"Radiance" - Romance in an Arranged Interspecies Marriage

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Ready for a whirlwind of fantasy excitement and bookish delights? This episode promises to keep you on the edge of your seat as we unravel the mysteries and magic of Grace Draven's Radiance. 

Join us as we dive into the latest buzz in the fantasy literary world in our extended news segment. We discuss a sneak peek at the stunning cover for Juliet Cross's Southern Charm series and the launch of ACoTaR-themed tights by Snag Tights Company. Universal Orlando is gearing up for an enchanting Wicked experience to celebrate the upcoming movie release, complete with immersive retail, food, and walkthroughs.

We are excited that Sebastian Nothwell's Oak King, Holly King is now available as an audiobook. We also discuss Jasmine Moss's Blood of Hercules, which promises a thrilling blend of dark humor and slow-burn romance, there's something for every fantasy lover. We also shine a spotlight on Abigail Owen's The Games Gods Play, a captivating Hades and Persephone retelling that's already making waves.

Our main feature is Draven's Radiance, where we'll explore its intricate world-building, epic romance, and the unique cultural exchanges that set it apart. Can romance bloom in an arranged marriage between two different species? We discuss how the slow burn romance between the main characters starts at repulsion and grows into a flirty romance that ends in passion. The main female character isn’t a helpless damsel, she turns out to have depths of determination and courage equal to her warrior spouse.

Ever struggled with managing an ever-growing To-Be-Read (TBR) pile? You're not alone. In our final segment, we tackle the excitement and stress of TBRs, offering insights into reading habits and book tracking. Whether you're a meticulous tracker or a carefree reader, we've got perspectives that will resonate with you. Don't miss this engaging and thought-provoking episode of "Of Swords and Soulmates"!

Links from the News Segment and Show:

• A Rebel Without Claws From Juliette Cross cover reveal - Official link
• Snag Tights company has officially licensed ACOTR tights now - Snag Tights Website
• Gregory Maguire’s Wicked  Universal Orlando resort experience - Official Universal Announcement
• Bookish Box special signed luxe edition of Carissa Broadbent works - Instagram Announcement
• Quicksilver by Callie Hart available in a signed special edition - Waterstones Website
• Sarah A Parker, author of When the Moon Hatched, touring the US from Sep 28th through Oct 5th - Official Website
• Oak King Holly King by Sebastian Nothwell now available as an audiobook -Audible Link
• Romantasy Book Convention (Orlando 2024) - Website

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Instagram - @ofswordsandsoulmates

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Kelly (00:41):
Hey everyone, it's Kelly.
We also have Ashley.

Ashley (00:44):
Hi guys it's Ashley, we also have Ashley.
Hi guys, it's Ashley, we alsohave Jonathan.

Jonathan (00:47):
What's good everybody.
It's JP, so excited.

Mari (00:52):
So much energy.
Today we're going to bediscussing Radiance by Grace
Draven.
But first some news.
And at first I was like I don'tknow that I have a lot of news
and then apparently I do have alot of news.
So the first I was like I don'tknow that I have a lot of news
and then apparently I do have alot of news.
So the first thing was thatSouthern Charm book.
One got a book reveal, thesequel, the series sequel to the

(01:13):
Stay a Spell series that JulietCross did Juliet, we love you.
Yeah, it's like the kids fromthat.
So it's the Southern Charm book.
One got a cover reveal.
The book is coming out inFebruary 2025.
The cover reveal looksinteresting.
It looks similar to the Stay ofSpell, like it looks like it's
of the same series.
You know what I mean.

(01:33):
It's cute.
So I'm excited about thatseries.
I think it's going to be fun.
The other thing I had is I keptseeing Snag Tights Company and
they sell like tights, pantyhose, that kind of thing.
They have Akatar tights nowthey're dark, and then on the
knees they've got the mountainswith the little stars up top.

(01:57):
It's like the mountains ofValaris tights, what?

Ashley (02:01):
Yeah, Bro, these are sexy.
I like tights.
What yeah?

Jonathan (02:06):
well, these are sexy.

Kelly (02:06):
I like, I like a, I like, I like tights too I look at
this and all I can hear is fromspace saying we put this, we put
the picture's name oneverything merchandising.
That's where the real money ismade Spaceballs, the

(02:27):
flamethrower.
I feel like we're going to haveAkatar the tights.
We already have Akatar thecoffee tumbler that I've seen
advertised.

Mari (02:35):
Yes.
The candles, the stickers, thebookmarks yeah, absolutely.

Jonathan (02:42):
I mean, how do you translate it into tights?
Do we have a picture?

Mari (02:44):
Yeah, yeah, you can click on the link.
It's good Snag tights.
So snag tights is actually apretty good company.
I don't have these tights, butI have bought tights from them
before they're.
They're regular tights.
They're not like anythingdifferent from any other tights
you're going to buy anywhereelse, inclusive.
Yeah, most of the times youhave like oh, they'll be bigger

(03:04):
or smaller, but they don't takeinto account the length.
So if you are heavy like me,you get these tights that are
for someone who's very, verytall.
But I am five foot three, sowhen I get like the big tights
they're way too long on me.
But snagit has like big tightsand then they have big short
tights kelly for women.

Jonathan (03:25):
I'm just looking at these sizes.
It's a slash b, followed by c,d, e, then short f, then f, then
g.
This is a piano.
It's a piano of size chartsthat.
It's a symphony.
Are there even pockets?
No pockets well, they're tight,no pockets no pockets they're,
they're like pantyhose.
They're not leggings.

Mari (03:46):
No, they're not leggings, they're like tight.

Jonathan (03:47):
They're different.
I didn't realize there's adifference between Like
pantyhose.

Ashley (03:51):
There's, like you know, like the knee-high stockings
that we shoved the ice in foryour last bicycle race.

Jonathan (04:01):
Yeah, same concept $20 .
There's a significant costdifference.
I'll stick to that.
Well, yeah, these are prettierOkay.

Ashley (04:11):
Welcome to the patriarchy, where everyone has
to pay to look decent and you'relucky if you figure out your
size.

Mari (04:15):
Yeah, because as confused as you are by this sizing,
Jonathan, you go to anothertight company or pantyhose
company and it's completelydifferent, it's entirely
different, yep.

Jonathan (04:26):
There's no standardization, huh.

Ashley (04:28):
Nope, have you looked at the size, guys?
Mari Curvilicious.
I love it, prominent bum and ortum.
There's also athletic, small orflat bum and or tum.

Mari (04:40):
Yeah, I love their sizing, I love their advertising.
They include people of allsizes.
They include people.

Ashley (04:46):
I was going to say you know, it's made by a woman.

