this is great.
No, I loved it. Did you see at the end of the
book there was, like, family recipes?
Yeah. We kind of make one.
Yeah, that would be fun podcast content, I feel like.
So Vinny tells Liza that he's invited his friend for dinner at

(13:05):
the last minute. And it's Matt, which is his old
roommate that Liza had a crush on but hasn't seen in six years.
And I really thought I was like,oh, that.
Like Vinny's trying to set Liza up with Matt Like this makes
total sense, of course, but no that.
Is not the Case, No. It's literally the opposite and

(13:29):
Matt doesn't remember Liza. No, he does not remember meeting
her. Yeah.
Did you like it was six years ago?
Like what did you think of that?Like did you think I'm.
I was kind of like, that's kind of like bad.
Yeah, I don't love it, especially because a little
later on we find out more about that interaction.
And it's not even like she was just there picking up her

(13:52):
brother from wherever they were living or whatever, but she was
there and he like, bought her like McDonald's or something to
cheer her up because she was sad.
And it's like you had a full on conversation with this person
and it's your best friend's sister.
Like, how do you not remember? I don't know, it seemed
confusing to me. Because I like didn't want to

(14:13):
give him the benefit of the doubt, but then I was like, hey,
well, guys or like typically guys don't talk about anything
about their actual lives. So I was like, maybe he just
like truly hasn't put two and two together.
And we learned that Matt was like a big partier in college

(14:35):
and he slept around. But now he is on the straight
and narrow. He cycles, he meditates, and
he's a big time cardiology Dr. So fancy.
He's really changed his ways. I know, I know.
I was like, I kind of want to see party mat we.
Needed them to come out a littlebit more throughout the story,

(14:57):
but he's pretty straight edge honestly.
Totally, this whole book was very wholesome and straight edge
and his dad died of a heart attack.
So Vinnie, Matt and Liza all have that in common that they
lost their dads and they're like, so he arrives.

(15:17):
She this is like best case scenario because she gets thrown
up on by one of the kids, but that allows her to go shower and
blow dry her hair. I'm like, this is I could just
like, imagine because she sees him and she's like, oh, my God,
he's still, like, stunning. Yeah.
And this is like the perfect excuse for me to look really

(15:39):
good when we get to interact. Yeah, she like, changes her
outfit and like, makes her hair all perfect and puts perfume on
and stuff. It's like, OK, you're she's
committed at this point to at least making an impression.
Yeah, and he's like immediately into her.
Yeah, which I think we need to talk about that also.

(16:02):
Yeah, yes, No, 100% when you realize that this book takes
place over the course of six weeks.
Like who falls this quickly? I don't know.
I don't know, but we'll get there.
I think that afternoon they go to the pumpkin patch with like
the kids. Right, right, right.

(16:22):
But I'm pretty interested and Yell stays back.
So it's just Matt, Vinnie, Liza and then the two kids that go.
And they are feeling each other so much that Matt winks at her
in like the rearview mirror in the car.
A bold move. Because they've bite.
Off At this point they've literally said like hello to

(16:43):
each other and then they've gotten in the car and he's
already making eyes at her. Has a guy ever winked at you?
And that's been like successful like.
I can't think of any times that that has happened, no.
I'm probably just recoiled. No, me too.

(17:03):
Like unless it was like Jacob Allordy or something like that.
There's always an exception. I was out at a bar this weekend
because it was my sister's Bachelorette and a guy winked at
me and I literally like turned around and was like I was like
Oh my God, I'm physically. Repulsed by that, Yeah.

(17:26):
There's just something, you knowwhat?
A wink that seems so like shmormy.
Like yeah, agreed. So weird for them, but she seems
to be into it. She.
Yeah, she was hug line and sinker.
And Vinnie immediately catches Matt kind of checking Liza out
when they're getting out of the car.

(17:47):
And he's like, no, he's like, don't ever do that again.
He makes it pretty clear that that's not OK with him right
from the get go. They are having a really cute
day. They're drinking cider, they're
eating Donuts, they're doing hayrides.
If it wasn't for those pesky little kids that, like, wanted

(18:07):
to go home, they would have had like, I don't know, like the
perfect first date. Yeah, yeah, but they were taking
care of the, well, the one kid cuz Vinny get there, right.
But Vinny has to end up leaving them there with just the little
boy because the little girl is sick still and he takes her
back. So then they have this perfect
little family moment. Whereas the two of them, this

(18:29):
cute little kid running around and Matt gets to show off what
it would be like to, you know, watch him as a dad potentially.
And I think she talks in this part about her ovaries
exploding, which I'm always justlike, of course they were.
I know that's so funny, and I actually don't think this
happened, but yeah, they take a picture like someone takes a
picture of their little group. And I don't think they commented

(18:53):
this, but it's so classic for them to be like you and your kid
and like your husband are so cute.
And then they do. Say that they're like, oh, they
do Italy, it's so nice and they're like, we're.
Not together. Yeah.
I'm like, oh, no, this is just my friend.
Like, Oh my God. I probably just blanked that out
because it's like, you just knowthat that's gonna happen.

(19:13):
Like of course. Nearing the end of their date he
almost asks her out but Vinny gets back from dropping off the
girl and is picking them up and interrupts them and he's like
clearly super angry. He can tell what's going on, and
because he has this image of Matt in his head, he doesn't

(19:37):
want him to date his sister, right?
Because he still sees Matt as this like, undergrad student
who's sleeping around and partying all the time.
And he does not recognize that he is now a grown up with a job
and that he meditates. You know, he's a, he's a
different guy now. He is.
I've really felt like in this whole book that people were not

(19:59):
giving him the benefit of the doubt at all.
Agreed, he's like always on the defensive here.
Like, no, Actually, yes, every single character except
Danielle. Danielle's the only person I
think that really gives him the benefit of the doubt.
The whole time, yeah, but everyone else?
Not so much. Yeah, and I'm just like, you

(20:20):
guys, he's a cardiology Dr. Yeah, that's like, obviously
super serious. And it like that's a bigwig job
in New York. Like, I guess maybe they might
think he's like a womanizer, butit's like, it's not like he's
like going out getting drunk every night like.
And also, this is a theme for mehere, but like, actually, what

