"The Enchanted Greenhouse" - Second Chances and Forgiveness - Of Swords and Soulmates

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Ashley (00:00):
Views expressed in this podcast are solely those of the
participants.
The hosts make no claim to beliterary experts and their
opinions are exactly thatopinions.
All creative works discussed orreviewed are the intellectual
property of the creators of saidstories and is being used under
the Fair Use Doctrine.

Mari (00:32):
Hello and welcome to Swords and Soulmates, a podcast
where we read, watch and discussromanticist stories.
I'm one of your hosts, mari,and with me I have Kelly.

Kelly (00:35):
Hey everyone, it's Kelly.
We also have Ashley.

Ashley (00:38):
Hey guys, it's Ashley.
We also have Jonathan.

Jonathan (00:40):
What's good, everybody ?
It's JP.
How's everybody feeling today?

Ashley (00:44):
Today's been a Monday for me.

Mari (00:46):
Yeah, yeah, but it's a Monday, that's almost fall, it's
already HHN season, it'sgetting to the good time of the
year.

Ashley (00:56):
The good time of the year, yeah.

Mari (00:59):
Yeah.

Ashley (00:59):
Christmas is coming.

Mari (01:01):
I guess it is.
Yeah, he brings that too, he'sreaching deep guys.
First thing is JR Ward, whowrote the Black Dagger
Brotherhood series, is releasing.
Well, she's releasing severalnew books.
To be honest, she's releasingthe latest book in the series.
I believe that's coming outthis week.
I've got that in preorder soI'm not paying attention when it
comes out, but I think that'scoming out this week.

(01:22):
I think it's book like 23 inthe Black Dagger Brotherhood
series.
I'm on book 11, so I'm notthere yet.
And then she's releasing like afandom book in December.
It's called the Black DaggerBrotherhood 20th Anniversary
Insider's Guide.
It comes out December 2nd andit's got like little short

(01:42):
stories Like I think part of itis.
It's her interviewing hercharacters from the novels and
like where they are now.
And I'm a sucker for that stuff.
I love all that little like youknow, stories after the stories
kind of thing.
So I'm excited for that.
I was on the.
I was waffling, you know, onthe edge about whether or not I

(02:03):
was going to buy it.
But then I saw that JR Ward isgoing to be in Orlando at an
event done by Writer's BlockBookstore and when you buy a
ticket to go see her there youget the book.
So I bought the book, so I'mgoing to go meet her, I guess,
listen to her talk and get thatbook.

(02:25):
And I found out about it.
I was like, oh, she's going tobe there.
I think I want to go.
And I asked Kelly and he waslike I don't know that I'd be
that interested.
You buy a ticket for you andI'll do something else.

Kelly (02:43):
Right.

Mari (02:43):
Something to that effect.
You said, kelly, yeah, prettymuch.
And so then I was like, ok,well, yeah, that's fine, I'll go
.
And then I think I messaged youguys about it, and I messaged
Sarah from Hissing and Kissingabout it, because she's in that
area, and she was like, becauseshe had they had talked about it
on their podcast a few timesabout her liking JR Ward, so
she's going to go, so she and Iare going to go, so we're going
to go together to meet JR Wardat this event in Orlando, and it

(03:08):
like sold out within an hour ofme getting it.
And then, apparently, like afew more tickets opened up the
next day and they sold out superfast.
Good, yeah.
So then they were like, well,next time I think I don't
remember if she posted it or ifWriter's Block posted it, but
they were like, well, next timeshe comes down, we'll just have
to get a bigger venue, right,yeah?

Ashley (03:31):
Well, I love that for her and for you.

Mari (03:33):
Yeah, I have seen a few of her live, like talks and things
at different book events orwhatever she does, and she seems
like a very entertaining personto listen to.
Yeah, so I think it'll be a funtime.
I think it'll be good, so I'menjoying the series.
If anyone likes vampires andthat like very 90s goth vibe,

(03:55):
highly, highly recommend that'sthe one yep, that's it.
that is that, is it?
The other thing that came outwas I don't know if you guys
have heard of this After the Endit's a post-apocalyptic
dystopian romance Kickstarterdone by Allie Hazelwood and
Adriana Herrera.
Have you guys heard of this?
I don't think so.

(04:31):
I haven't, and it's eightnovellas combined into four
volumes and they did aKickstarter and the Kickstarter
goal was like $10,000.
So far it's $889,000 of backing, so it's like funded multiple
times over.
So you can get e-book, audiobook, hardcover, paperback

(04:51):
beautifully illustrated.
If you do the paperback or thehardcover, the Kickstarter ends
September 23rd, I believe, andif you end up buying the e-books
as your option or as one ofyour options, being the e-books
with it, the e-books will shipin October.

Jonathan (05:08):
Oh sorry, the e-books will ship in October.

Mari (05:11):
Yeah, so they're basically already written.

Jonathan (05:13):
Okay, and what about the paperbacks?

Mari (05:16):
It doesn't say, and I think with those you get into
things that are out of theircontrol because you have, like,
things have to be manufacturedand shipped and I don't know
that they can say right awayexactly when those are going to
ship.
At least I didn't see anywherewhere it said where the physical
stuff was going to shipestimated delivery june 2026 how
much?
is the kickstarter so it dependson which one you get.

(05:36):
Oh yeah, you can get just likethe ebook.
It's the cheapest where you getall the ebooks, but I want to
say $60, something around thatrange 40 for the eBooks.
Okay, 40 for the eBooks, andthen you can get eBooks and
audio right.

Jonathan (05:50):
Correct.
You can get eBooks, then youcan get the audio book.
Audio books only at 50, andthen eBooks plus audio books at
65, which seems like a bargain.
And then eBooks plus audiobooks plus merch at a hundred
dollars.
And then paperback pack one orI I can't tell $125.

(06:18):
And but it looks like it.
So to me it looks like it's.
So it's a set of four paperbackvolumes.
Each volume two stories and andthe ebook collection.
So that's should be noted there.
Paperback pack number two or iiis the paperback volumes and
this is it's a, it's a 25difference between it.

(06:40):
So I think that's going to bethe paperbacks, the audio and
the ebook versions, and thenit's paperback pack III, aka 3
at 185.
And that'll include some ofthat merch.
And then what goes on to?
Same things are repeated inhardcover packs.

(07:01):
And then there's a swag boxoption.
I see why they raised about amillion dollars so far, because,
holy smokes, this keeps going.
The most Mac Daddy package, Ithink, is a bookseller hardcover
bundle and it's listed at about$1,200.