Mari (04:47):
Right, they include people of all abilities Like they'll
have people using chairs orusing walking assistance devices
or whatever.
Like they do.
They include everybody in theiradvertisement.
So I knew about the company.
But then I saw, like wait,acotar tights, mmm, I think
they're cute.
I may end up getting them,we'll see.

(05:09):
They are quite adorable.
Yeah, oh, the other thing I sawis that because you guys know
that Wicked the movie is comingout in November the trailer and
stuff is starting to come out.
So Universal in Orlando is doinga wicked experience.
So basically in the Orlandopark, where what used to be the

(05:31):
Hello Kitty store is going to bea wicked experience.
So it's like retail food and awalkthrough experience.
It sounds almost like a tributestore which, if you guys, I
know all of us have gone.
But for listeners, if youhaven't gone to universal, they
do like tribute stores fordifferent holidays, like
christmas one, halloween, mardigras and and also to celebrate,

(05:55):
like their older movies like etor ghostbusters or whatever.
So it's like a store that's allthemed out.
So they're going to have astore that's going to be themed
out to Wicked.
It opens in late October theydidn't have an exact date but
it's going to have ShizUniversity merchandise, which is
the university that they go toin the story.
It's going to have stuffdesigned by Mina Lima.

(06:15):
It's going to have Legos,wicked, legos lounge fly bags
and then prop replicas from theNoble Collection which does like
the really good movie, accurate, really pretty props.
Gregory Maguire wrote Wicked,which is a prequel to the Wizard
of Oz, and it's also been amusical, like the book was first

(06:37):
and then the musical whichKelly and I've seen a few times,
which is very good if you everget the chance to see it.
So I'm excited about the movie.
Have you guys seen the musicalor read the book or anything?

Ashley (06:47):
I remember reading the book some years ago and really
struggling to get through it.
I would have been pretty young,though, like early 20s, and it
was not my favorite book, butI've heard phenomenal things
about the actual production.

Jonathan (07:01):
I've avoided everything that has to do with
the Wizard of Oz successfully.
The Wizard of Oz is like that'smy podium of fears, Really.

Ashley (07:08):
I did not know that, me either.
15 years together, I did notknow that the Wizard of Oz was a
fear of his yeah, huge yeah,ever since I was a kid.
Is it the monkeys?

Jonathan (07:18):
It's just as scary when you're a child and you look
at that film.
It's a scary-ass movie.
Have you ever Like Gremlins?
I dare you to put it on forSavannah.

Ashley (07:27):
Savannah's odd.
She would not like it.

Jonathan (07:29):
Yeah.

Kelly (07:35):
Terrifying movie for children because it's well known
that the actress who played theWicked Witch of the West you
know she hated how childrenfeared her after that portrayal,
so it was.
It was definitely terrifyingfor children at the time and for
years afterwards.

Mari (07:47):
Well, I was going to say maybe we could read Wicked
sometime for the podcast, but Iwill not put you through that,
so we don't have to do that.

Jonathan (07:54):
I think I've seen who's the one with the
Spider-Man villain guy in it.
Isn't there a newer one wherethey give the backstory of how
she was scorned?

Ashley (08:03):
Sir, you've got to give me more.
You've one where they give thebackstory of how she was scorned
.

Jonathan (08:06):
You gotta give me more .
Is it prequel that does?

Ashley (08:08):
not narrow it down.

Jonathan (08:11):
It played a villain in Spider-Man.
Maybe I got nothing.

Ashley (08:15):
Which Spider-Man.

Jonathan (08:17):
Spider-Man number one With.

Kelly (08:19):
Tobey Maguire.

Ashley (08:20):
Yeah, are you talking about the original Green Goblin?

Kelly (08:25):
There was a Wizard of oz movie that had the guy who
played the son of the greengoblin in the original
spider-man oh I validated.

Ashley (08:35):
Thank you still have no idea what either of you are
talking about so it was a.

Kelly (08:39):
It was a movie called oz the great and powerful I do
remember that it wasn't verygood it had.
James Franco, Mila Kunis,Rachel Wise.

Mari (08:50):
Yeah, it wasn't great.

Kelly (08:51):
The big problem with Wicked the book versus Wicked
the musical and now the movie isthe stories are different.
If you read the book it's notgoing to be the same story.
It's not like a very 100%faithful adaptation.
They made some significantchanges from the book into the
musical.
Yeah, they did.

Mari (09:09):
Yeah, to me the book is a little bit more of a story of
like a coming of age and alittle bit of a love story.
The musical was a coming of ageand a found family like
friendship type story.
So I'm interested to see whichway they're going to go with the
movie, probably more like themusical, because I think that's
mainly what they're basing it on.
Yeah, okay, so the next thing Ihad was that the Bookish Box

(09:35):
Company is going to be doing aspecial edition of some of Cursa
Broadbent's works.
So they're going to bereleasing a signed set of Ashes
and the Star-Cursed King and theSongbird and the Heart of Stone
.
So those are Crowns of Niaxiabooks, so books set in that Six
Scorched Roses series that weread.
It's in that world.
So there's no details yet.

(09:57):
I don't know when these aregoing to be released, but
they're going to be signed booksby her, so I would expect that
these would probably go fast.
Yeah, so, but Bookish Box doessome really pretty books
normally, so they're probablygoing to be really pretty.
I'm going to need a part-timejob.
This is, this is my job, toafford my books.
Right, speaking of Callie Hart,who wrote Quicksilver, which I

(10:23):
know you've read.
Ash, right, you wrote you readQuicksilver, which I know you've
read.
Ash, right, you wrote you readQuicksilver.
I'm, like, still part of theway through it.
I put a pause on it to try andfinish Crescent City, but there
currently is a signed specialedition hardcover version of
this book available at like theregular price on Waterstones.

Ashley (10:41):
Freaking Waterstones.

Mari (10:43):
Yeah.
So when I say regular price,it's 20 pounds, which is the
regular price for a hardcover,but then it's 13 pounds for
shipping to the US.

Ashley (10:51):
Goodness, yeah, that's rough.
Don't quote me because I didn'twrite it down.
However, I did hear I thought Iread recently that Kelly Hart
was picked up by traditionalpublishing.
Read recently that Callie Hartwas picked up by like
traditional publishing, which isgreat for her, Super excited.
However, the fallout from thatis that book two is now not
releasing for another year.

Mari (11:12):
Allegedly that's what I heard.