(20:41):
business is it of Vinny's who his sister chooses to date?
Like she can actually make a decision for herself.
She's met him before, she knows his history.
And she could simply decide on her own if that's OK with her or
not, if she wants to like trust this or not. 100% this is the
part of the trope that I don't love is when it's like a super

(21:03):
overprotective brother. Yeah, which this kind of takes
to the extreme. To the extreme cuz like I think
it's fair to be protective of your siblings.
Like I remember my little sisterdated one of my residents in
undergrad, and because I saw himas a resident, I didn't love

(21:23):
that. And so it's like you could say
your piece, but then you gotta move on and let them make their
own decision. Exactly.
Yeah, it's OK to give that warning or be like, here's what
I know about this person. Do without what you will.
Totally Vinny takes. And so Matt is like, OK, like,
obviously I can't do anything. Vinny's my friend.
So for the rest of the evening, it's really awkward and he

(21:46):
doesn't really talk to her, but she can't sleep.
And this is so funny just cuz again, I feel like this is
another like, microtrope. And it's like if I couldn't
sleep, I'm not going on a like 5K run.
Seriously, who's doing that? I don't know.
And I don't know anybody would that would do that.

(22:07):
But Liza takes a run. And then when she returns back
home, she bumps into Matt because he got a call from one
of his patients. And he basically straight up
tells her, like, I was going to ask you out, but Vinny doesn't
want me to. And she hints that she has
brunch every Saturday at a specific time and place and that

(22:27):
he could run into her. Yeah, which it's a good little
workaround. It's a good workaround for sure,
but I was just like, would your argument hold up in the court of
Vinnie like. Really not.
Yeah, so flash forward to Saturday and it's brunch and

(22:50):
Liza shows up with Vinnie because Matt and her never
exchanged phone numbers because again, they needed to be the
innocent parties so she couldn'twarn him that Vinnie wanted to
spend a Saturday with her. And they have to do this whole
ruse that they just just. Happened to be there, just a

(23:13):
surprise and Vinnie buys it for some reason.
I know cuz wouldn't you know that this is your sister's like
local and be like why the fuck are you here?
Like, yeah, it's, it's very odd that Vinnie's just like, yeah,
that makes a lot of sense that you would be here, like, no
problem. Liza, because she had recently
moved because of the the broken engagement.

(23:36):
She has a bunch of IKEA furniture to build, So what do
you know? Matt can help her out with that.
Yes cuz Vinnie gets called away to do something else so he has
to leave them together and Matt's like no problem I'll step
in I'll help you out. And then of course, he goes and
builds everything, including a bed.

(23:57):
Yeah, I, I kind of liked that when he was like, he
unknowingly, like, built a bed for us.
Robin's rolling her eyes. It's cute, I guess.
No, it's cringy. I get it.
It's. Very nice.
We love people who are building furniture for us.
That's great. And at one point he puts on Wild

(24:20):
Horses by The Rolling Stones andthey like slow dance.
And she starts to cry because it's the song that she wanted,
like, her first dance to be. She's sad that her dad won't get
to meet Matt. And he, like, starts to like,
kind of like he like, kisses herneck and stuff like that.

(24:41):
And she just panics. Yeah.
Yeah. I felt I felt bad for her.
At this point, You. I feel like even if you weren't
into the engagement, if this is happening like a week after it
would just be like. I'm here mostly all over the
place. And I mean, I feel like there's

(25:01):
some stuff in this book that's alittle heavy-handed.
Like with this moment, she's also thinking about how like she
had suggested this song to Jeremy, her ex fiance, and he
was like, that's a terrible first dance song.
Like really shut her down for it.
And then Matt happens to choose this specific song to put on for

(25:23):
them at like, in the first time that they're hanging out.
And it's just like it's meant tobe Like all of a sudden I'm
like, OK. It's a little too on the nose.
I feel you're right. Like I feel like if that was
maybe like a one off in this book, but I feel like they did
that like 100 times there's. So many of them, it's like,

(25:44):
yeah, we know. We know they're going to fall in
love. It's a romance novel.
And it's so funny because he's like, she's like, I'll take you
out for dinner after this. And he expects for them to go to
an Italian restaurant, but they go to, like, a German
restaurant. And he's like, she's so quirky.
Like, like, like, I didn't know we would be out for, like,

(26:05):
Schnitzel or whatever. Like, like, it's so funny.
Oh my God. So they decide to continue
seeing each other and that they would just re evaluate on
December 1st if they should tellVinny or not, just to see if
they should even give this a chance.

(26:27):
And while they're at the restaurant, Jeremy arrives with
his girlfriend that he was cheating on Liza with.
Matt then pretends that Liza is his girlfriend in front of him.
He really jumps right in there, which is great for Liza because
this was also one of the restaurants that she and Jeremy
agreed Jeremy would no longer attend because it's one of her

(26:50):
favorites. And so then he's there bringing
his new girlfriend. So really, he deserves to get
kicked out of this place. And I, I loved this for Matt,
being there and just being like,actually, yeah, I'm her
boyfriend. Yeah, I did too, because he,
Jeremy, deserves like, a taste of his own medicine.
Yeah. And he walks her home after

(27:13):
dinner, and she goes to kiss him, but he, like, kind of
avoids her. And then, like, she, like, runs
into her apartment, slams the door.
But he, like, knocks. And he's like, no, like, it's
not that I didn't want to kiss you.
I just, like, he's like, I got nervous.
Yeah. Yeah.
What did you think about that? I guess it kind of built up the

(27:37):
tension a little bit. I I don't know that I believe
that he would be that nervous tokiss her, especially because
they've had like this slow dancealready.
He already did kind of like he was kissing on her, just they
didn't like, have a first kiss, you know, in quotations there.
But yeah, I don't know. Don't know if it checked out for

(27:59):
me. What'd you think?
Yeah, yeah, I feel the same way.I was like, I just maybe there'd
be a lot of pressure, 'cause youreally like this girl.
But I'm like with your like dating history, it seems like
you wouldn't like have like a problem.
Like he's gonna be fine. He knows how to get yeah.
Exactly. And they start hooking up and
he's like, OK, we need to like, slow down, let's take a shower

(28:20):
just to like, cool off for a second.
So they go and they're about to get into the shower and she
realizes that she's lost her necklace, this necklace that she
wears every day because it was given to her from her dad.
She sees this as a sign to actually stop dating that.
Literally she's like my necklaceis gone and I must end this.