(07:21):
So, yeah, they are truckingright along.
They have gained.
What did you say?

Mari (07:28):
they were at $889,541.

Jonathan (07:33):
And they got another $1,500 in since then Like this
afternoon, since early thisafternoon, yeah, exactly, yeah.
So, yeah, good for them.
I am a fan of Allie.
I have not read anything fromher partner here.

Mari (07:46):
I haven't read from any of the other authors that are
there.
I don't believe, but I'm downfor it, like I'm down to try
them out.
The stories and the conceptssound kind of interesting and
wild and out there it'sdystopian.
So you have likeend-of-the-world kind of stuff.
You have some different storiesbeing told so apparently
they're all told.
They're all stories that tiesthem together.

(08:08):
They're all romance storiesthat are told about the or at
the end of the world, butthey're not necessarily like
interconnected oh, this is acollection, so it's they.

Jonathan (08:17):
They all got together and wrote a novella.
Yeah, so is this like eightdifferent?

Mari (08:23):
eight different authors yeah, yeah so it's ali and
adriana and like eight differentauthors yeah, yeah, so it's Ali
and Adriana and like six otherauthors who I don't believe I've
read anything of theirs, butthey're popular because I've
heard people talk about them.
I just haven't read anything bythem.
So yeah, I'm going to get someversion of this.
I just haven't decided if I'mgoing to do like the digital
stuff or if I'm going to get aphysical version, but I'm going
to get some version of it beforethe Kickstarter is over, for

(08:45):
sure.

Jonathan (08:47):
I'm going to be honest here, mari, I think I think
there's a bargain to be had foryou to get, get a physical and
ebook.
I mean let's just, let's justgo right to those packages.

Mari (08:56):
Are you being an enabler?

Jonathan (08:57):
Yes, I think good.

Mari (09:05):
I'm not an enabler but a supporter.
I mean, I know I'm going toread it regardless, like if
Ellie Hazelwood writes it, I'mgoing to read it.
That's how it's been.
I've enjoyed, to differentlevels, everything she's written
, some I like more than others,but they've all been worthy
reads to me.
I thought she does a good jobof making you feel for the
characters and getting youinvolved in their story.

Jonathan (09:21):
So yeah, my only concern with this for you and
this is for you is that it's avariety of colors and
envisioning your library theretends to be like all colors, but
rolled into one, you know, oneshade of all colors.

Mari (09:40):
Here's how it's going to go, though.
If they're dystopian, I thinkthey're going to go on my sci-fi
side rather than my fantasyside.
My sci-fi side's got a littlemore colors, because a lot of
sci-fi books tend to be morecolorful.
All right, I've alreadypotentially have a place for it
A girl with a plan.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So we'll see.
We'll see you guys getting anyof them you thinking.

Jonathan (10:00):
It's probably not my cup of tea, although I do enjoy
Allie's work.
I'm still waiting.
I'm very upset, still botheredby her not being at the Romanacy
Con next month, but I am veryexcited to see Mate coming out.
I think that's kind of where,like I know, her body of work is

(10:22):
correct me if I'm wrong.
Like I know she had, her bodyof work is correct me if I'm
wrong.
Mostly on that, on romance andthe romancy side of things with
bride and mate, although I don'tknow, I don't know if they're

(10:42):
relatively new for her, but itdidn't seem like

Mari (10:42):
it fit into her her main writing genre.
So she, I believe everythingshe's written at least
everything I've written by readby her, everything she's written
, at least everything I'vewritten by read by her.
Everything she's written is isromance.
It's romance something.
It's.
Maybe what she's mostly knownfor is contemporary romance,
like stem romance.
But what she started off beforeshe was published was a03 fan
fiction kylo ren star wars.
So star wars fan fiction, kyloRen's Star Wars.

(11:04):
So Star Wars fan fiction iswhat she started off on.
So between that and her havingwritten Bride, I feel like she
is one of us, a nerd geek typeperson.

Jonathan (11:16):
Oh yeah, yeah, no, no, I don't doubt that, like I
wouldn't question that.
I think, no matter what peopletend to write, you know, I think
that the hat that they put onfor their writing style, that's
just the hat today, the ideathat she isn't writing in every
type of genre and environmentuntil she finds what works for

(11:41):
the masses, would be.
You know, I'm sure she's doingthat stuff right.

Mari (11:46):
I think she's doing.
I think she's choosing thegenre based on what works for
the story, which I think I likethat.
So T Kingfisher, I believe,does that too, and I think
that's part of what I like abouther.
Like her fairy tale storieshave a different voice than her,
romancy stories, which have adifferent voice than her romancy
stories, which have a differentvoice than her.
Like middle, middle grade,middle school stories, which

(12:07):
have a different voice than herhorror stories, because not
every story you want to tell hasthe same tone.
You know what I mean.
Yeah, so, yeah, I, I'minterested in seeing what it,
what it does.
I was just floored by howquickly it got funded and
overfunded.
So, yeah, I hope it does.

(12:28):
Well, I hope that they're, youknow, fun reads.
They look beautiful, theartwork in them looks beautiful.
The artwork in them is enough.
That.
That's what's making me thinkabout buying the physical books,
because the stories, I mean,I'm going to read the stories
regardless.
I could read them, you know, asan ebook or whatever, but the
artwork looks pretty cool too.
So we'll see All right.

(12:50):
Next bit of news Fabled Fantasy, who's going to be doing the
Romanesque Con event we're goingto in Orlando in October, have
announced the locations anddates for their 2026 Romanesque
retreats.
So they did one this yearRemember we talked about it was
in Savannah, yep.
So they've announced that theones in 2026 are going to be in

(13:11):
Chicago for May 2026, sanFrancisco for July 2026, and
Salem for September 2026.
But they have not announced whothe authors are going to be All
right.
So Barnes Noble has anexclusive special edition
version of when the Moon Hatched, which is really pretty.
It's like a cream color andturquoise.

(13:33):
It's very different coloringthan some of the other versions.
It is $34, and it shipsNovember 18th of this year.
And also, same author news, thesequel to that book, which has
been pushed back several times.
If you've pre-ordered it, likeI did, you'll notice that it

(13:54):
keeps getting pushed back.
She just announced that shefinished writing draft two of
the sequel, which is the Balladof Falling Dragons 2.
So it's supposedly done.
We'll see how.
Done, done, done it is but it'sdone-ish, which you know take
however long you need.
Those are big, thick books.
They need to be written well,but I'm excited about it.
I don't know that I'm going toget the special edition, but

(14:16):
it's pretty, yeah, just becauseI already have one of the
regular ones, and it was prettytoo.
So it's fine, it's all fine,yeah.
Next bit of news BookContickets go on sale September
23rd.
So if anyone is in the New Yorkarea or going to be going to
the New York area or isinterested in going to that,
there's like day tickets orweekend tickets and there's

(14:38):
different tiers of tickets,right, depending on how much you
know, whether you want to dolike VIP or whatever.
So I'm curious to see how thatgoes for people.
I don't I'm not going to begoing or anything, but I'm just
curious to see how it goes andwho all is going to be there.