Ashley (11:13):
Yes, I agree.
Yeah, so very sad for us.
Yay, callie Hart, right, happyfor you.
But, dang girl, 12 months, 12months is rough, rough.
I don't know the exact story, Idon't know if she was just
indie publishing orself-publishing, but it it is a
very popular social media bookright now.
Like it blew, like again likefourth wing, almost, it was

(11:34):
wildfire.
It was all across my for youpages and it I I got conned.
I read the book I.
It was a little slow for me atfirst and maybe that's why you
took a break.
Um, but it, it I was sold.
At the end I was sold.

Mari (11:50):
So I mean I like it.
Yeah, if I wasn't trying tofinish Crescent city, I'm sure I
would have finished Quicksilverby now.
I had this weird idea that Iwas going to finish Crescent
city on like the trip to Vegasor something, or the trip back
or the plane.
I did nothing.
I made zero progress onanything.

Ashley (12:11):
It did not happen.
No, and she's a thick book.
The Callie Harbrook is a thickbook too, I think.
Several nights I was up at anunforgiving hour trying to cram
it all in.
So I feel like.

Mari (12:24):
Yeah, so far I'm liking it .
I know that I was readingsomething I think it was on
reddit where people were tryingto guess what the romanacy book,
goodreads books were going tobe with the 2024.
Romancy books were going to beand quicksilver was a name that
was thrown around a lot likequicksilver when the moon
hatched the new crowns of niaxiabook and probably crescent city
.

Ashley (12:44):
I also heard, too, that she was instrumental in
designing the cover ofquicksilver oh, that's well.

Mari (12:51):
That's what you get when you do in indie.
You get, you get to have whenyou do your own stuff yeah, yeah
, no, because, like I was forthe book that we're reading
today, for radiance, I wastrying to find out who did the
cover, you know, and I couldn'tfind it.
But I did find a statement fromthe cover.
You know and I couldn't find it, but I did find a statement
from the author, from GraceDraven, basically saying that
you know when, when you're, whenyou're work with a publisher,

(13:11):
with a traditional publisher,you don't get any say in
anything about the cover.
She's like I'll have adiscussion with you on any of my
indie books that I published,because I picked the covers for
those, but the rest I had noinput on.
Yeah, which is kind of aversion of things I've heard
from reading a lot of differentauthors.
I think the traditionalpublishing model authors don't

(13:31):
tend to have a lot of input,unless maybe, if they're really
big names, like, I'm sure youknow, rebecca Yarrow probably
has some say on her covers.

Ashley (13:40):
Sure no.
That makes sense when you sayit out loud.
I think the majority of themdon't.

Mari (13:45):
Speaking of when the Moon Hatched, sarah A Parker, who
wrote when the Moon Hatched, isdoing a US signing tour because
she lives in New Zealand.
But she's going to be touringthe US from Saturday, september
28th through October 5th.
I know that the weekend that weare going to be at the Fabled

(14:07):
Fantasy Romanacy event thatOctober, whatever it is, third,
fourth weekend she's going to bein Decatur, georgia, but the
weekend before that she's goingto be in Florida.
So I know I'm going to be atthat book signing that she's
doing in Bradenton, florida.
There's a few others, but ifyou're interested, go to her
website and check out if any ofthem are closer to you or close
to you.
I don't try to remember mymemory I don't think any are

(14:28):
West Coast.
I think they're all East Coast,but I think it goes up to like
New York.
So she has a few, but it's just.
I believe it's all East Coast.
Good for her making the rounds.
I know that's a good one.
I don't know if we'll ever readit for this because it is so
long, but that's a good story.
I would definitely recommendthat series to anyone who's
interested in it.
All right, so the last thing Ihad for news was Sebastian

(14:51):
Knopfel, which we interviewed onhere before he wrote O King,
holly King is now available asan audio book, so you can get it
from Audible or wherever youget your your audio books.
That book is now available asan audiobook.
The narrator is gary furlong.

Ashley (15:07):
Um, I have not listened to it yet, but I know it's
available and shout out tosebastian for like letting us
know that it was available.
He certainly did not have tofollow up with us.
It has been, mom I know.
So like thanks so much that itwas on jonathan's like to you

(15:27):
know tbr.
For that he was really like sadnot to listen to it in
traditional audiobook versionbecause he, you know, I think he
did like a script to listenkind of thing and that was rough
and and he got through it.
So I know he's super stoked toto hear this one because we love
Sebastian.

Mari (15:49):
Yeah, I'm curious to see how the audiobook's going to
sound, so I'm sure I'll play itwhile I do stuff put up
Halloween decorations orsomething.
I think it'll be fun.
Yeah, all right.
Does anybody else have anyother new stuff they want to
bring up?

Jonathan (15:57):
There's a TikToker by the name of Jasmine Moss.
Okay, she wrote Blood ofHercules.
She has picked up a three-bookpreempt by Harper Voyager and
set to publish in the UK andNorth America in November.

Mari (16:16):
So Blood of Hercules.

Jonathan (16:18):
Yeah, it's a really interesting backstory to me
because it's this twist.
I guess the catchphrase here iswe're putting the her in
Hercules.
It's this Greek gods-inspirednovel that follows Alexis Hurt.
She attends this war academyand then tries to graduate while

(16:38):
the heirs to the underworldhaunt her steps and her thoughts
.
So it's supposed to have thislike dark humor, uh, this
romanticity, slow burn to it,and I'm interested.
I I do enjoy those uh likegreek god stories.

Ashley (16:57):
So having this twist, um , this is a good bit, sir.
I'm very proud of you right nowthank you, I appreciate that,
uh.

Jonathan (17:05):
So yeah, I'm looking, I'm looking forward to that.
It's a, it's a three bookpreempt, so I'm hoping that it's
uh, it becomes a series so itlooks like book one of two, so
two are currently available.

Ashley (17:17):
Forgive me, I'm googling as I look at this.

Mari (17:19):
So it's also kindle unlimited guys nice, if I'm
remembering right, I believe,and it may be available
elsewhere, but I believe I sawthat on the Waterstones website
a signed version of that book isavailable right now too.
They're very pretty covers.
They are pretty and it's aninteresting concept.
It's a female Hercules.
That's kind of a cool-.

Ashley (17:39):
A cool spin.

Mari (17:40):
Yeah, let me add one more, another bit, another bit.
While we're talking, like Greekretellings, abigail Owen, who
we've read her book before, shejust released a book called the
Games God's Play.

Ashley (17:56):
I bought it.
Have you read it yet?
I bought it.
No, I haven't, but I didn'teven read the summary.
I didn't have to, mari, it wasso pretty I pre-ordered it Is
that it, that's it.

Mari (18:07):
I'm thinking about doing that, I'm thinking about getting
it, while the really pretty oneis available.

Ashley (18:13):
I don't know where it is , I'll send you a picture.
But as soon as I saw the cover,I said it's for me, she's
talking to me, I said, and Ibought it I pre-ordered it.