(28:42):
This is obviously a sign from the universe.
Bye. Yeah, she's, like, so
superstitious because she thought her dad really liked
Jeremy and I, I guess, like, herfather's approval, obviously,
and her brother's approval meansa lot to her.
And she saw this as a sign the heavens were intervening and
that they shouldn't date. Yeah.

(29:04):
And he is so thoughtful and sweet and he like helps her
search for it for hours. They like retrace their steps,
like all this stuff eventually like go to sleep and then he
like leaves in the morning. But it's he really goes above
and beyond for finding. It yeah.
Like he's like going outside andlike the cold and stuff like

(29:24):
that. Like he.
Yeah, truly cares that she is OK, but her friend Barbara talks
some sense into her and is like no you can't ghost this man.
Invite him to my Halloween party.
That's not a Halloween party butan NYC icons party.

(29:45):
Who would you dress up As for anNYC icons party?
That's a good question. I'm actually going to New York
at Christmas this year and I'm so excited and.
Love to do. Some research on on the icons.
I low key want to say the Eiffeltap the Empire's.
Empires. Yeah, imagine that's the icon I

(30:10):
choose. You're in the wrong, sippy
bitch. That's so funny.
The Empire State. Yeah, the Statue of Liberty Like
those. Like one of those I think would
be funny because everyone else is going to choose like a a
human and I just think it'd be funny to be a building.
Yeah, I liked that Matt went thelike mob boss.

(30:30):
Yeah. Like Tony Soprano, I thought
that that was cute. And she was dressed up as Carrie
Bradshaw. Like, yeah, I think Sex in the
City would be would be obviouslya really good.
I'm trying to think like they'rethere's so many New York icons,
but. Yeah, Who would you go as, do
you think? Yeah, I do think Charlotte from
Sex in the City would be really fun and maybe like a little bit

(30:54):
more. Like, it sucks when Halloween
costumes aren't recognizable. Like, immediately.
I feel like there's so many places and I'm just like,
blanking. There's a lot of options.
Or a lot of people. Oh, mall, I think.
Like, yeah, like maybe someone from Broadway would be fun.
Yeah. Alexander Hamilton.

(31:14):
Yeah, exactly, Exactly. That's exactly what I was
thinking. They had to the party, but what
do you know? They have another run in with an
ex. Matt's ex, Kelly is there and
Kelly and Liza went to high school together and he was
recently seeing her. That's how he actually ended up
on Long Island for him to get invited over to Vinny's house.

(31:38):
She's really upset because it was like her kind of like high
school and she's like, if you like these types of girls, why
are you dating me? And so she storms out and he
goes to find her and he explainsthe situation.
I feel like he's always explaining something to her like

(31:58):
can. I just say on the topic of Matt
always have, never having the benefit of the doubt.
He sees Kelly's hand on his arm for like .2 seconds and is like,
Oh my God, he's getting back like panic mode instead of just
simply waiting for a moment to see what's going on.

(32:20):
And like, yeah, she literally leaves him at her friend's house
party that she brought him to without saying anything.
It's a weird behavior. Like if I were mad, I'd be like,
what the fuck? Like why are you treating like,
why are you having like a child here?
Like this is an ex. It's uncomfortable.
But he. I think she also knows at this

(32:40):
point that when he was recently seeing Kelly, he turned her down
and was like, I don't want anything to do with you anymore.
Like, I'm not interested. And so, I don't know, it just
seems weird to me that she's so over the top about it.
Couldn't agree more. She freaks out and it's like,
has Matt done anything up until this point to like, think that

(33:05):
he would do something like that?Like he's been nothing but a
gentleman and I just hate when books make me side with the guy.
Yes, so why am I cheering for this man?
Like let me be on the girls side.
Literally like, I just was like,I cannot believe.
I'm like, I think Matt should dump lies on this point.

(33:26):
Like, like, and be like, hey, that's like kind of unfair.
But he's like, I get that You'relike scared.
And she's like, yeah, like just because of your, your history.
But they they make up and they start hooking up.
And this is like true like again, another sign.

(33:47):
She didn't take this as a sign from God.
But but they start hooking up and they realize that neither of
them have condoms because neither of them wanted to be
presumptuous. That's stupid.
That's poor planning on both of their parts.
Really poor. I'm like, I don't think it's
presumptuous. I think it's being prepared.
Yeah, you're not assuming anything's gonna happen, but

(34:09):
just in case. Totally.
And I was like, also guys just like post mates, like you live
in New York. Yeah, like.
Run down to the bodega. Make him go outside in the cold
and get it and then if you stillwant to have sex when he gets
back then great. Exactly.
But they do this very common romance trope where both of the

(34:32):
main characters go, well, I've been tested recently and you've
been tested recently and we're not hooking up with other
people. So we can go fine condomless,
which like did this. I feel like it's fine if we
spoil at this point. I'm sure people have read the
book, but did you think at all that this was going to lead to a
child? I really did not.

(34:53):
I was just like, OK, they just don't care and this is just like
an extra bit of detail that I don't need and so whatever, but
I did not see that coming. Neither.
Like I did not see this as the clue that it was because I just
again assumed that she was on birth control that's why she was
OK like that she'd be protected from St. is and pregnancy but

(35:16):
she wasn't. No, she just raw dogging it
goodbye. Like who cares?
So weird and and. Like, she could have told him
that she's not on birth control.Like, I mean, he could have
asked. I don't know.
There's a lot in this interaction that could have been
done differently by both parties. 100% yeah.

