April 30, 2025 • 48 mins
We had the absolute pleasure of interviewing historial romance author Eloisa James this week! Her latest book Hardly a Gentleman is out now.
By day she's a fancy Professor at Fordham University, and by night she's an even fancier historical romance lead author!
We chatted all about her very impressive educational background, creating heros you love and heroines you want to be your best friend, how she writes and researches her stories, how to stay engaged in new stories and banter after writing so long and more.
Bridget surprised Shani with this interview and couldn't be prouder of herself :)
About Eloisa James
I'm a writer, a professor, a mother - and a wife. My husband Alessandro is Italian, born in Florence. We spend the lazy summer months with his mother and sister in Italy. It always strikes me as a huge irony that as a romance writer I find myself married to a knight, a cavaliere, as you say in Italian.
I write novels as Eloisa James and Mary Bly, but when I’m not writing, I'm Professor Bly, who teaches Shakespeare at Fordham. It's rather like having two lives. The other day I bought a delicious pink suit to tape a television segment on romance; I'll never wear that suit to teach in, nor even to give a paper at the Shakespeare Association of America conference. It's like being Superman, with power suits for both lives. Yet the literature professor in me certainly plays into my romances. The Taming of the Duke (April 2006) has obvious Shakespearean resonances, as do many of my novels. I often weave early modern poetry into my work; the same novel might contain bits of Catullus, Shakespeare and anonymous bawdy ballads from the 16th century.
After graduating from Harvard University, Eloisa got an M.Phil. from Oxford University, a Ph.D. from Yale and eventually became a Shakespeare professor, publishing an academic book with Oxford University Press. Her "double life” as a professor and romance writer is a source of fascination to the media and her readers. In her professorial guise, she's written a New York Times op-ed defending romance, as well as articles published everywhere from women's magazines such as More to writers' journals such as the Romance Writers' Report.
Eloisa has published over 30 historical romances, many of which have hit the bestseller lists. She also wrote a bestselling memoir, Paris in Love, as well as a contemporary novel, Lizzie and Dante. Her books are published in 28 languages and 30 countries, from Slovakia to Sweden. Worldwide, she has approximately 7 million books published in print or electronically. She lives in New York City and Florence, Italy.
About Hardly a Gentleman
Book 2 in the Accidental Brides Series, a romance about a forced marriage between a feisty heroine and a Scottish laird… neither of whom have plans to marry, let alone fall in love.
Desperate after her Season comes to a spectacularly disastrous end, the Honorable Miss Clara Vetry jumps into a carriage hired to take a housekeeper to Scotland.
The laird of Castle CaerLaven...
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Well, hello, everyone, andwelcome to another episode of Romance
at a Glance. I'm your host,Bridget, and today I have a very
special co host, Trey. Hi, Trey.
Hi, Bridget.
I am very excited to have Trehere. She has a great instagram @xo.treleigh
l e I G H on Instagram. Andthat is how I found her. And she
(00:21):
was talking about KimberlyLemming. And I was very excited because
her latest book, I Gotabducted by Aliens, and now I'm trapped
in a rom com is coming out.And so I thought, who better to have
on than Trey to talk about it? Hi.
Thank you so much for havingme. I'm so happy you found me. I'm
constantly screaming aboutmonsters on all of my socials. I
(00:43):
have been for about threeyears now.
Yeah. I think there'ssomething so delicious about monsters
and aliens because they allowyou to just dive into it with a completely
open mind. You're like,they're not human.
Right.
So if they do something weird,you're like, they're not human.
Right.
Everything.
Like, there's no rules. Like,airport rules. When you read a monster
(01:04):
romance, like, anything goesand you just roll with the punches.
Yeah. I was very excited aboutthis book because I think, like,
you, I had read some of herother books from the Mischief and
Mead. Is that the series?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Mead and Mischief.
I think Mead and Mischief. AndI liked her tone and, like, how funny
(01:24):
her books are. And I wasexcited because I love aliens and
I love rom coms. And so I waslike, well, this is obviously gonna
be a match made in heaven. Andit was. Yeah.
That's so interesting. I reada lot of monster romances and I usually
don't lean towards aliens. Istarted with Meet and Mishaps from
(01:44):
Kimberly Lemming that time Igot drunk and saved a demon. And
I absolutely fell in love withit. Like, you said, the tone. She
is so funny. Like, and she'sfunny in a way that, like, doesn't
take you out of the book, butmore so, like, you just, like, stare
into the camera like you're onthe office. Like, I can't believe
this is what she just said.
(02:07):
Yeah, Her I really liked. Andnot to, like, get too far into the
book, you guys. Obviously, ifyou're listening to this podcast,
you know that we are going tospoil the entire book. So if you
haven't read it yet and youdon't want it to be spoiled, turn
back now, push pause, comeback later. I like so much about
the fact that this book is injust one character's point of view.
(02:28):
So many books now are in dual.And I thought for this type of story
where she's, like, gettingabducted, discovering a new planet,
and trying to figure out thesealiens, trying to figure out how
to communicate with them.There's a talking lion, there's talking
alien, bird. I think having itall from her point of view, for me
(02:48):
was the perfect choice becauseI think if it had dipped into one
of the other characters pointsof view, then I would have understood
things from, like, I wouldhave just understood things. It would
have been in their mind. Andthen I would have been like, well,
now she doesn't get todiscover it with me.
Yeah, it definitely felt likeI was discovering everything with
(03:09):
Dory when I was reading thebook. I do enjoy dual POVs because
I just want to be in the headof everybody else and know what they're
thinking. But I did enjoy,like, her learning about everything.
Like, she's taking me throughthe story with her. Like, we're all
discovering everything at thesame time.
(03:29):
Yeah. Well, let's dip into thereview and let's get it popping.