Mari (18:31):
I was sad it was delayed by like a week.
Thank you, amazon.
Is that the one with the withthe edge painting?

Ashley (18:33):
yes, yeah, the teal blue one.
I think it's a hades andpersephone retelling I believe
at least I know it's hades.

Mari (18:36):
Yeah, so I assume that the the female main character is
persephone or persephone typecharacter.
But yeah, it's definitely hadesin it.

Ashley (18:42):
It's definitely a book trophy because it's done really
pretty.

Mari (18:47):
Yeah, that one's.
I was on the list.
I think I'll be reading thatone soon.
It's interesting.
Like I feel like Greekretellings have kind of come
back as a phase, but I don'tknow what they have.
I think they've just kind ofalways been around and I just
haven't been as aware of them.

Ashley (19:04):
You know what a news thread we?

Mari (19:08):
had today, you guys, so much, so much.
I know, I know All right, arewe done with news, anything else
?

Jonathan (19:15):
I'm good to go.

Mari (19:16):
So we are going to be reading Radiant.
We did read.
We're going to be talking aboutRadiance by Grace Draven.
This will be the last podcastthat goes out before we attend
the Fabled Fantasy RomanacyBookCon event in Orlando, and
Grace Draven will be an authorthere.
This book was published January11th of 2015, so it's not a new

(19:37):
one.
It's been around for a minute.
Let me read the synopsis andthen we can get into a little
bit.
Let me read the synopsis andthen we can get into a little
bit.
The Prince of no Value, brishanKashkem, prince of the Kai, has
lived content as thenon-essential spare heir to a
throne secured many times over.
A trade and political alliancebetween the human kingdom of
Gwar and the Kai kingdom of BastHaradis requires that he marry

(20:00):
a Gwari woman to seal the treaty.
Always a dutiful son, brishenagrees to the marriage and
discovers his bride is as uglyas he expected and more
beautiful than he could haveimagined.
The noblewoman of no importanceItiko, niece of the Gwari king,
has always known her only worthto the royal family lay in her
strategic marriage, resigned toher fate.

(20:21):
She is horrified to learn thather intended groom isn't just a
foreign aristocrat but theyounger prince of a people
neither familiar nor human,bound to her new husband, itako,
will leave behind all thatshe's known to embrace a man
shrouded in darkness but with asoul forged by light.
Two people brought together bythe trappings of duty and
politics will discover they aredestined for each other, even as

(20:41):
the powers of a hostile kingdomscheme to tear them apart.
What do we think?
Who wants to go first?
I don't mind going first.
Yeah, I'll go first.
This was a reread for me.
I read it earlier this year.
It had been on my TBR since,like last year, I first heard
about this book on a YouTuber Ifollow that I've mentioned

(21:03):
before, a Frolic Through Fiction.
She talked about this book anda few others I'm sure I followed
also talked about it, butthat's, I think, the first place
that I remember hearing it.
So it's a reread for me.
I enjoy it because I feel likeit's a true kind of a true
enemies to lovers kind of, inthat there is no instant love,

(21:23):
there is no love at first sight,there is no anything.
There's like active disgust andthen they've got to build on
everything from there.
I like this storyline a lot.
I would say on the reread I'mgoing to give it the same thing
I read it the first time, whichwas four stars.
There are things that I thoughtwere incomplete about this.
I think would have made it abetter story, but I really liked

(21:45):
the way the relationship wasmade.
Yeah, that's where I'm going toleave it at for now.

Ashley (21:51):
So I'll go second because I want to touch on some
of your points.
I struggled to read this bookonly because I think this was
such a busy timeframe for us.
Like you know, individually weall had things going on the last
couple of weeks, but I actuallyreally liked this book.
I thought it was an easy read.
It wasn't too heavy.

(22:12):
There didn't need to be a tonof world building but it, you
know, enough existed that I gotthe picture.
I knew nothing about this bookgoing in and I didn't get
enemies to lovers, I got friendsto lovers and that process,
that growth, was just so sweetto me and I genuinely can't

(22:34):
remember the last time there wasa friends to lovers.
That wasn't a contemporaryromance read for me and it was
so sweet how they were justblatantly honest with each other
from the beginning.
It led to this friendship thatwas based on honesty, which grew
into a relationship, you know,faceted by love, and I liked

(22:55):
this a lot.
This was a three and a half forme only because I didn't have
that like.
I wasn't staying up until 4amreading it, but I liked it a lot
and I would like to continue.
I think the only down for me waswhere it ended.
I thought they could have givena little bit more to maybe wrap
things up or explain somethingelse before they wrapped up the

(23:16):
way they did.
It was just.
It left me a little bitdisappointed at the end, but it
was a clean ending and so forthat I'm grateful.
I really liked this book.
This was a solid read for me.
Boys, guys, guys.

Jonathan (23:32):
IDNF.
I tried desperately hard to getinto this book and I just
couldn't.

Ashley (23:38):
How deep did you get?

Jonathan (23:39):
I probably got a good 40, 50% into the book.

Ashley (23:42):
Oh, so what was the last thing you remember?

Jonathan (23:45):
The last thing I remember.
Well, I can't.

Ashley (23:47):
Okay, no spoilers.
We're not at that part yet,yeah.

Jonathan (23:52):
Okay, I'll mute myself and I'll go look at what
percentage I got through.

Ashley (23:55):
Well, you got to give a rating.

Kelly (23:57):
A rating?
I don't know.
Do you give a rating if you DNF?
Yeah, I would say, if you DNF,you don't give a rating.

Jonathan (24:02):
Yeah, it's fine, I'm still going to give a rating.

Mari (24:05):
I mean, if you want to, but I.

Jonathan (24:08):
It wasn't a good book for me.
I'm still going to rate it.

Ashley (24:11):
Okay, what's your rating ?

Jonathan (24:12):
I'm going to give it three stars.

Ashley (24:14):
That's halfway through I feel like those are pity stars.

Jonathan (24:18):
They are.
I know we're sorry, Grace.
Every book is not made foreveryone.

Ashley (24:22):
This is true, I mean.
That's a fair statement.

Kelly (24:25):
What do you think, kelly?
I ended up giving this bookthree stars.
I enjoyed some of the worldbuilding, having the two
different races and I agree withAshley, this definitely felt
more like a friends to lover,because they had bonding over
the fact that they were bothsort of the outcast royalty of
their respective families, sothey had a lot to bond over.