(35:37):
I definitely think that she should have said something.
He could have asked as well, like he's the doctor and like,
she didn't even mention, like getting a Plan B or anything in
the next, like the next day. I was shook to my core.
Yeah. And they wake up and Matt's
like, I'm in love with her. Which brings us back to your
main gripe and grumble. That's just they fall in love

(36:01):
way too fast. Just.
Makes no sense. Like they barely know each other
and he's just like ready to throw everything away for her.
And she's a little trepidatious at the beginning.
You know, she's kind of cautiousand she's not sure if she wants
to like jump right in, which is why she's got that deadline that
they're kind of thinking about. But it's just the way they talk

(36:23):
about each other in the each POVthat I'm like, really, you're
that obsessed already? It just feels like we kind of
love bombing themselves about. Each other.
I also just think again, she like her dad recently died.
She broke off an engagement, shehad to move.
She's in grad school, which is like very stressful.

(36:44):
Like there's just like a lot going on.
And I think also maybe it would have been different because we
get some like time jumps here where they're hanging out every
night, but we don't get to see that.
I'm like, maybe if we got to seethat it would be a little bit
more realistic. But I was like, so far every

(37:06):
interaction that you've had has been like surface level chitchat
or hooking up. Yeah, but and then even with the
hanging out every night, like they talk about how they're just
like ordering in and like watching TV and stuff like that.
And I'm like, there's nothing wrong with that.
Like, hey, I love to veg on the couch as much as the next
person, but at the beginning of the relationship doesn't seem

(37:28):
like they would want to. I don't know.
Even if they don't want to go out out because they don't want
to be spotted or whatever, they could still do something a
little bit more get to know you than watching whatever reality
show they were watching. Yeah, New York is like, I'm
assuming they lived in Manhattanbecause they kept referencing
like driving in from the city and stuff and it's like

(37:49):
Manhattan is huge. Go to a dive bar in a different
neighborhood then then where your friends hang out.
Well. Weird.
Yeah, they wake up, they start hooking up again, but there's a
knock at the door, and it's Vinny and his family, and Liza
forgets that she had plans with them.
And so she tells Matt to hide, and he hides in her closet.

(38:13):
And because the family hasn't seen her new apartment, she's
like, touring them around, trying to avoid going into her
bedroom. But Danielle sees him in the
closet, and she promises to keepthe secret.
Danielle is a real one. Throughout this whole book.
She really facilitates them being together because multiple
times she sees stuff and then like, I won't tell my husband,

(38:35):
don't worry. Honestly Danielle and Vinnie I
would be down to read their book.
Yeah, me too. I like their relationship.
It's interesting. Although I'm a little I'm not
sure if I want to like Vinnie. Yes, yeah.
I feel like we need some redeeming Vinnie storylines at
this point. We.

(38:55):
Do we do? And so they like coast is clear,
they don't get caught. But, you know, they don't like
lying and they don't like being in that kind of situation.
And as we just mentioned, a few weeks pass and they're hanging
out every night. They decide it's a good night to
go to one of Matt's work events,and because she still has not

(39:18):
found her necklace before they go out to the event, he gives
her a necklace to replace her dad's.
Which he had custom made his mother, who is a jeweler and
he's also kind of like estrangedfrom her.
I just want to say that this moment was probably my first,

(39:40):
like, OK, this is, you know, this is a lot for me.
I was expecting at some point for there to be a replacement
necklace. I was like, I kind of saw that
in the in the future here, but Ithought this was going to be at
the end of the book, like as like, you know, another

(40:01):
declaration of love before they decide to talk to Vinny,
whatever. Like this is so fast.
They just started getting together and he went through, he
went to lengths to get this thing for her.
And I also thought that her reaction would be different,
like once I realized what was happening.

(40:21):
And they had just talked about how she's like, nervous to get
into this. I thought she was gonna be like,
well, this is way too much. Like, I appreciate it, but this
is over the top. And that that was gonna be like
an issue that they had to deal with.
But instead she just, no, I loveit so much.
And then they go on their married way and I'm like, OK.
Yeah, like you said, this seems like love bombing, like buying a

(40:44):
very extravagant gift in the first couple weeks because I was
doing the math and I think they met a week before Halloween at
the pumpkin patch. And so that what puts us out
like September or October 23rd, let's say.
And then the next event after this is Thanksgiving.

(41:07):
So that brings us to end of November for American
Thanksgiving and then they have Christmas.
So that's like that truly is like the span of maybe the whole
book is 10 weeks. But like, yeah, at this point
we're at like the one month mark, if that.
Three weeks, something like that.

(41:28):
Three weeks, very fast. Yeah, yeah.
Anyways, he gives her the the necklace and she accepts it
graciously. Yes, she does.
And at the work event, they're having a good time.
They both want to say, I love you to each other again,
insanity. Because I I was like, I actually

(41:48):
thought if they didn't use like the love word, like if they just
said how obsessed they are with like, I think that that's normal
at the beginning of a relationship, that kind of
infatuation. But I wish it just kind of
stayed at that level. But they bump into one of
Vinny's colleagues and Liza's inthe bathroom at the time, so

(42:11):
Matt's talking with him. And then she bumps into both of
them, and she has to pretend to meet Matt for the first time.
He really does not like that he that really pisses him off.
Fair enough. Like and like also she says
like, oh, I'm dating someone here and I I don't want you to
tell Vinny. Why didn't you just say, yeah,

(42:33):
I'm dating Matt? Could you not tell Vinny this is
new? Yeah, I don't know.
She had a lot of options and shechose one of the worst.
Truly one of the worst. Like, at this point, I felt so
bad for Matt. Yeah.
And this takes us to Thanksgiving, Matt.
Like, they, they always make up.They always end up making up.
But Matt doesn't have plans for Thanksgiving.

(42:55):
And obviously Vinny and Liza's family is going to get together,
so Vinny wants to invite Matt tospend the holidays with them.
Liza is literally texting and being like say no, but he
accepts to kind of like push heralong.
And so they are spending an entire weekend together.

(43:15):
Where they have to pretend that they're not obsessed with each
other in front of Vinny, who's the only person who gives a shit
about whether they like each other or not.
And their plan is so dumb too 'cause it's like when people are
obsessed with each other, you can like immediately tell yeah
if you are any type of like if you have any type of EQ.
Yeah, and, and it's also like they're, yeah, they're just

(43:38):
like, oh, we'll just be like, we're not talking.
And that's also fucking weird. Like you would just have a
normal conversation. They don't know how to walk the
line, essentially. Totally.
And when they're in like privatemoments, Matt is like kissing
and hugging her. So when they go to sleep she's
like pissed because she thought he was like crossing the line

(44:02):
and thinks he's way too casual about it.
Which I have to big time agree with Eliza here because what the
what is he doing? Like he is sneaking all this
like very touchy feely making out stuff.
Well, they're in her mother's house with her brother there who
doesn't want them to date. And he knows that.