Ashley (14:53):
Now I don't think I did all the research into the lore
of this one.
This is like a Barnes and Nobleevent, no, or like it's
something that they used to hostpre-pandemic or heavily sponsor
this book con.
But I thought it was veryheavily Barnes Noble influenced
and it kind of fell off justbefore the pandemic or around

(15:16):
the pandemic and now it's beingbrought back to life.

Mari (15:19):
Yeah, I think, if it's what I remember correctly, it
did stop during the pandemicbecause of the pandemic and then
just hadn't come back.
Now I don't know if somethingelse was going on, but
officially all I heard was itwas stopped because of the
pandemic.
And then now, just now kind ofcoming back and I looked at like
prior authors that had beenthere and it was a lot of like
the ones that were in the newsarticle I read, which makes

(15:41):
sense, it would be.
What was in the news was likesome of the maybe movie star
kind of people who had writtenbooks.
They were like the ones thatwere highlighted, which is it's
fine.
It's not what I tend to read,which is why I'm just like I'm
just going to sit this one outand see how that one goes.

Ashley (15:55):
Yeah, Maybe I'm conflating the Barnes and Noble
connection, but it was somethingthat was around for a while and
then it yeah, it fell offbecause of the you guys know
anything about it, kellyJonathan.

Jonathan (16:12):
You boys, I don't.

Ashley (16:16):
Created to boost the image and attendance of
long-running book fair.
Book Expo America is whatWikipedia is saying.
No, it could be me, I might bethe problem.

Mari (16:27):
There's a lot of news out there.
We get everything.
We can get things conflated,it's all good.
The last bit of news I have isthat the Nightmare Before
Kissmas, which is written bySarah Roche, it's a Halloween
meets Christmas fantasy romancestory.
It's getting a special editionversion, an Owlcrate special

(16:48):
edition version.
It's $32.99.
And I read this book last yearand I enjoyed it.
I read it and the sequel and Ienjoyed it.
I thought they were, it was afun world.
It's a world where, like allthe holidays are represented by
these basically aristocraticfamilies.
You know, like there's aprincess of Easter and a prince

(17:09):
of Halloween and a prince ofChristmas, like that kind of
thing.
So it has a little bit of likeroyalty romance kind of stuff
going on.
But then there's also magicbecause there are holidays.
So yeah, I hope there are morein that world because I enjoyed
reading them.
But the same author justreleased a book this month.

(17:30):
It's a different series.
It's called the Entanglement ofRival Wizards and it's another
like romance story set in a likea fantasy, magical world, like
a Dungeons and Dragons-esqueworld I think is what the
description was.
That one's on my list to read.
I haven't read it yet, but I doenjoy her writing style.
I think she does a good job ofmaking you feel immersed in the
world without it beingoverwhelming.

(17:51):
They're like light reads.
We need that these days yeahabsolutely Absolutely Any other
news before we move on.

Jonathan (18:00):
Did you not news per se?
But did you get your?
Did you get the new Ruby Dixonbook?

Mari (18:06):
I have not gotten it yet.

Jonathan (18:08):
Me too.

Mari (18:09):
Did you get it?

Jonathan (18:10):
Yeah, it just it came in.
It's as pretty as Bull MoonRising, was it's?
Of course it just came in.
It's as pretty as Bull MoonRising, was it's part two, right
by the Horn.
So yeah, it's a lovely lookingbook.
I don't think I'm close to itright now.
No, I think it's just it's aspretty.

(18:32):
If you have seen or haven'tseen, I'm sorry if you have seen
Bull Moon Rising, just thecover, yeah, and then the edges,
it's the same.
It's just, you know, slightlydifferent coloring but same
concept there.
I'm excited to read that one.
I did enjoy that one.

Mari (18:50):
Yeah, I'll definitely be reading it.
I just haven't gotten it yet.

Jonathan (18:53):
I'd like to bump into her somewhere.

Mari (18:56):
She doesn't travel outside of Texas.
She's famous for not shedoesn't do a lot of the book
stuff.
So generally, if you're goingto see her, you have to go to
her events in Texas, which Ithought about.
That's what I'm gathering.
Yeah, there's one that happens.
It's so close after Dragon Con.
It's the only reason I've neverbeen.
I want to say it's calledsaints and sinners and saints,

(19:16):
um, that she's at and I'm seeingall these pictures of her there
and I would love to go, butit's it's like days after dragon
con and that just seems like alot.
We'll see.
Maybe I'll do some planning andmake it happen one year.
So yeah, I would love to meetRuby Dixon.
That would be really cool.

Jonathan (19:34):
Yeah, agreed.

Mari (19:38):
I will say, if you are interested in hearing more from
Ruby Dixon, they did aninterview of her on Hissin' and
Kissin'.
There's a little interviewwhich was fun.
Which was fun.
So I just did recently getthough that I pre-ordered
haven't read yet is Hemlock andSilver by T Kingfisher, which is

(19:59):
her Snow White retelling.
That just came out, yeah, likeAugust 19th, so it arrived just
before I left for DragonCon tomeet T Kingfisher, which is
great.
But Kelly will tell you, I washaving myself a little mini I
don't know what to call it minibreakdown, mini catastrophe,
going to DragonCon trying topack, trying to decide which

(20:20):
books, which T Kingfisher books,to bring to have her sign,
because I have a shelf that'sthe T Kingfisher shelf, that's
just hers, that's just hers.
Yeah, yeah, yeah I, I in the endI whittled it down to five
hardcover heavy books and then Iended up getting three signed

(20:42):
because I I did not go to morethan one of her of her signing
events because there was just alot going on and I had low
energy, but I stood in line fortwo and a half hours for the one
I did get to have her sign andshe was amazing and I can't
think of any other author that Iwould do that for, but I would
do it again to talk to her.

(21:02):
Yeah.

Ashley (21:04):
That's really cool.

Mari (21:05):
Very, very cool.
All right, Any other news bits?

Jonathan (21:08):
No, I'm good over here , Ashley.

Ashley (21:10):
I was going to say I can dig.