You ready to go?
Ready.
Romance at a glance. Romanceat a glance. What you say now?
Romance at a glance.
Go ahead, girl. All right, youguys. Like I said, we're reading
I Got Abducted by Aliens andNow I'm Trapped in a rom com by Kimberly
(03:51):
Lemming. This is, according tothe interwebs, book number one of
a new series from her calledCosmic Mishaps. And that was one
of the questions when I wasreading the or cosmic chaos, rather
apologies, was I wonder ifshe's going to follow some of the
other characters because theworld was so interesting. And so
I think based on the fact thatit is book one, we are going to get
(04:12):
to see other characters. Iwill read you a quick synopsis for
all of you who haven't quiteread it yet. Since it is just out
and it is hysterical. I'llread you the short one because it
is kind of a long one. Sobasically it is about a woman who
gets dropped onto a strangeplanet to fall for not one, but two
(04:33):
aliens. And Dory is gettingher PhD in wildlife biology. She
gets attacked by a lion.Aliens save her. They're like bird
aliens. They save her, healher, and then they drop her onto
a planet because they figuredout that human women can breed with
this other species of alienthat they accidentally almost wiped
out completely. And they feelbad, so they're trying to repopulate
(04:57):
this other alien race withstolen human women, but they're altruistic
Only the women who are aboutto die. So it's not just any woman.
Only on death's door arewomen. And through a series of, you
know, hilarious events, sheaccidentally gives a lion that tried
to kill her the ability tospeak to her. And they set off into
(05:19):
this new land where dinosaursare roaming and aliens are all around.
I think I liked a lot of thecharacters. I thought Dory was wonderful.
But I think Toto the lion, ohmy. Be the gosh.
Yes. Toto, just like, heembodies like the type of personality
(05:42):
I wish to have in that kind ofinsane situation where he's like,
well, we're just here now andlike, what are you going to do? Like,
I have to eat and I have to becomfortable and I don't know. He
is just so funny. He's just sofunny. Keeping Dory in check. Like,
girl, we're here.
Yeah. Hey, look at this othersaber toothed tiger I found. I'm
(06:05):
going to go make myself a ladypride. Yes. I'm going to kill her
some stuff and feed her. Goinggood. She's like. He's like, you
have a mate. You smell horny.Okay. We all smell it. Okay. Don't
try to kid yourself. Go overthere and I will leave the room for
sure.
He's just like the perfectlike wingman, wing, lion. Totally
(06:27):
down for anything.
And unbothered.
And unbothered.
I'm the king of the pridelands. I'm the predator.
Like, I'm the best. Like,regardless of what anything happens
here, you have to know that Iam the top of the food chain. I'm
the best.
Yeah. I thought this wasinteresting. So many of the alien
romances that I have read,human women obviously end up on these
(06:48):
alien planets. But usually thealiens that they end up on their
planet, it's their planet. Sothey know what's going on in the
planet. Typically they're notthe only women, although sometimes
they are, but usually theyunderstand the local fauna all makes
sense. Like the world as it isobviously is not Earth, but it makes
(07:11):
sense as its own littleecosystem. I thought that this take
of having this be like acompletely newly terraformed world
and them doing like the mostminimal. Like this is like a D minus
project. Like they put solittle effort and they're like, oh,
we went to this like twomuseums which all specialize in dinosaurs
(07:32):
and we just like snagged somesamples and we just like chaos gardened
around this place and justcreated all these species. Nbd.
Yeah. It was like, this iswhat Humans, like, look at these
billboards that don't make anysense that are written by AI and
they, like, the car that.
(07:52):
Has nothing in it is just inthe middle of the jungle.
Nothing makes sense.
The little cul de sac. They'relike humans, like, cul de sacs. There's,
like, a little cul de sac ofhouses in the middle of the jungle.
Because that would make humansfeel good.
Right. And one of them isbasically like, the Mojo Dojo Cosset
house.
(08:12):
And they all have only one bedbecause the manual that they read
for creating this wholecivilization was a how to write romance
novels. And so only one bedwas the trope.
Yes. I just loved all of it. Idid really enjoy back to talking
about how, like, we werediscovering everything with Dory.
(08:35):
It was also nice that, youknow, like, Sol and Locke were like.
Or Loki were, like, droppedinto this. Into this planet as well
as you said. Like, usuallyit's like the aliens and they know
everything and women aredropped there. But it was nice, like,
seeing them discover theplanet, too.
Right?
Like, that was so interestingto me.
(08:56):
Yeah. And then being like,wait, you know about these creatures?
Like, right? And she's like,well, I mean, I guess they're dinosaurs.
Like, yeah.
This frog.
They shouldn't all be here.Oh, my God. When Saul keeps shouting,
you know, saying like, oh,she's just shouting at plants again.
And Lock or lo. Or whateverhis name is. Like, oh, it's. Oh,
(09:18):
wait, what? What is she doing?And he's like, this is a thing she
does. She shouts at plants.Like, you'll get used to it. Because
everywhere they go, she's justlike. As a wildlife PhD biologist,
she's like, you shouldn'texist. What are you here for? How
did this all happen? Andshe's, like, trying to figure out.
And I. I know I'm skipping tothe end, but I love that the resolution
(09:39):
in, like, the warring tribesof these other aliens is her knowledge
as a PhD student. Yes,absolutely. I was thrilled, because
sometimes I feel like authorsforget to close the loop on. Like,
if you say someone's, like,super intelligent, then they're super.
Intelligence should be thesuperpower of the thing. And all
(09:59):
of a sudden, that superintelligent person, like, learns
to throw daggers, and that'swhat helps. And you're like, well,
that's cool. But also, they'resmart. And so I liked that her knowing
about wildlife biology was thereason that she, like, saved the
day.