(44:25):
So he's like, very, I feel like he really disregards her
experience during that. And then in the evening, as you
said, he comes up to her room, like comes into her childhood
bedroom to like, snuggle with her and 'cause he's just like, I
missed you, like fucking grow up.
And he's supposed to be sleepingin the basement.

(44:46):
And she's, she, I would say gives in and is like, OK, fine,
you can stay in here for a bit. But just like, don't you need to
leave by a really early hour because the kids get up and
there's no like, exit from this room basically.
And he sets an alarm, but then he in the morning just turns it

(45:08):
off and goes back to sleep knowing the risk.
So she has to basically cover his ass so that he can get back
into the basement where he's supposed to be sleeping.
It just she he puts her in such a bad position here.
I I really hated this. Part it was so bad, you're right
because I felt bad for him up into this point, but then when

(45:28):
he committed to Thanksgiving andthey committed together to not
telling their family he needed to stick to that and he didn't.
Did not. And he basically, you're right,
like forces her into this scenario because he cancels his
alarms and they, what do you know, oversleep?
Danielle's trying to wake them up and they have to.

(45:52):
They hate lying, but they have to end up making all these crazy
lies up to get out of these predicaments.
And Danielle is always there to save their butts, which is very
nice of her, but I feel like she's a bit annoyed at this
point. With that, yeah, cuz I think
she's like, OK, like Vinny would, yeah, maybe be mad at the

(46:14):
outset, but he's not gonna hold it against you for the rest of
your lives. He's not that unreasonable.
And so, yeah, there's like, sometension because he's too casual
about it. And she's really, like, uptight
about it. He feels really bad and she's
mad at him. So she's like, now giving him
the silent treatment. Yeah.

(46:36):
And Matt and Vinnie go grocery shopping.
But before they leave, Liza's mom stops him and basically is
like, I know that you're dating Liza.
And I've. I've known all along and I
really like you. 2 together. Right, She's very supportive,
which is nice. Which is cute.
And it's like, that is just giving you guys more of an

(46:57):
excuse to confirm your relationship to the family.
Yeah, and not keep it hidden forany longer.
Yeah, Vinny and Matt go grocery shopping and Vinny notices
Matt's upset and he think it's it's because of the holidays and
his dad who passed away, which is like, that makes me feel so
bad that he like was empathizingwith Matt and.

(47:19):
That's and that's didn't even. Fucking think of the dad at
this. Moment like he was just upset
about Liza. Yeah.
And Vinny's, like, I've never seen Liza, like, so happy.
Like, I'm so glad that she ditched Jeremy.
And so, you know, all the piecesare falling into place and they
get to dinner time and Vinny just like, I guess it was like

(47:42):
an interaction that they had, but he starts like putting all
the pieces together. Yeah, he's like doing the math
in his head and he's like noticing that something is going
on, which is funny because he he's kind of aloof up until this
point, but then he is like, oh, something's happening.
Something's happening and Liza and Matt both make excuses to

(48:04):
leave dinner so they can apologize to each other, which I
thought was cute. And Liza's like, no, what?
You're right. We'll tell them at dessert
tonight and we're like finally like sigh of relief like.
Happening. We're going to get our nice
little happy ending here. End of a saga.
Like just thrilled for them. But she cracks a bottle of wine

(48:27):
and while she's doing that, she cuts her hand.
And that's tending to it. And because they're probably
taking so long, Vinny goes and finds them and immediately just
punches Matt in the face. Literally starts beating him up
and weirdly it wasn't because hethought like, oh, now they're I

(48:49):
might know they're together. In this moment, he's thinks that
he Matt has hurt Liza. That's what he initially thinks,
which is just like, why do you think that?
Like it's so confusing. It just makes no sense.
Like that little diversion. I was like, why would they
include that? And why would you be friends
with the person that you think would like hurt your sister in

(49:12):
your family home? Like that was so irrational to
me. Yeah, it was so weird.
And but then that leads to him realizing, because I think they,
I don't know, they like he callsher baby or something like that,
where it's like, oh, now Vinny'srealizing what's really going
on, which is that. They're together, yes.

(49:34):
Cuz I think then he's like, you heard her.
No, you're just hooking up with her.
Oh no, you're like fully together.
Yes. And he punches him again and
then, then. Slams him against the counter.
He goes berserk. In this moment, which I was, I
was stunned, Stunned by this outcome.

(49:55):
Yeah, because we've, we find outlater on that he like really has
fucked up his back, that he likehas to take time off work.
Yeah, like he's really injured by this.
That's like such an underrated story.
Like your brother hurt him so much that he needed to go pick
up a prescription painkiller like.
Literally he could have pressed charges for what he did.

(50:17):
That's my that was my take away from this scene.
That is so bananas. Like that is so wild.
And they tried to explain and he's like, I love Liza, like,
And that's kind of the first time she's heard that he's like,
this isn't just like a fling. I'm not hurting her or anything
like that. But he just doesn't listen.