Mari (21:14):
No, we're good, we got a lot, all right.
So let's talk about the bookand why we chose this book.
So we wanted to as we try anddo read some of the authors that
are going to be at the conwe're going to at the Romanesty
Con in October, and she is oneof the authors that's going to
be there.
Plus, this is the sequel to theSpell Shop, which we read and
enjoyed and talked about on thispodcast, which you can download

(21:37):
that episode and listen to itif you're wanting a little
refresh before you read thisbook.
So it was this book.
The Enchanted Greenhouse waspublished July 15th, 2025, so
fairly recent, and it's part ofthe Spell Shop series.
I'm going to read the synopsisand then we'll get into it.
Terilu Perna broke the lawbecause she was lonely.

(21:58):
She cast a spell and created amagically sentient spider plant.
As punishment, she was turnedinto a wooden statue and tucked
away into an alcove in the northreading room of the Great
Library of Elysium.
This should have been the endof her story.
Yet one day Terlu wakes in thecold of winter on a nearly
deserted island full of hundredsof magical greenhouses.

(22:19):
She's starving and freezing,and the only other human on the
island is a grumpy gardener.
To her surprise, he offersTerlu a place to sleep, clean
clothes and freshly baked honeycakes, at least until she's
ready to sail home.
But Terlu can't return home anddoesn't want to.
The greenhouses are a dream cometrue, each more wondrous than
the next.

(22:39):
When she learns that the magicthat sustains them is failing,
causing the death of everythingwithin them, terilu knows she
must help, even if it meansbreaking the law again.
This time, though, she isn'talone.
Assisted by the gardener and asentient rose, terlu must
unravel the secrets of along-dead sorcerer if she wants
to save the island and have afresh chance at happiness and

(23:01):
love.
Funny, kind and forgiving.
The Enchanted Greenhouse'sstory about giving second
chances to others and toyourself Aww, that tells you
what I thought of it.
So what would we think?

Ashley (23:18):
overall thoughts should I go first?
Jonathan's looking at me, Ithink I've been going first.
Your choice.
However, you want to do it,listen, I.
It's not that I didn't love thebook.
I think, personally, this, thisfull moon situation that
happened yesterday and whateverwas leading up into it my entire

(23:38):
world has gone sideways in thelast couple of weeks.
Also, we pushed the deadline ofwhen I had to read the book, so
I kept putting it off.
It's a series of unfortunateevents.
It's not that I didn't like thebook.
I think I actually liked thebook.
I personally was the problemhere and so I didn't get the
chance to enjoy it as much as Ithink I would have in a more

(24:01):
normal circumstance.
I'm rambling, so it's a three,but I think it's because I'm the
problem and not because Idisliked the story.
I thought it was cute, Ithought it was fun.
I laughed out loud.
I did miss Kaz.
I don't think I knew fullygoing into it that this was in
the world, but not like a sequel.

(24:22):
Again, I'm the problem, I fullyacknowledge.
But I did.
I kind of liked the characters.
I liked the world.
It was very cozy.
It was maybe a littlepredictable, but not in an
unpleasant way.
Jonathan is meditating on theother side of the office right
now.
He's got feelings.
You guys Does.

Mari (24:41):
Jonathan need to talk next before he explodes.
Husband, do you want to go next?

Jonathan (24:45):
Oh, I don't have to talk next.
Listen, I cheated a little bitand I saw Kelly's ranking on
Goodreads, so I am very anxiousto hear what Kelly thought.

Ashley (24:56):
So it was a three for me .
I'm going to wrap up, sorry.

Mari (24:58):
No, no, no, as much as you want to say.
Well, okay, who wants to gonext?
Jonathan Kelly or I can go.

Jonathan (25:07):
I'd like to put some peer pressure on Kelly.
Kelly, would you like to gonext?
He's been excited.

Ashley (25:12):
Pure spite Kelly.

Jonathan (25:15):
I'll trade you entry positioning HHN this weekend.
You know like who you want tosee.
Go win the house first, for yougoing next.

Ashley (25:28):
No pressure, nope Denied .

Mari (25:36):
Mari, what do you got me?
Okay, so I loved this.
I did not think I would.
So maybe it is all about theheadspace you're in and your
expectations because, honestly,I was like I really like the
spell shop.
I there's no way, there's noway this is going to live up to
it.
Like the spell shop made me buya spider plant I have managed

(25:59):
to keep not one, but twoactually, because they came in a
pack of two and I didn't wantthem to be lonely.
So I've got two little Kazas.
I've managed to keep alive.
So I love the spell shop.
So I was like there's no way.
There's no way that this isgoing to be anything like that.
It just can't.
And I think I actually liked itmore than the spell shop, to be
honest really yeah so I Ireally, really liked the themes

(26:24):
of, like self-acceptance,forgiveness, like redemption.
I like those that ran throughthis book.
I liked how her anxiety she hadto deal with her own self-doubt
and anxiety the main character.
I liked that the story wove inthemes of empire and colonialism

(26:47):
and world refugees and what youdo after revolutions and after
empires topple, like the storythat has to happen to start over
.
Yes, like, I really enjoyed it.
It's a five star read for me.
If I hadn't already pre-orderedthe book, I would buy it to put

(27:11):
on the bookcase.
I enjoyed the main character.
I enjoyed how she was like avictim of her situation because,
let's face it, the crime thatshe did by creating Kaz did not
fit the punishment of six yearsof petrification.
But she was, you know, anexample.
You know an example, apolitical example, and she had

(27:36):
to overcome all that.
I love a grumpy, like grumpysunshine romance situation.
So that grumpy little gardenerthat like didn't talk but he
made her honey cakes every day.
What a delight.
Yes, yes, yeah, I.

(28:10):
There were a few parts of itthat dragged a little bit.
There were some parts that werepredictable, but I loved, like,
all the different sentientplants.
I enjoyed a lot of the quotesfrom it like really stood out to
me, me, um, I yeah, I, I alsoprocrastinated on reading this
book.
I literally started andfinished it yesterday, oh dang,
and only because when I got homefrom being out of town this
weekend, kelly, kelly wasworking, but uh, he called me
and we were talking and he'slike so you know, we're

(28:31):
recording tomorrow, right, I'mlike what we're doing tomorrow.
Right, I'm like what we'redoing what?
Yeah, because I forgot to put iton our calendar.
So I was like, well, I guessthis is what I'm doing until I'm
done.
Let's hope I can get it done.
And I actually was able.
I was able to finish it and Ididn't feel rushed because I

(28:51):
just I got into it.
I didn't feel like I waspushing it, but, yeah, I enjoyed
it like.
One of the quotes that reallygot me was Terlu.
She said if you're hurt, you'rehurt.
It doesn't matter if anyoneelse thinks you don't have a
good enough reason.