I know. Me too. And she waslike, just move.
Yeah, you're in a migrationPath. You're embarrassing yourself.
(10:19):
You've been here 10 years.This happens every year at the same
time. You didn't think tojust, like, move.
And like, you didn't think toask this other tribe because. Did
you ask them? Because they'renot having problems at all. They're
fine. At all. They're just.They're just fine. And they think
you guys are nuts because youguys are always trying to kill people.
And they're like, we don'twant to go by them. They're crazy.
Killing people and rebuildingyour fence.
(10:42):
Yeah, always rebuilding thefence. Although, to be fair, I feel
like if it was like an entiretribe of warring dudes, not a single
lady. Checks out. Checks out.That checks out. I feel like it's
pretty accurate. Totally.Okay, I want to talk about the aliens
who captured her and are doingthis experiment. The bird aliens.
(11:04):
Oh, my gosh.
I don't know that I have readanother book where the aliens are
not humanoid who are like, theones in charge in a row. I mean,
I'm sure I have at some point,but, like, none that I come to mind
right away. Where, like, theones who are sort of manipulating
(11:26):
everyone aren't humanoid insome way or the reason that the aliens
got kidnapped is because theyare humanoid in some way and want
those human women too. Like,they're not interested in the human
women.
No.
They're just like, trying tonot get sued by a corporation.
Exactly. Which is so funny,the copyright infringement conversation.
(11:47):
But yeah, they're trying notto get sued by a corporation. I think.
I think Ice planet barbarians,when they're captured, the aliens
that capture them aren'thumanoid at all. I don't think so.
Yeah, the first aliens, andthen when they get to the ice planet,
those are mostly humanoid.That's the only thing that I could.
Think of that could be true. Imean, I have heard that book, but
(12:10):
it's been a while since I.
Read book one, so I'm like,maybe years, but maybe. Yeah, I thought
it was really interesting. Ithought it was also interesting that
they were like, bird. Like. Idon't know, I kind of expected. I
don't know, I kind of expectedto be, like, really thrown into,
(12:32):
like, alien territory whilereading this book. So the fact that,
like, you know, Dory and like,I as a human could recognize, like,
different dinosaurs andmonsters. Not. Well, not monsters,
but animals and stuff likethat. I. I liked that, I think, because
it kept me kind of like in thestory being able to recognize these
(12:54):
things. As I said before, I'mnot huge into aliens. So I don't
know if that's like a typical.
It's definitely not typical.And I think one of the best things
about it is that even thoughwe were having to like, learn about
a new culture and learn aboutthe bird culture and what they're
doing, learn about the otheralien culture and learn about what
(13:16):
they're doing, I think it washelpful to not have to also learn
about everything else. Becausesometimes, you know, when you make
any first book, whether it'sfantasy, science fiction, alien romance,
whatever, if you'reestablishing a whole new world, you
have to do a lot of worldbuilding and explaining. Like, is
it a desert planet? Is it awater planet? Is it whatever planet?
(13:38):
And the fact that like her jobbrain was always like, oh my God,
what is this bullfrog so bigfor? Like, but we. I already know
what a bullfrog is, soimmediately I'm like, oh, my God,
that would be crazy. If yousaw a bullfrog that was as you. That
would be insane.
Yeah.
One that can't move becauseit's not strong enough and its tongue
isn't strong enough to get youyour little legs. Like, and I. And
(14:02):
like. Or like the T. Rexcoming and it's pink and she's like,
we were wrong all along.They're pink. Like all of that I
feel like, helped so that.Because like, imagine that if you're
on a planet and they're like,oh, the tuma little rock is a big
pink dinosaur. Like, you know,I mean, like, they'd have to really
explain that. True, very true.This book is fast, very fast paced.
(14:22):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I think it would bog itdown too much. Much.
Yeah, that does make sense.
For me at least.
No, I think that makes sense.Yeah, I do. Like, like the bird like
aliens. I think I imagine themin like little trench coats with
like their iPads, like, justlike collecting data.
They're like how their littlefeathers were like connected to like
(14:42):
the digital world so theycould pull up like little iPads and
stuff. I was like, that's cool.
Yeah, that was super cool.
Aliens are cool.
Yeah. Yeah.
Also, I liked that the one whowas like observing them was an intern.
I know.
Because how perfect is that?That this company, genocided in an
entire alien world, stole allthese human women, completely modified
(15:05):
them so they could breed withthese other aliens. And then they
don't even send a managerlevel person. They just interned
over.
They're just like, you can dothis. Just report back what you see.
He's like freaking out. Like,you guys have got to fall in love.
Look at this Tamagotchi. It'snot. Let's get it. Someone is going
to fire me.
(15:26):
Oh yeah. The Tamagotchi thingwas so weird. Like, what did you
think about that? I never hadone as a kid.
Really?
No, I mean, like, I feel likeother people did. I would like saw
them and I was like, I don'twant to do that. That seems like
something I don't want to do.But everyone is like obsessed with
them.
Yes. They're so cute. I hadone as a kid for sure. I would definitely
(15:47):
buy one today if I saw it.
Probably.
That's how much I love them.And I loved it being incorporated
in the story to have like adigital little soul, like dancing
whenever his little love meterwent up. I thought it was nice.
I did too.
Yeah, I thought it was nicebecause like for the majority. Well,
yeah, like for the majority ofthe book, Dory was like, I'm just
gonna like do this thing andthen I'm gonna go home. Like I'm
(16:10):
gonna go home and go home. AndI felt like, you know, she was like
holding back a lot from likebeing into them or you know, even
soul. Just saying like, well,it's. You can't, you know, bottle
like mysticism and like, youknow, ancient practice, like whatever,
it'll wear off. And so I feltlike the Tamagotchi was really nice
because it was like, well, youcan't lie. Either you like them or
(16:33):
you don't. So I liked it.