(24:46):
They had a lot of traumabonding right from the get.
Go over that.
So that was definitely made itfeel more like friends to end or
friends to lovers than anythingelse.
When did this book getpublished?
2015?
Yeah, so it felt very much likeit was influenced by, like,

(25:06):
avatar or something.
The way things were described,the way that people were
described being kind of cat-like, which is how I thought that
the avatar blue people was.
They kind of were a little bitcat-like.
So I just wonder, if it was,you know, influenced by avatar,
this book would have come outlike what, five years after
avatar.
So maybe, I guess not entirelyout of the, not entirely out of

(25:28):
the possibility, yeah, but Ialso agree with actually, the
ending was very short, like it.
Yes, seemed like it just likewrapped up.
Really, yeah, it was like blah,blah, blah.
And here we are.

Mari (25:40):
This is the end I agree the pacing and some of the plot
stuff is why I didn't give itfive.
Yeah, same reasons.
So all right, anything elsebefore we go into actual spoiler
part where we can talk moredetails?
All right, kelly.

Kelly (25:55):
All right, dear listener, from this point forward we will
be discussing spoilers.
So if you have not read thebook or you don't want the
spoilers, then feel free to comeback to this episode at a later
date or skip to the end.
But if you don't mind thespoilers, then continue on.

Mari (26:12):
All right.
Yeah, I've actually read thesequel as well and in my brain I
conflated the two as to wherethe story ends, but both books,
in my opinion, have the sameproblem with pacing and where
the plot happens.
I think she's really good atwriting the relationship between
them and the buildup and theinterpersonal stuff and how they

(26:32):
come together, but I think someof the world stuff around it is
just like um fast forward,pause and then just ends, kind
of thing.
So yeah, I think it's probablysome of the same thing you guys
were saying I feel like it wouldmake a like a semi-decent tv
series possibly there werecommercial.

Ashley (26:52):
There were commercials yeah between some of these
chapters, I felt like.

Kelly (26:56):
Yeah, I agree with you.
Actually, it definitely feltlike the plot moved in bursts
rather than a smooth, tenuousmovement of the plot.

Ashley (27:05):
And I don't mean it in a bad way.
I wasn't unhappy with the book.
We've read far more challengingbooks.
I feel like I was a big fan youknow of.
I didn't mind the pacing, Ididn't mind the language.
I think when I was talking withJonathan about it, some of the
language stuff was maybe not ahurdle but like maybe a thumbs

(27:29):
down for him.
I think he's starting to noticethat he likes more modern tones
and language.
So this one was a little bitmore old-timey-ish, a little bit
more formal, but I liked thebanter.
I thought the banter and thefriendship was probably the best
part for me.

Mari (27:49):
I agree I think we've talked about this before where
some authors like eitherdescribes themselves as a
pantser or as a plotter.
You know, the plotters likethey plan out the whole world
and the whole plot before theyget going, and then the pantsers
are the ones who are like justkind of make it up as they go
along.
And she describes herself as apantser and I think some of that
probably comes into play withthe flow of the plot, where it

(28:13):
does kind of like jump around alittle bit.
Yeah, so as far as like thefantasy, I guess I I think I
started before, so I'll startwith, like, my rating on fantasy
.
I gave it a three for fantasyjust because of that, like I
felt like some things of theworld were well developed and
some things were just kind oflike hand wavy and I wanted to
know more.
I wanted to know a bit more ofwhy things were just kind of

(28:35):
like hand wavy and I wanted toknow more.

Ashley (28:37):
I wanted to know a little bit more of why things
were the way they were.
So it was a three for me.
Yeah, that's a solid response.
I would probably also say athree.
I thought there were someinteresting things before.
Kelly mentioned Avatar.
I didn't make that connection,but I thought it was interesting
.
And I think the title of thebook mentions wraith, right, and
I don't.

(28:57):
I don't think we actually everread that anywhere else in the
book.
So I thought, you know, whenwe're talking about the, not a
different, I guess, I I guess adifferent species, right, if
they're not fully human in theway that go is.
And I just said that name wrong, I know I did.
But I thought it was justinteresting how they were just,
you know, duty bound to bridgethe gap and how they just

(29:20):
mutually decided very early, youknow, to friends and to open up
with each other.
And that meant him talkingabout his past and their magic
and their traditions.
And she was so willing, right,we're not even talking about
like a damsel in distresssituation here.
She wasn't grossed out, youknow, she was committed and

(29:40):
there were new aspects, right.
So, like, could you imaginemarrying someone that doesn't
have pupils?
That's wild to me.
That's a soul to keep, you knowme, freaking orbs of light
instead of eyeballs.
What, what do you got?
You're staring at me over there.

Jonathan (29:59):
Yeah, because to me it's like marrying your dinner
Dinner.
In the past they used to eatthem.

Ashley (30:08):
Yeah, oh, you're talking about from his perspective.
Well, I mean he doesn'tremember that past.

Jonathan (30:13):
I'm not marrying a cheesesteak anytime soon.
No, you're talking about fromhis perspective.
Well, I mean, he doesn'tremember that past.
I'm not marrying a cheesesteakanytime soon.

Ashley (30:15):
No, but he attributes her to a horse and I thought
that was hilarious.

Mari (30:18):
Yeah, but how many vampire love stories are there?
Twilight, dracula, all of them,right, all of them yeah.
Yeah.

Ashley (30:34):
So this was a whole new perspective, and so I thought
the wraith slash vampire vibeswere super interesting, I
thought their history right wassuper interesting and and I
think that's probably what keptme going, so yeah, I would.

Jonathan (30:39):
I would agree on a three jonathan I like the world
building we're at right thefantasy fantasy, yeah yeah, I
like, I like the, I like thefantasy, I like I that that.
That gave me good vibes, right.
So if it it's just the tonethat it was written and it was
just it felt, it's it just itfelt a little too cold, serious,
yeah.
But like the idea that you havetwo kingdoms that are like you

(31:04):
have the two spares, essentiallyright, yeah, the, the and and
they're, they're kind of beingbrought together as a as this
handshake between these twoentities and the kingdom that
she's marrying into is strongand feels dominant.
I mean, he was attacked.
They were attacked rightInitially and they fended it off

(31:24):
.
And that's where I kind of digthe cat people vibe when they
were like hey, absorb mymemories, were like hey, absorb
my memories.
And then I also like the ideathat there was almost this like
this drugged sensation where youdon't just you don't just take
these memories in, likeabsorbing them you're
experiencing them yourself, yeahexactly he was calling out for

(31:45):
his mother and you know, andgave his true thoughts and true
feelings towards what's her nameildiko, yeah, illy and, and
illy and brie't know what I'mcalling them for a while.
But like they were where, theywere like hey, he looked at her
and he was like yeah, you'reugly, you know, kind of thing.
And from the perspective of theperson who had fallen right and

(32:06):
but she knew enough to knowthat hey, okay, that's not him.
I need to be with him andsupport him in this space, you
know, and they're they're.
I did enjoy also their brutalhonesty, but I also I didn't
view it as brutal honesty.
I think sometimes, sometimes,when people are brutally honest,
it's just an excuse, ascapegoat to be to hurt someone.