Jonathan (29:05):
Pain doesn't require approval, that's a, that's a
that's a solid quote done yeah.

Ashley (29:12):
So what do did think the writing was super good.

Mari (29:14):
Yeah.

Ashley (29:15):
Go ahead Hudson.

Jonathan (29:18):
So, okay, let's see here, knuckle, cracking, uh-huh,
I really like.
So I'll tell you right off thebat I'm gonna.
If I saw this book on a shelf,I'd pick it up.
I would buy this book based onits cover.
I am judge this book on a shelf.
I'd pick it up.
I would buy this book based onthis cover.
I am judge this book by itscover, number one, and it's a

(29:40):
lovely cover.
I really enjoy looking at thecolors on the book.
I like the colors of the pages.
I've got the hardcover withthese like teal pages.
It's a delightful book to lookat.
I think for me and I'm not goingto talk trash on the book it
wasn't a Jonathan book, but it'snothing wrong with the book a

(30:03):
cozy, happily ever after kind ofstory that takes place in a
fantasy space with magicalmystery and like a journey.
I this is.

(30:25):
This is a good read for you.
I, I, I, I.
My tastes may, might vary alittle bit, but that doesn't
mean that it's a bad book in anyway.
I think this is a delightfulread, delightful, cozy, warm,

(30:45):
has the elements of therelationship with my wife where
she's sweet and kind and I'm abit of a jerk.
So like you, yeah, so like I, Iget that and it resonates with
me.
I, it is a it's.
It's an, it's not a part two,it's an adjacent story, and if

(31:10):
it's they stand, they read asstandalones.
Right, I mean, that's how Iperceived it.
I could be wrong, but I feltlike this and the spell shop
read as standalones and theyjust happen to take place in the
same, in the same universe, soto speak, and I thought that was
delightful.
Um, because then you don't haveto feel weird about reading

(31:32):
them in an order or out of anorder.
I feel like they becausethey're in that same space.
They share a lot of the samecharacter types.
So maybe you're not a spiderplant person, maybe you're a
rose person, and if that's thecase, then you have that
character there.

(31:53):
Um, so I thought what I want tosee, if there's a book three,
sarah is my friend.
Uh, yeah, I would like.
I would like to know is doesshe think she goes by Sarah Beth
?

Ashley (32:08):
I mean, she uses her whole name.

Jonathan (32:10):
Okay, that's cool.
I mean, yeah, uh, I use mywhole name with my driver's
license.
I would like to see a journeyright.
So, like I want to know, I wanther to get on the boat and go
like reunite with Kaz.
I mean, like, I want that wholelike, but I want some some.

(32:38):
I want some trauma to pop up onthis boat journey, like I can't
.
I don't want it to be likesmooth sailing, like oh, what a
kind and gentle sea it is today,in this pleasant weather, as,
like palm tree controls the oars, like you know, whatever I want
it to, you want some drama.
I want it to.
Let's get some drama.
I want some drama.
But just because that's what Iwant doesn't mean that's what I

(32:58):
should get.
The whole, the series it couldbe.
It could be a series of likethis is what's happening and
this is the story, that this isthe way.
There's a lot of drama in theworld and maybe we don't need
more drama.
Maybe we need more more cozy,um, uh, like slow burn kind of,

(33:20):
and and polite.
I feel like, hmm, this is thehallmark movie of romancy.
Um, maybe it's just enough totease some stuff out, but still
quite cozy, like a Christmastime type of book.
Yes, that's where I stand withit.

(33:40):
I think it's a great read.
I just I prefer a little moreaction.
But if you're the type ofreader who wants a cozy,
romantic, mystery-solving,reuniting kind of journey, I
think you get there with this.
I think it does have a littlebit of everything.
It's got the magic eight ballof ghosts.

Mari (34:04):
Yeah, I wasn't expecting ghosts, for sure.

Jonathan (34:06):
Right, yeah, I wasn't either.
Or like pocket dragons Littlebabies.

Mari (34:12):
Anne McCaffrey, all the way, was like.

Jonathan (34:14):
It's ann mcafree, it's the, the little shoulder
dragons, yeah I, you know I, soyou know what I've been reading
lately too, that kind of like,and I like this.
It made me want to read anotherone was the what's that story?
How to train your dragon likehe's.
He's.
He's a tiny dragon in thistopless is tiny in this in the

(34:35):
books, right.
So when I, when I, when I wasreading about this, I was like,
oh, they got like they.
Like she went into a lot ofthings with bravery on her side,
like she, she didn't know thatthe dragons were the dragon.
Hey, did you talk?
Are the dragons gonna to befriendly?
Do we know?
Well, can we leave the dooropen?
Yeah, I mean, why not?

(34:56):
What if they don't come back?
Well, so who cares?
They'll come back if they wantto come back.
If they don't want to come back, they don't have to come back.
You don't have to own thesethings, right?
I like that.
When I get into the same spacewith Sarah, I want to.
The question I want to ask heris how much of her work is
influenced by Brene Brown.

(35:18):
There was, I think it was a, Ican't remember where I read it,
but it was.
It was in this book, obviously,but it was like a line along
the like that was kind ofreminiscent of awkward, brave
and kind, and it was, and that'sstraight out of like Renee's
work.
It might actually have been.
She might've actually saidawkward, brave and kind.
Can you do?

(35:39):
I don't have the ability tosearch it in this book, but is
there a way on Kindle to searchwords like a phrase?
I'll try.
Yeah, I'll try, but it's likethat's one of like the kind of

(36:04):
the core elements of Brene'swork is just trying to remind
everybody to, hey, remainawkward, brave and kind and it's
okay to be of this differentthing.
The other thing that I likeabout her books that makes it
almost like a wholesome romanacy, is that there's external and
internal forgiveness that'staking place along the way, like

(36:25):
she's living, and she's livingas a fugitive in fear, and she's
a fugitive for the crime of Anot wanting to be lonely, but
then b she's like, oh, I'm gonnado this again.
But why am I doing this?
I'm doing this because I wantto save living creatures, like

(36:46):
you know it's, and and then atthe end everything's kind of
just, it's okay.

Ashley (36:55):
And you didn't love it.

Mari (36:57):
Yeah, you're sounding like you're.

Ashley (36:59):
I can't tell if you're trying to sell us or yourself.
Right, it sounds like you lovedit.