I did. I thought it was funnybecause it a like, like you said,
allowed us to track what shewas feeling even if she was denying
it. It's like, well, it'sgoing up so you're lying. I liked
that. It put the two guys werelike, ahaha, my score is higher than
yours. Haha. My score ishigher than yours though. And also
(16:56):
I thought it was funny that itrelated to the way that the alien
bird was trying to get them tofall in love. And she is like trying
to get this bird off her backand she's like, you can't just have
one bed and expect people tofall in love. You know anything about
like humans?
Yeah.
And he's like, well, whatshould I know? And she's like just
throwing out random stuff totry to get him away from. Well, we
have to be away from eachother and pine because she just wants
(17:18):
her own bed for the night. Butlittle does she know he's going to
like set up a series of eventsso that they get separated and kidnapped
so that she can pine for them.And he's like, you were right. It
worked. Look, the love meetingis going up. And she's like, did
you do all this? Is this yourfault? That might kill you.
Yeah, that was perfect.
(17:39):
Yeah, he's. And, like, I alsothink them not just doing any real
investigation into humanculture at all and her, like, having
her birth control pill.Because a lot of times when you read
romances like this, you'relike, ruh, roh, we're gonna get pregnant
right away. Because not that Idisapprove of pregnancy, I have children.
(18:00):
But, like, in a book, I wantit to be on purpose, usually. And
I'm like, ooh, alien planet, alot of alien sperm. That usually
is a recipe for babies, right?And this time she, like, still had
her implant because theydidn't know about birth control implants
because they didn't do anyresearch. And then when she tells
(18:20):
them, oh, we need chocolateand coffee or we can't have babies,
right? She's just like,listing stuff she wants. I need coffee,
right?
I need chocolate. Like,there's more to this. No, I loved
that. I did love that.
I want to know what yourthoughts are about spice level in
books in general. Obviously,you read monster romance, so, like,
(18:42):
those books are usually veryspicy. But when you pick up a book
that has, like, this has,like, a little sort of illustrated,
animated cover, if you've readher books before, you know it's going
to be spicy. But if youdidn't, you picked this up, what
are your thoughts about justpicking up a random book and dipping
into it, not knowing what'sgoing to happen?
(19:02):
I mean, I'm open for anything.So, like, I love monster romance,
but I read dark romance,contemporary romance. Like, I'm a
romance girly, I think,picking up. I mean, since I'm into
so many different things,typically, I have to say that, like,
okay, I don't typically just,like, pick up a book in a bookstore,
(19:28):
right? Like, I have, you know,my bookstagram and my book talk and
stuff like that. So books areconstantly being fed to me. So typically,
like, I'll see a cover andit'll be a blurb, and I'll pick it
up. When it comes to spicelevel, I don't really look at that.
Like, I don't typically carebecause I do read monster romance,
(19:48):
which we know is pretty spicy.So I don't gauge what books I pick
up by the spice level. Itcould be, you know, closed door,
it could be open door, itcould be you know, erotic. It could,
you know, so things like that.I don't really, like, gauge my reading
by a typical spice level.
(20:10):
Yeah, that's a good answer. Idon't either. I mean, we do read.
Obviously, in romance, youread some open door and some non
open door. I personally, ifit's gonna be open door and you have
aliens or monsters, I wantthat to be involved. That's like
my biggest criteria. I don'twant you to have human sex. Yeah,
(20:30):
basic missionary human sexwith an alien or a monster.
Absolutely.
If you have horns. If you havehorns, someone better be grabbing
onto the horns to hold on.
Yeah.
It would be someone. Ifthere's a tail involved. Let's give
the tail a purpose.
Yeah.
And in this case, the tail hada great purpose.
Such a great purpose. Buteven, like, if there's horns, like,
I need that to be, like, azone for you. You know what I mean?
(20:53):
I needed to activate something.
Yeah.
Which is so funny because Ihave this reel that's just taking
off on Instagram right now.
About.
It was a silly audio that waslike, when I get 30% into a monster
romance, the monster doesn'thave a weird peen. And I'm super
upset about it. And there's somany people in my comments that are
(21:15):
like, yes, why is it human?Like, why are we doing this? Like,
we're here for the strange,we're here for the weird. I wouldn't
pick up a monster romance if Iwasn't down to clown with the weird.
Exactly.
Yeah.
100%. Like, I want the spermbetter be magical or the penis better
be different in some way.Ridges, knots.
(21:38):
Yeah.
Two of them expands inside ofyou. I don't know. Pick your. Pick
your poison.
Yeah.
Something better be exciting.You know what I mean? Something exciting
should be different. OtherwiseI could read contemporary romance.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And that's nice.
It's sweet. Or historical.It's nice as well. I mean, and you
could read dark romance with ahuman dude, and it could be dirty
(22:01):
and crazy, but also, he'sstill just equipped with man parts.
Yeah.
But if I'm doing an alien withhorns and a tail.
Yeah.
And I feel like she delivered.I feel like, yes, she delivered because
the tail, I also, like, thisis related to the tale. But she tells
him, like, he's like, what doyou need? And she's like, I need
you to touch my. And he. And Ithought this was great that he didn't
(22:23):
just magically know where itwas because he never met a human
woman. He's like, show mewhere this clit is. And then he follows
her instructions, and then helevels it up by being like, oh, you
know what I have on my body? Atail that can suck.
Right?
And he just latches it righton there. And she's like, I can't
anymore. And he's like, yes,you can. You'll do it. You can take
(22:44):
it. You're here for this. Youasked for it.
Yeah, Even that. And, like,their tongues. Like, her describing
their tongues being ribbed.You know, they have, like. Yeah,
it was, like, the perfect, youknow, alien for me.