(50:38):
And he's like, you should leave.And the mom agrees with him,
which I was surprised at this because I was like, but you like
them together, so wouldn't you be like Vinny, fucking take a
Walker on the. Block.
And yeah, take a breath and let's discuss this like adults.
Yeah, but basically they all just decide everyone should

(51:01):
leave this scenario and then revisit in the future, which.
Yeah. Fine.
Vinny talks a little bit more with Liza after everything's
settled down and basically just says like that Matt is his only
friend and he's scared that Lizawill like, take him away from
him. Did you think that was like a

(51:22):
valid excuse? I thought that some of it was
OK, like I understood why he wasmad that they've been lying
about it for so long because Matt has been spending a lot of
time with Vinny also. So I, I did understand that
part. I do think it's a bit childish

(51:43):
to think that like he couldn't be friends with Matt or like
Matt couldn't be friends with any and also date Liza, which
just goes back to the very initial part of the story, which
is him making a rule that, you know, his sister's not allowed
to date someone, which actually is nothing to fucking do with

(52:03):
him and she should just make that decision.
So I think it's valid that he's upset about the lying, but I do
not think it's valid that he's upset that they're together.
Yes yes, yeah 100% the deceptionyes them dating she's a grad
student and an adult woman like.If anything, I actually think

(52:24):
Liza should have been more mad at him in this moment.
And then like, well, we wouldn'thave had to do this if you would
have just actually allowed me tohave my own autonomy to make
decisions. But instead you've decided that
you're like making these decisions for our family and
trying to control my life. And if you had simply not done
that, we wouldn't have had to lie to you.

(52:45):
And this could have been all above board, but you created and
that didn't allow for that. Yes, 100%.
I totally agree that like lies, obviously they can be like
malicious and stuff like that, but I think a lot of times
people lie because they're trying to save themselves or
another person from like discomfort and like awkwardness

(53:07):
or like whatever and like they basically were like forced to do
that. Yeah, and they were like, well,
we both care about Vinny and we don't want to hurt him.
And so we're going to try this out since he won't permit in
quotations us to be together. Let's just try it out without
bringing him into it. And if it doesn't work out, then

(53:28):
we just will continue on and it will be fine.
And if it does, then we can loophim in.
And I'm like, that's, that's fair.
Like, it's awful, actually. Yeah, that's actually reasonable
when you think about it. I think the parts that tripped
them up was that they just kept bumping into people that made
them lie even more and hurt eachother's feelings.

(53:51):
But you're right. That's actually, I think, very
reasonable to be like, hey, yeah, we both have a connection
to this person. So let's just see how it is.
And if it's serious, if it's something worth mentioning, we
can mention it. Yeah, yeah.
Liza leaves Long Island and heads to Matt's place she can

(54:12):
let herself in because she does have a key to his place which.
Again at like, I don't know, 5 how long are we 5 weeks in six
weeks in crazy. Crazy times, but they make up
and they spend the weekend together and this is where shit
hits the fucking fan. Three weeks pass.

(54:34):
So we're into December now, and Matt gets a phone call from the
doctor that they bumped into at the party.
And I guess he could see throughtheir lies and knew that it was
actually Matt and Liza dating. And he asks for her next of kin
information. He basically, obviously, because

(54:54):
of HIPAA laws, can't explain what's going on.
I was like, well, then how couldyou ask for next of kin?
But like, yeah, the. Details.
Love that one a little. Yeah, the details don't matter
but but he implies like that shehad like an accident and that
she's in the hospital and where he could find her.

(55:16):
So he races to go see her and she's asleep but he looks at her
charts and finds out that she fainted because and got a
concussion because she is pregnant.
Pregnant as if. I like she's six to seven weeks

(55:38):
pregnant, so the first time thatthey had sex, they got pregnant.
That's insane. Yeah, that's a sign from the
universe, I'll tell you that much.
If she thinks. 100% yeah, 100%. I was shocked.
I thought she would got like gotinto a car accident and then

(55:59):
Vinny went to go help her and then he realizes he made a
mistake and then they like live happily ever after.
Not the baby. Not the baby, though, insane.
And during all this time while all this is happening and over
the last couple weeks, Vinny is not talking to either of them.
Vinny is just completely shut both of them out.

(56:21):
And so when he gets this call, but the next of kin, he's like
trying to contact him. And then he's like declining his
calls because he has been. And this is like serious, which
I always am thinking, why not just text him?
You know, it's not about the relationship, but your sister's
actually in the fucking hospital, like.
Yeah, yeah, no, that's so true. Like then just or leave a

(56:43):
voicemail like text to speech orwhatever like.
Yeah, the text voicemails. So Vinny arrives at the hospital
and apologizes to Matt, and Lizawakes up and Matt and her decide
to keep the baby, have the baby together.

(57:04):
And at this point, Vinny doesn'tknow.
But then he's like, Oh yeah, like, So what other tests you
have to get done before you're going to leave the hospital
because you have a concussion? You should probably get ACT
scan. And then they're like, Oh no, we
can't do ACT scan. And then he's like, Oh my God.
You're pregnant. So many doctors in this book.

(57:29):
So many doctors, truly, they do live happily ever after.
After this, they celebrate Christmas together.
Danielle is expecting her third kid with Vinny so they'll have
like cousins at the same age andMatt proposes to her bought the
ring when he bought the necklacefrom his.

(57:50):
Mom, which again was like 2 weeks in.
Like I just didn't need that tidbit.
No. And also like, do they need to
be engaged at this point? Like they're having a baby
together already? Like there's no like you're
gonna be together. There's no rush on a proposal.
Why are we doing this? Truly, it's also like, so I was

(58:12):
gagged at the pregnancy thing and then I flipped to the
epilogue because again, we live happily ever after and we find
out that Liza graduated probablylike summa cum laude and like,
you know, like superstar student.
But because of COVID she had they had a graduation ceremony

(58:35):
like over Zoom. So they're like all watching her
cross the stage, which is like, very cute.
Did we need that? I mean, this was published
January 1st, 2021. So I think if I were an author,
I probably also would have been thinking about like, how do I
make this realistic? But I hope that at this point in
2024, any authors who are listening, we don't need the

(58:58):
code like we know what happened,just let it go.
We don't need that in the in thefantasy books.
We truly don't. It just took me out of it so
much because you're right. I feel like you're right.
That means she would have been writing it during 2020.
And I feel like especially during that year, we were so
like COVID focused that it wouldmake sense that she would want

(59:19):
to include that into her book. But I'm like.
But if you want a book that likestands the test of time.
Yes, don't demand, just too early to I guess.
But yeah, a very neatly tied up with a bow on it ending.
It's cute. Yes, it was cute.
Also, I talked so much shit about it, I really had a good

(59:39):
time. Listening, I loved it.
I want to say I loved it. I have so many complaints that I
loved the book and I loved talking shit about it like
that's me too. A part of the enjoyment so.
I. Hope we need another book from
her for sure. Me too.
Me too, absolutely. OK, let's wrap up with some
round table discussion, our Internet investigation.