(32:28):
Pick up on that.
I think they were just like wedon't know sarcasm, but it
almost sarcastic at the sametime like yeah, and it
definitely like converted intothat they.

Ashley (32:40):
They joke about it later on.
Yeah, it's like their pet nameslater on, right yeah?

Jonathan (32:46):
yeah, so I I definitely did enjoy that, that
world building element.
It felt like I was right inthat mix.
I'm going to give that a fourin my non-votable vote.

Kelly (32:59):
Kelly, I think the world building was decent.
I gave it a three.
I just felt like the world washeavily influenced, maybe by
Avatar, but I also think thatthe way they portrayed his race
was very similar to classicmythology about fantasy elves oh
, we're a dying race, our powerand our days are numbered, but

(33:20):
we still fight to hold on to ourinfluence and power that kind
of thing.
That's like the stereotypicalfantasy elf trope and I think
that was definitely used on thatrace to a pretty significant
degree.

Mari (33:34):
Anything else about fantasy before we move on to
romance, romance.
For me that was like the viewthe high point of this book was
the romance.
So for me, romance, I gave it afive.
I thought the romance was wellwritten.
I thought it was the romancepart of it was well paced.
I thought how they were honestwith each other and, you know,

(33:55):
became kind of like allies youknow we're on the same side and
then friends, and then itdeveloped from there.
I thought the, the pet namesthey had for each other.
I thought it was just a very,very well-written,
well-constructed relationship.
So to me it was the romance andthis was the five.

Ashley (34:15):
Yeah, I have to say it's a solid, a solid four, and I
don't even know what would makeit better, I just think it.
It hasn't grown enough Right.
So I'm sure book two would verylikely hit that five point for
me, unless something goesdramatically sideways Again.

(34:37):
The friendship to lovers genreis not something that I've dived
too much into, and so it wasvery refreshing.
The honesty was refreshing.
The banter was refreshing wasrefreshing.
The banter was refreshing whenhe, when she asked that really

(34:57):
deep question like how did youbecome, how did you evolve into
this decent creature, right, andnot not the product of the
personality of your parents, andhe barely hesitated to jump up.
And not even he could have justtold the story about his sister
, right, he didn't.
He showed her, and when hebusted out that light of that

(35:19):
three-year-old dead baby sister,I teared up.
Yeah, I, being an older sistermyself, I teared up.
So, yeah, the romance was verymuch the high point of this book
and will be a very strongreason if I get to book two
Because of our schedules, but Ienjoyed the romance in this so

(35:42):
much, it was just so refreshing.
It wasn't forced, you know.
We didn't even get into somesteamy stuff until like 55% in.
So I thought it was very wellpaced.
I thought it was very wellexplained, very well detailed.
I was not unhappy.
I have no notes for it.
It was a four for me.

Jonathan (35:59):
I didn't make it to romance, you didn't make it to
romance.
I'm not going to rank it.
I will say this, though I gotgood vibes out of it.
Good vibes when she met hisparents and kind of clapped back
a little bit.

Ashley (36:15):
She did.

Jonathan (36:17):
And he was pretty supportive of whatever was
happening there.
I feel like maybe that waslending itself toward
foundational elements of it.

Kelly (36:26):
Kelly, I did enjoy the romance.
I thought it was one of thebetter romances we've read, just
because it definitely they hadsuch a strong connection and the
way they worked together it wasmore of a partnership and that
kind of thing rather than justblazing lust to start with.
So I've always enjoyed more ofthe relationships that start as

(36:50):
friends or start, as you know,equals, and I did like the way
they sort of were flirting witheach other throughout the book
once they got more comfortablewith each other.
That was nice to see that kindof romantic flirtation going on.
Overall, I think it was yeah,it was a four on the romance,
definitely the strongest pointof the book.

Mari (37:09):
Okay.
So moving on to Spice, therewasn't a lot of Spice because it
was a bit of a slow build, butI think that when the spice
happened, I thought it was verygood quality spice, like I think
it flowed well, it didn't feelintrusive, like I think it
worked with the story, that itwas well done.
For me, the spice was a four.

(37:30):
You know, I think that theywent about it with their eyes
wide open.
They it took them a while toget there and then once they got
there, they were all about itand they were able to find that
comfort in each other as thingsgot really, you know, difficult
in their lives and in the plot.
So I thought it kind ofhighlighted the whole them

(37:53):
coming to like trust and dependon each other.
So to me it was a four forspice.

Ashley (37:58):
I really enjoyed again how there was at least zero
physical attraction to beginwith, right, and you're talking
basically about two differentspecies.
You're not talking aboutdifferent ethnicities or
religions or races, even like.
You're talking about thingsthat are not supposed to
procreate together.
Basically, yeah, and so Ithought it was so well developed

(38:25):
, that spice right, becauselooks are not everything and
there is something to be saidabout a friendship blossoming
into a really a romanticrelationship where your
perception then changes of theother person and that person
becomes the most beautiful thing.
Right, it is about personality,it is about strength, it is

(38:47):
about character, and thosethings far surpass, surpass
looks, and in this I think itaided in the looks department.
Yes, this creature is a thousandpercent different than what I
am and what I grew up with.
They are the most precious andbeautiful thing to me.
The spice explanation part waslacking a little bit, I think,

(39:12):
but I thought it was verypolitely described and told
their passion for each other.
You saw that build up, it wasobvious and I just thought it
was very nicely done.
So I think it was a three and ahalf for me.

Jonathan (39:25):
Was there a bangening?

Mari (39:28):
There was, you just didn't get to it.
I think the bangening happenedat like 70% to the book.

Jonathan (39:33):
Deep in there yeah like, did they get?
Did they, did she get a good,did she get good powers out of
it?
What happened?

Ashley (39:39):
no, I don't.
It wasn't really a banging likeit was.
There was, it was it a banging,there was a banging there was
lots of banging, but I don'tknow that special powers so
there was an abundance of ofbanging like like when you hit
like 65 percent it hit 65percent that's when the sheets
like once they started, theykept going, of course, yeah yeah

(39:59):
, they were like newlyweds.

Jonathan (40:01):
Yes, interesting or like first dating.
You gotta know what you like.
You know what I mean.
Yeah, all right, I was just.

Ashley (40:07):
I was just, it was really interesting too how he
was so cautious of like histeeth and claws still took.
Yeah, she still took theefforts to kiss him in the way
that humans do, so that it wasenjoyable for both.
I thought that was reallyreally nicely done.