Yes. You know what I likeabout this character in general,
in relation to sort ofeverything in the world, but especially
(23:06):
the sex, is if I met a hotalien dude, I'm on an alien planet.
Okay.
All right. Set the scene.
Hot alien dude. Who knowswhat's gonna happen If I found out
that he had ridges on histongue? My immediate thought would
also be, I would like to feelthat between my legs. That would
be my next. The intrusivethought would be right there.
(23:27):
Are you into this?
Yeah. I'd be like. And if hewas like, oh, I'm in love with you.
And, like, I want to get iton. I'd be like, well, what we're
not gonna do is not try it andsee what's happening down there.
Yeah.
Just once.
Yeah.
And I liked that her thoughtswere always, like, very, like, funny,
(23:49):
but also very real. Like, shesees. Okay. Okay. There's a pink
dinosaur. Okay. Aha. We almostdied. Okay, well, you know. Okay.
You have a rib tongue. Well,definitely. You should lick me. No.
Bad Dory, don't say that toyou. You know, like, that's very
relatable.
Right, right. Like, shementioned that Toto had, like, never
had intrusive thought, and I'mlike, neither have you. Like, what
(24:15):
are you talking about, girl?
I was excited because herother books. Correct me if I'm wrong,
but I feel like they were inthis same world, but they didn't
introduce the characters. Andthey were, like, standalones in the
same series, basically. Theywere. They connected.
They were interconnectedthrough. What's her name? Is it Cherry?
(24:40):
Between, like. Like, theywere, like, sisters.
Oh.
The main girl, she was bestfriends with the girl who was in
the one that. That time Ineeded a love potion at a werewolf.
That's right.
And then the younger sister ofthe main character was, like, abducted
or taken in, like, the swamp,and so she ended up with the other
(25:01):
dragon.
Did you introduce the coupleor just the character who. Then the
next book was about it wasjust the character, right? Or am
I wrong? I don't know.
I think it was the. I thinkboth. I think the couple appeared
in the first one that wasabout the yeeted love potion. Like,
(25:22):
we had seen them or we knew ofthem in the town. And then, and then
the last one, because thesister had been abducted, she was,
like, kept in, like, the tower.
Right, Right.
So, yeah, that didn't reallylike, mesh with that story because
it didn't take place in thatsame town.
Right. I, I in general, likebooks, series like this. Like, usually
(25:47):
they're two series. It's likeyou have a main, like, characters
in the romance who are goingto be in a trilogy. Same characters
throughout the trilogy. Or youhave these where it's like, standalone,
but it's all in the sameworld. They're all connected. They
introduce the next couple, soyou're excited about them, and then
they're book two. Maybe yousee Doriel be there in the background,
perhaps. But like, the mainromance of the next book is this.
(26:10):
This is sort of my preferredone. Unless I'm reading, like, a
bigger fantasy series orscience fiction series in romance,
I usually prefer, like, thateach book is contained with a happily
ever after and then it, like,leaves the door open for the next
couple.
I absolutely have to agree. Iabsolutely have to agree. If it's
(26:32):
a fantasy series, I needeverybody to stay the same. I'm already
trying to learn the world.Please, like, everybody just stay
in the same box. But when itcomes to, like, romance or, like,
you know, monster romance orseries like that, I do like for each
couple to be in its ownlittle, like, container, like, love
story.
Yeah, they're happy at theend. Happy.
(26:55):
They're so happy.
The sex was so good.Everything's great. And then, ooh,
these other people are feelingsome kind of conflict. Feelings or
something's happening. Someonegot kidnapped. Ooh, like, next time,
we'll visit them on nextweek's episode of Aliens. I. I liked
that again, like, I can'tstate enough how bad these bird aliens
(27:19):
were at creating this worldand understanding humans and human
women. But at one point, late,like, sort of late in the book, they
find another human woman. Thislady is like, a badass. She's like,
I need to get my jacket. Ithas a gun and a knife in it. And
Dory's like, it has what? Whatare you talking about? She's like,
give me my jacket. And she,like, gets. She has also been shot
(27:42):
with a love dart. And one ofthe other aliens has and he's like
the warlord kind of of this.
Oh, my God, you know, CrewKing Osid.
Yeah. And he can't. Like, it'simpossible for their race of people
to hurt their soul mates orwhatever you would call them. Zalis
(28:06):
H A L I. Yeah. And this otherlady just pulls out her gun and shoots.
Shoots him in the. Andeveryone is shocked.
Yeah.
Dory's shocked, too, becauseshe shot him even though she knew
it was gonna happen. Becausethe lady's like, I'm gonna shoot
him. He's shocked because he'slike, you shouldn't be able to hurt
me. The bird is like, youshouldn't be able to hurt. That's
not a human thing.
(28:27):
Right.
Right. It's not us.
We can do whatever. No. Blairis a badass.
Yeah.
She was like, get me out of here.
Yeah.
Y. I can't wait. I hope thenext book is about them.
It has to be.
I need it. The fact thatthey're at couples counseling and
(28:47):
she's, like, tearing down thisfacility and maniacally laughing
and shooting. It's amazing.
It's amazing. I already lookedup. I was like, does she post when
the next one comes out? Whichis crazy. And, Kimberly, I apologize,
because this is what readersdo. Okay, Kimberly, this book. We
are recording this nine daysbefore your book comes out. And I
(29:09):
apologize in advance that I'malready like, when the fuck's the
next one? Get on it. Okay.Work faster, please, girl. Right.
Yeah. I actually see Kimberlynext week at YALL Fest.
Oh, cool.
So I'm hoping to have her signsome of my books that I have of hers
(29:29):
and bring this up.
Here's the thing aboutMonsters 2 is it allows you to experience
things that you would neverexperience in real life. Like, I
don't want to be stalked.