Jonathan (37:04):
I like listen, I like the book.
It's just not for me.
I don't want to.
I wouldn't if you were like,hey, jonathan, you got to take
one book with you everywhere yougo.
This isn't the one for me, butI don't want to deter people
from reading it just because itwasn't the one for me.
It was, I think.

(37:33):
I feel like it has an abundanceof resolutions at the end.

Mari (37:39):
Yeah, there were several parts at the end where I was
like, oh, it's at the end, nope,nope, that's not the end.
What's the movie that does that?
Is it Inception?

Jonathan (37:46):
Star Wars.

Mari (37:48):
Inception, that does like a billion endings yeah.
There is no there is no Fravabut Awkward Brave.
There's none of that in there.
I just searched for Awkward andthere's nothing like that in
there.

Jonathan (37:58):
All right, cool, Maybe I, maybe I, I just I conflated
it with something else.

Mari (38:03):
It's in your version, yeah .

Jonathan (38:04):
Yeah.
So I think that if you're, ifyou're on the fence about
reading it and you enjoy, if youenjoy romantic comedies, love
stories and kind of wholesomelove stories, I think this could
be, this could be right up youralley.

Mari (38:21):
Kelly, what'd you think?

Kelly (38:22):
I enjoyed this book.
I enjoyed the first one but Ienjoyed this one, I think, more.
This one had definitely morethemes of you know somebody
getting a second chance, more ofthemes of you know somebody
getting a second chance, kind ofgiving you know themes of
second chances starting over youknow, that kind of stuff, which
I enjoyed that theme a lot.

(38:42):
I think that the writing wasvery good.
I think it did a good job ofportraying insecurities that
people have, the insecuritiesthat both of the main characters
had and how they dealt with it,and that's something that I
think is that humanization ismissing in a lot of romancy
stories that everyone tends tobe you know I'm a badass and

(39:04):
maybe I have this one problem orwhatever but it's actually, you
know, a benefit and not ahindrance, and that's much more
common in romancy fit and not ahindrance, and that's much more
common in romanacy.
So it was nice seeingcharacters that had very
realistic flaws, very, veryrealistic behaviors, and I
enjoyed that aspect of thewriting.

(39:24):
I think that there was a lot ofother themes in there a wizard,
sorcerer, trying to create thisutopia, to keep his daughter
home, and then she still left,and then he's filled with regret
and pushes everyone away.
You know those are very humanstories and very human elements
to have in there.

(39:45):
You know, not just oh, therewas a crazy wizard who created
this.
You know, there was a realcompelling human, emotional
story behind it and that's somereally detailed and thought out
background information and worldbuilding.
So I appreciated a lot of thatwork that went into it because
it definitely helped flavoreverything.
Now I did get a little bit ofsome Little Prince vibes from

(40:08):
this very needy rose Me too,from this very needy rose, me
too.
But that's I think that's aclassic anthropomorphization of
a rose is making a rose verykind of, you know, needy and
High maintenance, highmaintenance.
Because that's you know, to whatpeople tend to think of roses
is that they're high maintenance.

(40:29):
So that's fine.
I thought it was amusing to doit that way.
Definitely missed the humorfrom Kaz, which was definitely
one of the high points of thefirst book, but I enjoyed a lot
of this book.
I enjoyed a lot of the subtlethemes in it.
You can't keep your greenhousesand your country running

(40:52):
without, without getting outsidehelp, no matter how much you
want to push them awayisolationism doesn't work right.
Isolationism just makeseverything fall apart.
Um so I enjoyed it.
I thought it was a a prettygood book, probably the best
book, the best romancy book I'veread this year high praise nice

(41:13):
.

Mari (41:14):
Yeah, I, I definitely got a lot of that like refugee world
vibe out of it too, likethere's a.
There's a quote I highlighted.
Where I want to say it was thatwhen the second round of
refugees came in, where she waslike more people mean more
mouths I'm sorry, more peoplemeant more mouths, but it also
means more ideas and more dreamsI was like, yes, yes, it does.

Ashley (41:35):
Yes, girl, yes, it does.

Mari (41:38):
Yeah, yeah, like I think Sarah Beth Durst does this thing
that for me that T Kingfisherdoes too where it's like
there'll be kind of almost athrowaway thing that she didn't
have to go that deep and yet shedoes, and it stays in your head
.
So, like in Nettle and Bone,there's a throwaway character,

(41:59):
it's like an innkeeper that hasa thing.
If anyone's read it they'llknow what I mean and to me that
particular innkeeper lives rightfree in my brain.
Anyone who's read that bookI'll be like but do you stink?
You still think about x, y and z, and to me, this one, this book

(42:20):
has that in the whole you knowrefugees and and all that vibe,
but also in the, can you imagineyou have these sentient plants,
these plants that havepersonalities that you like are
getting to know as friends thatthey're, you know the ones
you've taught spells to and youinteract with every day.
And then you're in the middleof this like almost wartime,

(42:46):
traumatic emergency event where,like you're having to dig up
this entire greenhouse roomtogether to save the other
plants.
And it's like to me that wassuper traumatic when they were
like trying to save the lasttrees or whatever, and they had
to, like pull the plants awaybecause they were freezing to

(43:06):
death and like the philodendronplant or whatever, like almost
died.
I'm just like this is reallytraumatic.

Ashley (43:15):
She went hard.

Mari (43:15):
She went so hard, or maybe it just hit me visually, but
I'm just like this is like a warscene, this is like a traumatic
post-earthquake, post-hurricaneyou know, like that kind of a
scene in my head.
I was just like, did not expectthis anxiety in the middle of
my cozy fantasy.
Um, yeah it, I, yes, I liked it, I liked it a lot.

(43:40):
Um, I too got the little princevibes kelly.
I wrote that down.
I'm like, oh, it's a littleprince rose, she's back.
Yeah, so that's overallthoughts, fantasy world building
To me.
I agree with you, jonathan,that the books are standalone.
They could definitely be readas standalone, but it also

(44:03):
continues the overarching storya little bit more when you do
read them in order, because thisbook resolves some of the
storms and the empire rebellionfalling apart, situation that
was still a little bit up in theair at the end of the spell
shop.
I think that if she's going towrite a third book, I think it's
going to be that.
What's her name?
The mariner yeah, oh the boatlady.

(44:26):
Yeah, like her adventures maybethat would be cool her and the
myrtle plant or whatever yeah,it's like they're like, um,
almost like.

Jonathan (44:36):
Yeah, it's like they're like, almost like the
Uber of this world.