(01:00:01):
This is our cursory proves of the Internet of Things you need
to know. Honestly, nothing really too
much on this book because it's such a like indie release.
But I will say check out Caroline's Instagram because she
has some really cute graphics of.
Matt and Liza and then again check out the recipes if you

(01:00:23):
want like a fun Italian dinner this fall, it's.
A good idea, and I'm going to kind of keep my eye out for more
seasonal themed books in the future as well.
Me too, Absolutely. Yeah.
That was it. I was like, I get why people do
this, but I didn't get how much it would add to the experience.

(01:00:47):
OK. I wonder why these are
unanswered questions for the listeners.
This bugs me about if you're reading a book that's dual POV
and the couple is hetero. Like, the man's POV is always,
like, ogling. Like, it's just always
immediately, like, yeah, she looked so good in her jeans and,

(01:01:09):
like, getting out of the car. I was like leering at her and
stuff and. I'm just like, you shouldn't
admit that like. No, literally I'm like, I just,
I don't know. It always just seems I don't
know if it's like, is it a womanwriting what she thinks would be
happening in a guy's head? Is this really what's happening
in a guy's head? Like I it just is always so

(01:01:30):
cringe to me. I know we're gonna need a man to
weigh in on this. Yeah, it's something I say
often, but in this particular instance, yeah, me.
Too. I've literally never said that,
but we can. We'll take it on this one.
My other question was what do Liza and Matt have in common?

(01:01:52):
We have no idea. We have no idea other than they
both like The Rolling Stones andI think that's it.
And food. But like, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Rolling Stones, that's a good
one. And then yeah, I guess family
values. I guess I feel like Matt wants

(01:02:14):
that, but he doesn't have it with his mom, who he's estranged
from. Although at the end of the book
they do say that his mom is now trying to get connected because
there's the grandbaby involved. Yes, yes, yeah, yeah.
It's a little bit of a found family for Matt.
Which is, but I really don't think they have that much in

(01:02:35):
common otherwise. But we also don't really know
that that much about their interests from book I don't.
Know No, we didn't. We didn't really hear much
outside. We didn't even really hear about
her like grad school or anything.
Yeah, yeah. We don't even really know.
Like we know it's like psych, right?
But that's, yeah, that's like, wrong.

(01:02:57):
OK, our grapes and grumbles, these are nitpicky problems we
have with the book. We went through a lot of them.
But this is really nitpicky. I hate when people are like,
like she was like, I've got somelady balls or like that person
has lady balls for like stickingout for someone or whatever.
I was like, that is like horrendous.

(01:03:17):
Yes, I agree. And the next one that you have
here, which I think kind of combines for me some other
things, which is about how she talks about Liza's team Spike
when they're talking about Buffy, right.
There were a few moments where Ijust felt like I was taken out
of the story because she's like talking to the reader in a bit
more of a like casual. That kind of breaks the 4th wall

(01:03:41):
way and I just like don't love that.
I'm like, like I think in one, there was one example, I should
have written it down. But she says, as you can
imagine, I was blah, blah, blah.And I'm like me, I'm like, I'm
in the book. Like you tell me what's going.
I don't know. I just it's got a bit of a weird

(01:04:01):
voice sometimes. Yeah, I noticed that too.
Yeah. Like kind of going in and out of
first person present tense and then like kind of not past
tense, but like, and also just like being team Spike is an
outrageous take. I think crazy, crazy.

(01:04:23):
Yeah, you wrote this down, but the pacing of the book?
Yeah, which I think kind of comes back to that.
Like just instantly obsessed with each other.
Like he he sees her covered in vomit for .3 seconds.
She comes back down in her nice new outfit and he's like, I will
worship this woman. This is it for me.

(01:04:46):
I'm like, is that what happens? I don't think that that's what
happens. Like, I don't know.
It just seems weird to me. And then just like how intense
he is about pursuing her at the pumpkin patch.
Like, don't get me wrong, I loveit and I love that for her.
It's great. But it just seemed kind of
weird. And then the necklace thing as I

(01:05:07):
mentioned, seemed way too early to me.
So it just feels, it feels fast.I know, and I actually wonder
now if because she wanted it setin the fall, maybe that actually
was a hindrance to the book. Maybe because I I wonder if they
had it just like span a year or whatever and it would have

(01:05:29):
seemed a little bit more realistic.
Or if we could even have them meet just a little bit earlier
of like they actually reconnected like 4th of July
like as like the starting point and then they like see each
other again in mid to late September, which you could also
do pumpkin patch at that time, like it is October for that.

(01:05:52):
And that could be sort of the continuing.
But it just feels like they really go from zero to 100 real
quick. Yeah, and I was even thinking,
instead of him proposing at Christmas, why not like
Valentine's Day or something like.
That. Yeah, right.
Yeah, that's a good point. Oh they talk so much shit about
Halloween being childish. Yeah.

(01:06:13):
But like, do you not like joy? Like.
Like, grow up. We're all about to have fun.
I love Halloween. I love Halloween, I love
dressing up, I love the candy, Ilove everything about the
season. I'm that was fucking shocking to
me. Yeah, a weird take for a fall
themed book. Yeah, yeah.

(01:06:35):
To like, be like, it's not a Halloween party, it's an NYC
icons party. Yeah, like just say it's a
Halloween party and that's the the theme for the 'cause.
I was like, it's not like they were like, hey, we're gonna have
like an alt Halloween party where we do nothing for
Halloween. They just did Halloween.
Yeah. And called it something
different. Yeah.