No.
In real life, hardest,hardest, hardest imaginable. Pass.
I don't want to be kidnapped.I don't want to be kept from my family
and friends and loved ones. Idon't want to be injured in some
(29:52):
dramatic way and thenresuscitated or whatever. All of
that sounds terrible. However,in a book, I would like to dip my
little toesies of imaginationin a land where I've been stalking,
kidnapped by some sort ofcreature, and then it turns out that
I'm their mate and they'regonna just basically fuck me until
(30:14):
I pass out. That is a worldthat I would like to imaginatively
live in. Literally.
Right. And love me undeniably.Like, my every whim is their, like,
complete and total desire.
Yes. Like they are here for meto do whatever. They think all my
quirks are wonderful. Right?
I'm so funny.
(30:35):
Yeah. When Saul's like, shejust shouts at trees. How cute is
she? Like, that is what I want.
She's so cool.
And Locke is like, oh, you'retrying to pretend like you're not
wet right now when my finger'sinside of you. How sweet. How sweet
you are. Your body isn't lyingto me. You're so silly. You're so
silly. You're so beautiful and wonderful.
Absolutely. I feel the sameway. I mean, I read dark romance.
(30:57):
I think it's like, kind oflike the same. I get the same feeling
when I read dark romance aswhen I read monster romance. Although
monster romance tends to be,like, a bit on the lighter side.
But like you said, it allowsyou to experience those things. Like,
ooh, he's outside my window.That's kind of creepy. But also,
I'm a little into it in the pages.
Okay. He's in some sort ofviolent motorcycle gang. Oh, my God.
(31:23):
What's gonna happen in reallife? I'd be like, wait, you guys
have guns? I don't think so.That's not for me. I'm gonna go home,
drink some tea, and read abook. Thank you. No, thank you.
Yeah, totally, totally, totally.
That's so funny. Are there anybooks aside from this one that you
(31:44):
have on your radar that youwanna talk about or you're excited
to read?
Not in the monster romance orjust any.
I mean, it doesn't have to bemonster romance.
Oh, yeah. Oathbound by Tracy.
Oh, my God. Like, that isright before you came on. Guys, I'm
(32:07):
holding up a copy ofLegendborn. Yes. I just started my
reread because I have to. It'sbeen so long since I read the first
one, and I was like, I can't.This is such a good story. So I'm
gonna reread this and thesecond one so that I'm ready for
the third one to come out.
Yes. I'm in the middle of mybloodmarked reread right now. I have,
like, a buddy read over onStorygraph, so that's really fun.
(32:29):
Okay, cool.
And I'm hosting a Oathboundmidnight release party in Atlanta.
Oh, cool. Wait, are you doingthat with Amanda?
No, they're in New York.
They're in New York. Okay.
I'm in Atlanta. I'm doing minewith Brave and Kind books. It's a
black owned woman runbookstore here in Atlanta. Amazing.
Yeah. So Oathbound is like, onthe top.
(32:50):
Yes, I agree. I've beenwaiting. When this book came out,
I want to say it was likeNovember, release the first one when
it came out or somethingbefore Christmas, I literally bought
like six copies because I waslike, this book is so good. I gave
it to my niece, I gave it tomy brother. I gave one to a bunch
of friends. I was like, guys,you have to read this book. This
book is incredible.
(33:11):
No, it's the most amazingthing. It's like what I live my life
for every single day is towake up and have Tracy Dion notice
me online. Absolutely obsessedwith her and she knows that. So I
cannot wait for Oathbound.There are some other books that I'm
excited. Nia Davenport wastalking about her adult book that's
(33:34):
coming out called Our ViciousOaths that comes out this year. And
oh, Lore of the Tides. Haveyou read Lore of the Wilds by Annalee?
What is Annalee's last name?Oh, my gosh, please don't hate me,
Annaleigh. Please. Yes, yes.Her second book, Lore of the Tides,
(33:59):
comes out this year and I'mvery excited about it.
Okay, I'll have to check thatone out.
It's an adult fantasy. Lots ofFae, which I love.
I love a good fae.
Yeah. I categorize Fae asmonsters. I don't care.
I think they are monsters.
They are.
I. I mean, well, I think itdepends on who you ask, but I think
if you think about the waythat monsters function is like they
(34:21):
are not human in some way. Sothey either have powers or physically
they're different. But I feellike the Fae, like, check that they're
like physically different.They're usually faster or stronger
or both. Live longer. Yeah.Have powers of some kind.
Yeah.
I think they go into that samefantasy. Because monsters are really
fantasy. I mean, they're justfantasy. They're just like a little
(34:41):
subset of fantasy.
But that's true.
That's your fancy for sure.
Because I put everything thatisn't human under monster and I call
it a day. I'm like, EdwardCullen monster.
I mean, he eats people. So Iwould say vampires are monsters for
sure.
That is true.
That is true. Oh, EdwardCullen. What a. What a character.
(35:04):
What a character. Shiny skin,you know what's creepy? And I feel
like typically, or maybe, Idon't know, maybe this is not true
now that I'm saying it, but Ifeel like in monster romances that
are like monster monsters,like some sort of hooved individual,
some sort of, you know, likeyou said, Kraken individual. Whatever.
(35:26):
Sometimes they're really old,but sometimes they're like the same
age as the character or verysimilar age. But like when you have
like vampires or whatever,they're always really old.
Yeah.
It's inevitable.
Yeah.
And. And when you think about,like, if you made him look his age,
so he would have been 100 andsomething, when the. If you made
(35:47):
him look like a littleshriveled one hundred and something
year old man hitting on thisseventeen year old girl, it really
takes the fun out of vampires.It does.
It absolutely does. I also,like, I'm part of like the Edward
Cullen, like, hate fan club.Like, I am always like, meh, Whatever.