Mari (44:39):
Yeah, uber, yeah.
Anything else you want to sayabout the book before we decide
whether or not it's a kissingbook?

Kelly (44:49):
Did you read the author's note at the end?

Mari (44:51):
Oh, I did.

Jonathan (44:56):
I did not, it was read to me.

Mari (44:59):
So she basically said and let me know if I miss anything,
kelly, but she basically waslike after she wrote the Spell
Shop, she couldn't stop thinkingabout the story of the creator
of Kaz and what happened to herand you know how she was

(45:22):
petrified as a statue for hercrime or whatever and she wanted
an ending for her.
She wanted some happiness forher and that's what caused her
to write this book.
And I did highlight a quote atthat end there where she said
this is the author in theauthor's notes.
I believe there is light afterdarkness, warmth and wonder to
be found even in the coldest,coldest of winters, and kindness
in the world that can heal us.

Ashley (45:43):
Thanks sarah beth.
Yes, yeah, I mean I definitelyappreciated the tone in the book
.
I thought it, you know it.
It felt a little long for me,but I think again this was just
my own headspace.
You know, I did get very likeand this seems to be like a
reoccurring theme that I've beenmentioning in the last few

(46:04):
months is where it feels like itwould be like a really good TV
series, yeah, or, like you know,movie, where it's just like
there's so much happening in theworld, building part of it,
that we're not catching it alland it's not anybody's fault
other than you know, it's noteven lack of imagination,

(46:25):
because I have it.

Mari (46:27):
It's just so much possibility, I think.

Ashley (46:29):
Yeah, there's a lot of that's a really good way to put
it the possibilities, thepossibilities, and I think we
see that, you know, with, like,hannah Nicole Meyer, with, with
her assistant to the villainseries as well, and other things
like that, where there's justsuch a unique world building
system and while it's not overlycomplicated, but, man, I think
it would just reflect veryawesome in a visual sense If we

(46:53):
ever got to that point.
Yeah, and it's, but it's notcomplicated either.
Yeah, but it's not complicatedeither.
Right, like it's not a denseread, it's not a hard read, but
it is, you know, a uniquemagical system and a different
quote world, right, yeah, yeah,I'd like to see them bridge the
stories, for sure.

Mari (47:12):
I agree, like I think this story would do really well as a
and maybe it's just the kickI've been on lately but as a
Studio Ghibli story, like ananimated magical, like there's
coziness, there's wonder,there's magic, but there's also
serious things that are going on.

Ashley (47:32):
Yeah, they definitely touchedon some very serious topics.

Mari (47:35):
Yeah, anything else about the fantasy world, billy,
anybody wants to say Romance andspice wise, I would say that
this is much like the spell shop, where it's kind of like very,
very light, very much likekisses and glimpses kind of
thing.
Very sweet, very PG, but stillwell told romance.

(47:56):
It's just not getting into likethe nitty gritty.

Jonathan (47:59):
I agree there was that accidental like oh, you're in
my bed, but it was a warmmistake.
Yeah, it's like yeah, I made amistake.
Are you cool if I just kind ofstick with my mistake?
And he was like I guess, yeah,that's cool with me, get over
here.

Mari (48:19):
Cuddles.
Yeah mistake, and he was like Iguess yeah that's cool with me
get over here cuddles.
Yeah, yeah, I think they werejust so sweet, like they were
just so sweet together.
I I really enjoyed this.
Yeah, I really enjoyed thepairing a lot, so it didn't feel
.

Jonathan (48:30):
It didn't feel like it was like for you know, a lot of
times you like force, proximityand stuff.
It didn't feel like that,especially with like limited
characters, right?

Ashley (48:37):
yeah, that was a little odd to to deal with in the
beginning like he didn't.

Jonathan (48:43):
He didn't ask for her help.
He didn't ask for her helpperiod.
He asked for a sorcerer rightand that he that's just what he
got yeah was that so?
And I'm sure there were likeslim pickings, right.
So for them, for for her tofind the place that she wanted
to be through all of this it wasand it wasn't.

(49:04):
You know, I guess there'ssomething we said for her being
lonely and her not only was she,she received the ultimate
punishment for being lonely,which was just like more lonely.

Mari (49:19):
Yeah, I mean she was in a closet, she was a prisoner of
war, basically.

Jonathan (49:23):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely .

Mari (49:25):
Political prisoner, you know.

Jonathan (49:27):
Yeah, and she was just kind of like.
And then they I think it waslike one of the things she
touched on at the end or nearishthe end was like, you know,
like I was just, I rememberbeing so grateful that they took
me out of the closet yeah, it'slike not the closet yeah, she's
like, I'm just like I may youknow, and then she's just like,

(49:48):
at the end it was nothing.

Mari (49:49):
I just stopped listening one day, I just uh, you know, so
anyway, um not traumatic at allyeah it's just things like that
with like, yeah, it's cozy,it's cozy, but like you're
petrified as a statue for sixyears of your life because you
were lonely and and curious.
I guess, because that's onething that I think she has is

(50:09):
why she was able to do what shewas able to do is because she
was so curious.
As a librarian, she was able to, like, use her skills and do
magic, um, yeah, and even evenhim yarrow.
He was like abandoned.
Basically, he was by himselffor however, many years on this
island with no one to talk to.

(50:30):
Yeah, you have some verytraumatized characters, but it
worked, it worked yeah umanything else before we ask the
final question, oh, I will say Idid very much appreciate their
love of garlic.
I think those people are aftermy own heart crushed it.

Jonathan (50:53):
You know there are good.
They like maybe and maybe thisis a side note like if the
series kind of continues, partof the compendium should be like
a cookbook, because I thinkthey talk about cooking a lot.

Mari (51:06):
I want to know how to make these honey cakes.

Jonathan (51:08):
Well, the jam recipes from the spell shop, the honey
cakes, the you know did I seesomething like twice baked
potato in there?
I was like every once in awhile there'll just be like a
food reference and it should belike, hmm, yeah that zucchini,
tomato, whatever layered dishlike I want.

Mari (51:26):
That, yeah, I would that.

Jonathan (51:30):
It'd be a delightful treat to have a recipe yeah,
yeah, absolutely I don't know.

Ashley (51:36):
I think I'd just like to have a tiny dragon or a dragon
cat.

Jonathan (51:41):
Is it like a flying cat?

Ashley (51:42):
Flying cat, because the flying cat can take itself
outside to go potty, and then Iwouldn't need the litter box.

Mari (51:48):
I would love the sentient plants, because then they can
tell me what they need.
You need more water Cool.
You need more light Cool.