Mari (40:24):
It was very polite like very demure, very demure.
I will say to me this is a Iwould label this as a monster
romance, and that is somethingyou see often in monster romance
, where you have like a humancharacter with a non-human
character and then you have waysto make kisses work.

Ashley (40:46):
Commodation.

Mari (40:47):
Yeah, despite fangs or whatever other things that the
monster character may have, thatmay not work with kissing.
You have different ways ofdoing kissing.
Yeah, I thought this was welldone in that, kelly.

Kelly (41:02):
I think that the spice was a three and that's kind of
felt like it was the kind ofaverage.
You know.
Better than average, slightlybetter than average.
Yeah, I mean I agree withAshley, you know, better than
average, slightly better thanaverage.
Yeah, I mean I agree withashley the whole part of them
being careful and then once theyfinally got going, they were
like newlyweds.
That was definitely a littlebit different than what we've
normally seen in the books we'veread.

Mari (41:24):
Overall, it was good it was a good journey.
It was a good journey from like, like we've said, from active
disgust of each other to, youknow, know, a full-on
relationship.

Kelly (41:35):
Right, I mean, that's the whole thing about romance.
You know, when you love someone, you definitely see them as
being, you know, more attractivethan someone else may see them.

Mari (41:46):
What do we think about the cover?
I guess I've been going firstso I'll keep going first.
I like the cover.
I think it's this I don't knowif it's a trend or a thing that
I see often in monster romanceswhere you have very traditional
harlequin-type poses on thefront but instead of it being a

(42:08):
Fabio and model kind ofcharacter, you have a grotesque
and model kind of character.
You have, you know, a grotesqueor monster kind of character.
So, yeah, it's a very like youcould see a Fabio pose happening
with that cover.
So to me it's that kind of apose.
It would have gotten myattention.
So I gave it a four.

Ashley (42:25):
I agree, I think I was less focused on the posing as
much as I was focused on, like,how distinctly different they
were and I think I went back andreferenced it a couple of times
in their descriptions of eachother.
It's easy to picture a human.
I think it's more challengingto picture a quote unquote
monster, right.

(42:46):
And so you want to go back andand, like man, I wish they would
have shown his teeth.
I want to see what.
What were we accommodating?
But that aside, you know I wasdefinitely.
It's almost like a gargoylevibe even yes from the cover.
I like the cover a lot.
I don't I don't know if itwould have stopped me and made

(43:06):
me buy it, but I definitelyappreciated it as a reader who
did read the book.
It was a four for me.
I really I like the, but Idefinitely appreciated it as a
reader who did read the book.
It was a four for me.
I really I liked the cover alot.
I thought it was very like,specific to the story.
Right, we're not just lookingat random clip art covers, you
know, mashed together to try tomake sense like some of the
others.
We see it was, it was relevant,it was, you know, it was them

(43:29):
very specifically.
So I think it's a four.

Jonathan (43:32):
I thought the cover was basic, basic.
I didn't get monster vibes fromit, I got like gray skin vibes,
like a gargoyle, yeah.
But also like I was, as a child, watching the gargoyle cartoons
Me too, sir I was like thoseare pretty rad things.
I was like I probably would nothave purchased this particular

(43:53):
book based solely on the cover.

Kelly (43:56):
Kelly sometimes seen on some covers, just the two of
them on the cover.
Yeah, it definitely felt like aFabio cover and I guess that
kind of just turned me off somebecause you don't even get like
a really good look at his face,right, his eyes are covered.

(44:20):
Right.

Mari (44:22):
All right.
So do we think it's a kissingbook?
I think so.
I think so because I think thatif they hadn't built their
alliance into a friendship andinto a romance, I don't think
they would have lasted.
I think it would have fallenapart either when the mom tried
to kill her.

Ashley (44:36):
Or the initial raid Just as they're leaving the wedding.
Yeah, the initial raid.
He just immediately fell intothat protector.
It wasn't even duty, it wassolely because it was her.

Mari (44:47):
Yeah, yeah.
Or like when she had to go andrescue him, like there's so many
points where I think it couldhave easily fallen apart if they
didn't have that strong bondbetween them.
So I'm going to say yes.

Ashley (44:56):
I agree.
It's a yes, mr DNF.

Jonathan (45:00):
I'm not, I don't know, I can't.

Ashley (45:02):
No opinion.

Jonathan (45:02):
There's no possible way for me to drop this through
the calculator in order to comeup with the determination, so
I'll abstain here.

Kelly (45:12):
Yeah, did you trademark Cocculator yet, jonathan,
because you probably want totrademark that so you can
prevent anyone else from usingthat name.

Mari (45:22):
Yeah, I think you do.

Jonathan (45:24):
It's a programming code.

Mari (45:26):
Romantic Cocculator.

Kelly (45:28):
We should just make a separate webpage page on our
website where we have thecalculator and people can just
drop in.

Ashley (45:36):
Yeah, what if the people want to rate their own things
using the calculator?

Jonathan (45:41):
Yeah, I'm trying to like shake out more questions
for it.
What questions am I missing inthe overall algorithm for the
calculation?
Missing in the overallalgorithm for the calculation?
So it needs growth.

Kelly (45:58):
So if you're out there listening and you want to add
questions to the calculation orto the algorithm, so in the end
I said I agree with you atRomanesie for sure, because, as
you've already pointed out, ifthey hadn't developed the
friendship and the romance, thenit would have all fallen apart.
He wouldn't have been soinclined to defend her at all
costs, the mom would have killedher, etc.

Mari (46:21):
Yeah, I agree.
Anything else you want to say?

Ashley (46:25):
about the book.
I'm curious to see where itleads to, right, because this
seemed very surface level drama.
If that makes sense, like, likefor sure like we're looking at
the wrong villain, almost kindof thing.
Um, the epilogue was was alittle interesting.
I'm curious to see where booktwo leads.

(46:46):
I do have a theory.
I mentioned this earlier andI'm wondering.
I don't do this, I don't liketo wonder, I just like to enjoy.
However, I wondered if thesupposed loss of magic, the
generations, like literally fromyou know one generation to the
next, is because of almost likeinterbreeding, right?

(47:09):
So is it because the Kai areonly mating with Kai, and I
wonder if a human procreation isnecessary to increase the magic
.
It seems interesting to me thatit's so well-established that
kids won't be a product of a Kaiand human marriage or a Kai and
human mating, and I wonder ifit's bullshit, like straight up

(47:33):
bullshit oh 100, 100 I'm fullyexpecting a baby, a little, a
little pretty mixed baby racechi and human, and I think that
thing's going to be powerful andmagical as fuck.