(36:11):
I'm always. I've been teamJacob since I first read Twilight
in 2005.
Okay, I get that. Wherebecause you like werewolves, you
like the more monstrous ones,you know, shapeshifters.
You're onto something. Wait aminute. Am I being perceived?
Well, here, let me ask you aquestion. I had this debate with
friends last night. Do youthink in Beauty and the Beast the
(36:31):
Beast was hotter as a beast oras a man?
As a beast, he turns into aman. He looks so dirty.
What a letdown. What a letdown.
You could have at least givenhim a beard. He could have been like,
play it up.
Thank you. Not this, like,pretty, like with his pretty hands.
I was like, what are we doing here?
His like, golden locks. Like,I don't want to see that, Barb.
(36:55):
So I was at a dinner and theywere like, there were three women
who are all like my age, likemid to late 30s. And then there were
four guys, all also mid tolate 30s. When I tell you the guys
were shocked that we preferredthe Beast over the prince, the girls,
(37:17):
I was like, well, you thoughtthe Beast was hotter. And she was
like, of course I did. And theother woman was like, yeah, obviously.
And they were like, wait,wait, wait, what? And I was like,
yeah, the Beast can get it.That human man. Hard. He would have
turned back into a prince. AndI would have been like, well, you're
welcome. I fixed your curse.I'll just hang out in the library
and you can putter around asneed be. But I'll be in this beautiful
(37:40):
library drinking tea with myfriends Cogsworth and Lumir. And
you can do you. Not me,because you're real.
110. I actually read a monsterromance that is called Beast by Jennica
Snow. Have you read that? Itis. It's like if the Beast never
(38:01):
turned into a human.
Okay.
And it's everything I needed.
Yeah, yeah. It. I mean, Idon't. I'm not looking up the COVID
right now because I'm like,did I need it?
I think the COVID is in blackwith, like, rose petals or something.
(38:22):
I think it's Jenna. Is thather name?
Yeah, that's right. Let melook. Oh, yeah. It's like the rose.
I don't think so, but I'llhave to check it out because I. I
do enjoy a retelling of afairy tale for the same reason that
I think it was nice that allof the animals and creatures and
dinosaurs and plants in thisbook were human or earthbound. I
(38:45):
guess. Right. When you dipinto those retellings, your brain
automatically understandswhere the story starts. And so even
though it ends up in adifferent place, you already know,
oh, I know what the beast islike. I understand the curse might
be slightly different, but Iunderstand sort of the basic players
and the basic plot so I canget behind. Like, there's a bunch
(39:07):
of Peter Pan ones.
I want to get into romances.Yeah, I love Peter Pan. It probably
is one of my top fairy tales.But I have not dipped into all the
books that I've seen that arelike, dark romance. Peter Pan. I
know that Emily McIntyre hasone. It's called Hooked, isn't it?
Yep, I read that one. I alsoread Never. It's a dark romance.
(39:39):
Let me think about this.
Oh, it's like a Lost Boy.
Never King. Yeah, Lost Boys.Never Something. Never. I think it's
called Never King.
I think it's called the Never King.
The Vicious Lost Boys. Maybethat's the series. Maybe Nikki St.
Crow. The first one is calledthe Dark One. Oh, wait, no, that's
(39:59):
the second book. The NeverKing is the first one. Dark One is
the second one. Vicious LostBoys. I read those. I made a mistake,
though, because I really needto pay attention more to whether
the whole series is complete.Because I read the first one, burned
through it. I was like, thisbook is so fun and dark and weird,
but, like, Peter Pan and theLost Boys, everybody's fucking like,
(40:21):
I'm into it. Read the Seguebook, got to the end, went to Kindle
Unlimited, tried to get thethird book, and it wasn't out yet.
And I was like, oh, I've mademistakes. I've made. I've backed
myself into a corner, and Ican't get out of the corner because
this book doesn't come. It waslike six months before.
Are you that type of readerwhere you need the series to be complete
(40:43):
before you start it?
So not Always. And like, backwhen we were younger, because books
came out once a year, I wasused to waiting. I think it depends.
If I'm reading, like, a bookin, like, that I get, like, for instance,
like, Legendborn, I got. And Iknew it just got published. It'll
be a year. I knew it. But Ifeel like sometimes when I'm on,
(41:04):
like, Kindle Unlimited or I'mreading series that are faster and
maybe slightly shorter, oreven romances where I just, like,
don't really think about itand it's like, ends on cliffhangers
all the time. Then I'm like,oh, shit, I should have waited. Because
part of me is such a moodreader. And also, like you, I get
(41:27):
sent a lot of books. I getrecommended a lot of books. And so
I feel like sometimes if Imiss my window of when I'm like,
have a. The time. And also I'mlike, into that series, then I won't
finish it or I won't ever goback to it if I miss. You know what
I mean? Like, if I. Unless,you know, in two years when book
(41:48):
four comes out or whatever, orin a year when book four comes out,
then someone's like, oh, myGod, did you read the last book?
And then I'm like, wait aminute. I didn't wait. I must go
back and find it. So that's tricky.
Yeah. Yeah. I think. I don'tknow. I think because like you said,
like, we both get, like, getsent a lot of books. I can like,
(42:09):
supplement in between whereI'm like, okay, I want to finish
this series, but I have allthese other books in the meantime
that I could just, like, plugin there.
Yes. I mean, that isdefinitely what I do. I. Now that
I'm thinking about it, I'mlike, did I read the final book?
I read the first three. Whendid the fourth one come out? Let's
(42:31):
peruse. March of two yearsago. So who knows? It's hard to say
whether I read it or not.
Yeah.