Ashley (51:58):
I don't know to get, just talk back.
We got enough of that at workand stuff.

Mari (52:01):
I don't know that I need more talking things I just I
want to know how not to kill myplants yes, stop when they say
ow yeah yeah, I think maybe Ineed the kaz version and not the
the rose version.

Ashley (52:15):
What's her?

Mari (52:15):
yeah, lottie was a little high maintenance.

Ashley (52:17):
Lottie, yeah, I liked.

Mari (52:19):
Dendy, the philodendron, the older plant.
I liked him.
I thought he was cool.

Jonathan (52:25):
I did not, but the reason I didn't was because of
the audiobook version when hespeaks oh, who had funny accents
?

Ashley (52:34):
I've been wondering.

Jonathan (52:34):
It's just like nobody really, Dendy.
That was it Like it was like.
Was it like Scottish?
No, it was just slow.
It was like molasses.
I was like it's been around awhile.
Yeah, stop it.
No, I was mad.
I was like every time we spokeI was like speed it up, come on

(52:55):
Today, junior.

Ashley (52:55):
I was like every time he spoke I was like speed it up,
come on Today Junior Stuff to domy friend.

Jonathan (52:58):
Yeah, it's like I had enough of this already.
And then, when things were coldand they were moving slowly to
begin, I was like come on, I'mdone Moving along.

Ashley (53:07):
Such an interesting perspective.
We should add that to our listof questions.
Mari Jonathan, who had thefunniest or the least amusing
voice in the audiobook.

Jonathan (53:15):
Some of the books are interesting.
No.

Ashley (53:17):
I know.
That's why I'm saying we shouldadd it to the list, because
that's a fun topic that I don'tthink we always address.

Jonathan (53:21):
I want to know audiobook.

Mari (53:24):
how do you say the librarians' names?
They have librarians Rigis, theone that sent her to the island
.

Jonathan (53:31):
I get.
There are so many differentnames in the book that, like I,
definitely struggled to keeptrack of the names.

Ashley (53:43):
There was like four characters in this book.

Jonathan (53:45):
Yeah, but the whole like 90% of the book for me is
trying to like I want to know ifshe's gonna, if she's gonna
like reunite with Kaz and thenlike where was Kaz, where did
she leave?

Mari (53:58):
caltrop okay she's at caltrop you just gotta get back
to caltrop.

Jonathan (54:04):
Yeah, and it's just like.
So I'm just like here's dandyagain that's not kaz.

Mari (54:09):
Do we think this is a kissing book?
Is this a kissing book?
I don't think so.

Ashley (54:15):
I think she was to do the right thing the whole time,
and it didn't necessarilyinvolve the love of this other
singular human on the island.

Mari (54:28):
Jonathan, what do you think?

Ashley (54:31):
That's so much sighing.

Jonathan (54:33):
I know.

Ashley (54:34):
You haven't been thinking about this all week
long.

Jonathan (54:36):
I have I'm on the spot about this all week long.
I have I'm on the spot right,so I got to decide I have to
pick a side of the fence tostand on.
You know what I'm going to say?
It is a kissing book, but forreasons unbeknownst to me, Kaz,
because of Kaz Not because ofKaz the answer is Kaz.

Ashley (54:53):
to everything, the answer is always Kaz.

Jonathan (54:55):
No, because I think she was just.
She was lonely from day one andshe's not lonely anymore.

Mari (55:05):
And because of that one overarching resolution.
It's.
Everything came from that.
Okay, yeah, kelly, what do youthink?

Kelly (55:09):
This is a hard call to make because I agree with Ashley
that I think she was going todo the right thing, no matter
what.
Yeah, Even without the romanticelement.
So it makes it hard to say thatit was a kissing book.
But at the same time I thinkthat he would not have ever

(55:29):
accepted his family back on theisland, accepted help or any of
that, had he not been in lovewith her and supportive of her.
So in that aspect I would sayit's a kissing book.

Ashley (55:44):
Is it her book or his?

Kelly (55:45):
book.
I think it's a kissing book forhim because he was the one who
has?
Changed and he was the one whohis story became different
because of it, I think she wasgoing to do the right thing, no
matter what, but without beingin love with her.
He was never going to write tohis family.
He was never going to do any ofthat.

Ashley (56:06):
You know what, kelly, you just sold me.
I feel like there's been arevelation.
I don't know if it was just forme or for like an epiphany, for
just for me or anybody else,but I think the kissing book
question should apply to boththe female and the male main
character.
Right, like so, like the, thequote couple of the story, um,
and if it applies to one that itshould apply as a whole yeah,

(56:30):
that's a good point and I dobelieve this is the same
discussion we had with the spellshop I agree, was that it?

Kelly (56:38):
was a kissing book for him and not for her.
I think we had this exact,nearly exact same discussion
about that book dang you, sarahbess good points.

Mari (56:52):
So I was gonna say that I didn't think it was a kissing
book.
But I agree with you, kelly.
I think for him it absolutelywas a kissing book.

Ashley (57:01):
And, by default, jonathan was also right, because
there were reasons unbeknownstto him, but I think we've
identified the reasons so goodjob husband.

Jonathan (57:12):
I'm a trendsetter.

Mari (57:14):
Yeah, no, because I agree, I think that if he had not
fallen in love, he would nothave let them come back.
She wouldn't have known like hewouldn't have opened up to her,
so she wouldn't have known tolike ease the transition for him
, because there's points whereshe protected him from his own
family.
You know, she like eased thetransition of of them all being
there.
Um, yeah, I, I look at us, it'sa, kissing us, it's a kissing

(57:38):
book.

Ashley (57:38):
Yes, it's a kissing book , look at us all agreeing.

Mari (57:41):
Good job everybody, Alrighty.
Anything else you want to sayabout the book?

Ashley (57:48):
Kaz, we miss you.
It's a beautiful looking booktoo.

Jonathan (57:51):
It's like I think if you're the kind of reader who
judges a book by its cover, buythis one.

Mari (57:58):
I think this is a good winter read too.
I mean it takes place in thewinter, so you have a lot of
like because I do like to doseasonal reading.
So I have on my profile onFable I have lists and I have
like autumn reads, spring reads,and I listed this under the
winter reads because I thinkthis would be a good book to
read in winter.
A good point, yeah, okay,thanks for listening to Of

(58:22):
Swords and Soulmates.
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(58:43):
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"The Enchanted Greenhouse" - Second Chances and Forgiveness

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}"The Enchanted Greenhouse" - Second Chances and Forgiveness