Kelly (47:47):
That's my theory one of the interesting things about
this book is how you cancorrelate the disgust the
different groups of people had,like how the humans had for the
Kai and vice versa, and themarriage between the two and how
they all seem to talk about itlike how terrible it was going
to be could substituteafrican-american for kai and it

(48:12):
would be the exact same disgust,etc.
When you look back into, likeyou know, the 1920s to the 19th
yeah, a commentary on likeinterracial marriage right.
So it's very yeah and it's.
And then going, going andlooking at it like that, it does
give you a differentperspective of the book because

(48:34):
you know you may think, oh,humans would never really be
like that to a different race,but we've done it to ourselves
it just felt so unnaturallytaboo.

Ashley (48:50):
I'm curious to see the next step in that relationship
and, like the surprise unfoldright.
I'm like oh my God, we weretold this wasn't going to happen
and it's because someone wasstifling the magic.
So for all you know, husband, abangening is coming.
You don't know.

Mari (49:08):
I think um, it's also a commentary on women not being
able to choose, likehistorically arranged marriages
where women were justcommodities, were just things.

Ashley (49:19):
Well, she says as much, right, like that was her only
worth yeah.

Mari (49:25):
Like that.
She may have married someonewho everyone thought was a
monster, but like he reallywasn't.
Like there's a part Ihighlighted.
This is Itako's viewpoint.
She had proclaimed hisappearance ghastly and his
honesty handsome.
Itako still stood by bothopinions.
She could have done infinitelyworse.
More than a few Gari women hadthe misfortune to marry human

(49:48):
men with handsome faces andghastly souls.

Ashley (49:51):
No one wants a ghastly soul?

Mari (49:53):
No, not at all.
All right, rapid fire, rapidfire.
So in lieu of rapid fire, likeinstead of having a movie or
whatever, I came across thisimage, and I don't know who
originally did the picture.
It was posted on Instagram bylibrariansco and it's just this

(50:16):
pile of books and it says itliterally stresses me out how
many good books are out therethat I still haven't read.
So my question to you guys ishow do you feel about a
ginormous TBR?
Does it stress you out?
Are you excited?
Is it a challenge?

Ashley (50:31):
What do you think?
I would say that arguably, foras much as I've read throughout
my whole life, I have not beenfantastic at tracking it.
I will honestly just buy a book.
I will buy a book and it willsit on my shelf and there is no
plan to read it, and I don'tknow how many times this has
occurred.
So reading this quote stressesme out, because I know I haven't

(50:53):
been tracking in a way that alot of readers do.
And I've done it.
I've bought the sticky notes,I've bought the reading journals
, I've joined Goodreads.
I have another app whose nameI'm forgetting in the moment and
I'm just not being very goodabout it.
So I think my ignorance isbliss and it would very much
stress me out if I tracked it inthe way that even you, mari, do

(51:15):
, because I think you do areally good job of tracking
things.
So my counter answer is thatignorance is bliss.
Guys, don't track your stuff.
Read it when you want to Buythe books.

Jonathan (51:26):
YOLO.
I would say make your TBRs aslong as you want them to be,
endless, infinite.
Nothing wrong with having toomuch to do.

Ashley (51:37):
I feel like the answer for him is that it does not
stress him out how many goodbooks are out there Sounds like
it excites you.

Jonathan (51:44):
I don't know if it excites me, but you say it
excites you, my plate's alwaysfull with different crafts that
I need to find time to squeezein, like the dishes Ooh, maybe.

Mari (52:03):
Kelly, what do you think?

Kelly (52:04):
A want-to-read list is not stressful, unless you make
it stressful.
You know, if you're puttingexpectations that you're going
to finish your entire TBR, thenwhat's the point of it?
The whole point is finding thebooks that you want to read and
looking at that list when youneed an idea for the next book
you want to buy or read.
So if it stresses you outbecause oh, I need to read this

(52:26):
book and you add it to your TBR,then you'll either read it or
you won't.
I don't get stressed out aboutmy want to read.

Mari (52:33):
For me.
I get excited about the TBR, soI'm not great Like I'm pretty
good at tracking what I haveread on apps like Goodreads and
I like Fables is the other one Ilike Fables and Goodreads.
I'm good at tracking what Ihave read because I think it's
interesting to see certaintrends.
Like I just finished rereadingHowl's Moving Castle for the

(52:57):
third time and I've read italmost around my birthday every
year for the past three yearsand I hadn't realized that it
wasn't like I made a concertedeffort.
Like this is what I'm going toread on my birthday, but you
know, tracking it.
I'm like, oh, I always read itin September.
So things like that I think areinteresting.
But for the actual TBR, I'm notgreat at tracking my TBR on the
apps.
I have a embarrassing list ofnotes on my notes app that just

(53:23):
scrolls, scrolls forever,scrolls for days of things.
I'm like, oh, that looksinteresting, I'll add that to my
ongoing TBR and then I'll pulllike books from the TBR and then
I'll make a separate monthlyTBR like, oh, this sounds like a
September read, I want to readthis in September or whatever.
But overall I don't think Ifeel stressed out by it.

(53:43):
I feel excited by it.
I feel excited by the idea that, like there are books that I've
read in the past few years thathave been amazing stories,
amazing worlds, and there's moreout there like that that I
don't know about yet, you knowthat are already written that I
don't know about, let alone theones that haven't been written
yet it makes me feel excited tobe able to have access to those.

Ashley (54:02):
I think it would stress out my bank account If, like the
TBR, had dollars.

Mari (54:06):
Kindle Unlimited is the best.

Ashley (54:07):
Kindle Unlimited is the best.

Mari (54:11):
If there was a book category on my bank account, it
would be scary.
I don't want to know that part.
Yes, Ignorance is bliss.
I don't want to keep it in thefun spending.

Ashley (54:20):
Wells Fargo, please don't do it.

Mari (54:22):
Don't do it.

Ashley (54:23):
I don't want to know.

Mari (54:23):
Don't hurt us like that, don't do it All right.
Anything else anybody wants tosay before we wrap it up?

Kelly (54:30):
Don't forget, we'll be at the Romanacy Book Con.
Yes, because I believe this isthe last episode before the con
actually takes place.
It is so we'll be there, ohyeah.

Mari (54:41):
Come and say hi, we'll find you.
Thanks for listening to OfSwords and Soulmates.
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(55:03):
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(55:24):
We hope you'll join us in twoweeks for our next episode, when
we finally read review ACOTAR ACourt of Thorns and Roses by
Sarah J Maas.
Yay, bye, bye.

Ashley (55:43):
Bye you.