(01:06:57):
So funny. Barbara's just really
pretentious. I don't know.
Yeah, you wrote this down. Him crawling into her childhood
bed, I would have been like murderer.
I really did not like that part.I really feel like he was
pushing her way too hard. And just, it's so weird that
it's like in her house and just the stakes are so high, but it

(01:07:22):
doesn't feel like they're high in a fun way.
Like, an alternative to that could have been she sneaks down
to the basement and then she goes back up because she would
have had a bit more control there, I think.
And it doesn't require him to be, like, sneaking into her
bedroom. And she talks in the book about
how even though she was engaged to Jeremy, he also was never

(01:07:45):
allowed to sleep in her room. And so, you know, if the mom
were to catch them, then the goodwill that he does know he
has with the mom at that point would be gone.
And the whole thing with Vinny being like, oh, well, he just
wants to like sleep with you or whatever.
He would be essentially proven right if Vinny were to find
them. Like it just seems the

(01:08:06):
consequences there were so high for no reason.
Yeah, and he went back on his word, like his word was that
they weren't gonna tell tell them.
And they both agreed to that. And yeah, you're right.
Like I wonder if she snuck down into his room and then he was
like, I really want to tell themlike, this isn't sitting right
with me, like, and pushing her in that way.

(01:08:28):
Like cuz I I agree that or like I think she did need a push, but
I agree that the way that he didit was not like tactful at all.
No, it just felt a bit icky. I don't know.
My last grip and grumble if you don't have any more either is
just that sometimes it's annoying to me when it's always

(01:08:52):
like the cute insecure female main character that like it
referenced like a few times likeoh, she doesn't like her curves
but Matt does and stuff like that.
Or like Danielle looks perfect, like even when she wakes up in
the morning and like I just like, it's such an annoying

(01:09:15):
microtrope. Right.
Like why do we need to include that?
Yeah, like why does, why do theyalways have to be insecure?
I guess is the I guess that's realistic.
I think a lot of people, most people are insecure, but I'm
like it. She's so confident in like so
many other ways that yeah. And it's just so common.

(01:09:35):
Yeah, yeah, I think that's fair.It is a bit of an annoying
trope. It also this just reminded me of
another thing that I was going to add in there, which has to do
with Danielle, which there just were a lot like multiple times
throughout the story we hear about how shitty of a cook
Danielle is and how the mom, like, won't let her do anything

(01:09:59):
in the kitchen. And I was just like, that is
such a strange detail to include.
I don't know. I don't know why they included
that. It just was that weird for you.
Absolutely. And they like, they were like,
yeah. And she also doesn't want to
teach her kids Italian. Yeah, like how dare she?
Like. Yeah.

(01:10:20):
Then he can do it cuz he's the Italian one.
No, I know, I know. I'm like I'm sure she wants them
to be bilingual but like that's a lot to just expect of her when
she's not even the Italian one. Yes, yeah.
That part was strange to me. Like they just were really
putting her down and being, like, making fun of the fact
that she wanted to have some American food at their

(01:10:43):
Thanksgiving when they tip more of an Italian take on
Thanksgiving. And it's like, OK, why is this
bad? I don't know.
Yeah, I don't think that's bad either.
Like I feel like when you spend holidays with in laws it's nice
to like combine. Yeah, traditions or.
Traditions. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

(01:11:05):
She just kept catching strays from the mom.
I really did. Even though she's supposed to do
this like perfect sister-in-law with the kids who everybody
loves and she has to put up withVinny being miserable and
literally assaulting people. But.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. She can't cook, so she's not a

(01:11:28):
good person. Like my God, you know, OK, our
sequel scoop. This is the T on any upcoming
sequel seasons or the general reception.
The next book in this series because it's a trilogy.
The seasons of love trilogy is shall we dance and it follows
Barbara. OK, that's all.

(01:11:49):
Do you have any final thoughts on Fall into You?
Final thoughts on the book were overall I had so much fun
reading it and it made me excited to get into some more
romance novels, so hopefully nice for the lifters too.
I'm definitely going to be downloading Pumpkin Spice Cafe

(01:12:10):
and Shall We Dance on My Kobo and getting into those in the
next few weeks as we settle intoautumn.
I love that. I love that.
Can you tell the listeners? Where they can find you and
anything else you want to plug. Absolutely.
You can find me on Instagram andon Spotify at Tiny Beanstalk.

(01:12:34):
If you're looking for a little bit of music to go with your
autumn vibes, I do have a cozy Autumn playlist on Spotify and
it's received some pretty good reviews.
All from my friends were but it's pretty good.
I've been working on it for years at this point so it's
curious. Yes, OK, I love that because I

(01:12:56):
know this playlist and I will link it or maybe I have do I
have your Winter 1 maybe? Yes, I have a winter one as
well. I have a winter, I have cozy
girl autumn, and then I also have like a spooky season 1,
which is more specifically as weapproach Halloween, like last
week and a half of October. I really like a curated vibe so.

(01:13:20):
I love that. OK, I'll put all of the links to
those in the episode show notes so people can check them out.
Sounds great. OK.
Thanks so much for coming on. Yeah, thanks for having me.
And that's the story of Fall into You.
Thank you so much for listening and thank you to Robin for
joining me on today's show. Let me know if you liked the

(01:13:40):
book and the episode, and maybe Robin and I will cover Shall we
dance this spring. If you want book visuals, if you
want to see me podcasting and see what Robin look like, what
our facial expressions are, etcetera, follow me on socials
at Ready to be Romance on TikTok, Twitter and Instagram.

(01:14:00):
On Instagram especially, I post book visuals like if there's fan
art or if it's a movie like I'llpost or TV show, I'll post
pictures from that. I'll also post music to like a
company you're reading and clipsfrom the podcast as well as like
Tik Toks and stuff like that. So it's super fun.

(01:14:22):
I feel like it actually enrichesthese episodes so much.
And you can join in on the conversation because I always
post like little quizzes and Q&A.
So if we had a question in this episode, like for example, I
asked Robin, what would you dress up for for the NYC icons

(01:14:44):
party? And I'll definitely post that on
Instagram stories and you can tell us which icon you would
dress up as. I'm also trying to get my
ratings and reviews up. So if you haven't already,
please leave me a rating and review on Apple Podcast or
Spotify. It really helps the show find
new listeners and let me know that I'm on track.

(01:15:07):
In the review. Tell me what book I should cover
next. You can also suggest a book or
leave a voicemail with a question or comment for a future
episode via the links in the episode show notes.
Thank you so much for listening.Our next episode is The Summer I
Turn Pretty. Until then, happy reading.

(01:15:27):
For Ready to be Romanced, I'm Tori.