Impossible to know. I'd haveto reread the whole series. This
has been a delight. Thank youso much for coming on and talking
about this book with me. I wasso excited a. Because I just thought
(42:51):
it was so cute. Like the COVIDof it. So cute.
Yes.
And after we read the firstone on the podcast, I wanted to read
another one of her books. And,you know, this was the perfect mix
of dinosaurs and hilarious,you know, banter and aliens and horns
and tails.
Yeah. I do want to mentionthe, like, ending of the epilogue,
(43:15):
where yeah, the intern. Hiscode name is now Cupid.
I'm like, oh, my gosh. Isigned it. I.
Love.
And he's obviously going to bein the rest of the books, which is
exciting because he was a veryfunny little character.
Yes, he was.
And I'm excited. In the nextbook, presumably, he'll find out
that they duped him about thecoffee and the chocolate, which will
(43:38):
be a very fun little time.
Absolutely.
All right, well, you guys, ifyou want to follow Trey, you can
go to Xo Treylee on Instagram,and I'll, of course, drop a link
in the description of the appthat you happen to be listening on.
And until next time, may yourbooks be your lover and your hand,
your best friend. Bye for now,kids. Thanks for hanging in with
those romance readers. Headover to Instagram to continue chatting
(44:00):
with us. We're super friendly.We want to cackle with you. We want
to know what your favorite sexscene was, and we need more book
recommendations. If you wantto read along with.
Us, go to our website,romanceataglance.com to.
See what we're reading next.And we'll see you next podcast.
Well, hello, everyone, andwelcome to another episode of Romance
at a Glance. I'm your host,Bridget, and today I have a very
special co host, Trey. Hi, Trey.
Hi, Bridget.
I am very excited to have Trehere. She has a great instagram @xo.treleigh
l e I G H on Instagram. Andthat is how I found her. And she
(00:21):
was talking about KimberlyLemming. And I was very excited because
her latest book, I Gotabducted by Aliens, and now I'm trapped
in a rom com is coming out.And so I thought, who better to have
on than Trey to talk about it? Hi.
Thank you so much for havingme. I'm so happy you found me. I'm
constantly screaming aboutmonsters on all of my socials. I
(00:43):
have been for about threeyears now.
Yeah. I think there'ssomething so delicious about monsters
and aliens because they allowyou to just dive into it with a completely
open mind. You're like,they're not human.
Right.
So if they do something weird,you're like, they're not human.
Right.
Everything.
Like, there's no rules. Like,airport rules. When you read a monster
(01:04):
romance, like, anything goesand you just roll with the punches.
Yeah. I was very excited aboutthis book because I think, like,
you, I had read some of herother books from the Mischief and
Mead. Is that the series?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Mead and Mischief.
I think Mead and Mischief. AndI liked her tone and, like, how funny
(01:24):
her books are. And I wasexcited because I love aliens and
I love rom coms. And so I waslike, well, this is obviously gonna
be a match made in heaven. Andit was. Yeah.
That's so interesting. I reada lot of monster romances and I usually
don't lean towards aliens. Istarted with Meet and Mishaps from
(01:44):
Kimberly Lemming that time Igot drunk and saved a demon. And
I absolutely fell in love withit. Like, you said, the tone. She
is so funny. Like, and she'sfunny in a way that, like, doesn't
take you out of the book, butmore so, like, you just, like, stare
into the camera like you're onthe office. Like, I can't believe
this is what she just said.
(02:07):
Yeah, Her I really liked. Andnot to, like, get too far into the
book, you guys. Obviously, ifyou're listening to this podcast,
you know that we are going tospoil the entire book. So if you
haven't read it yet and youdon't want it to be spoiled, turn
back now, push pause, comeback later. I like so much about
the fact that this book is injust one character's point of view.
(02:28):
So many books now are in dual.And I thought for this type of story
where she's, like, gettingabducted, discovering a new planet,
and trying to figure out thesealiens, trying to figure out how
to communicate with them.There's a talking lion, there's talking
alien, bird. I think having itall from her point of view, for me
(02:48):
was the perfect choice becauseI think if it had dipped into one
of the other characters pointsof view, then I would have understood
things from, like, I wouldhave just understood things. It would
have been in their mind. Andthen I would have been like, well,
now she doesn't get todiscover it with me.
Yeah, it definitely felt likeI was discovering everything with
(03:09):
Dory when I was reading thebook. I do enjoy dual POVs because
I just want to be in the headof everybody else and know what they're
thinking. But I did enjoy,like, her learning about everything.
Like, she's taking me throughthe story with her. Like, we're all
discovering everything at thesame time.
(03:29):
Yeah. Well, let's dip into thereview and let's get it popping.
You ready to go?
Ready.
Romance at a glance. Romanceat a glance. What you say now?
Romance at a glance.
Go ahead, girl. All right, youguys. Like I said, we're reading
I Got Abducted by Aliens andNow I'm Trapped in a rom com by Kimberly
(03:51):
Lemming. This is, according tothe interwebs, book number one of
a new series from her calledCosmic Mishaps. And that was one
of the questions when I wasreading the or cosmic chaos, rather
apologies, was I wonder ifshe's going to follow some of the
other characters because theworld was so interesting. And so
I think based on the fact thatit is book one, we are going to get
(04:12):
to see other characters. Iwill read you a quick synopsis for
all of you who haven't quiteread it yet. Since it is just out
and it is hysterical. I'llread you the short one because it
is kind of a long one. Sobasically it is about a woman who
gets dropped onto a strangeplanet to fall for not one, but two
(04:33):
aliens. And Dory is gettingher PhD in wildlife biology. She
gets attacked by a lion.Aliens save her. They're like bird
aliens. They save her, healher, and then they drop her onto
a planet because they figuredout that human women can breed with
this other species of alienthat they accidentally almost wiped
out completely. And they feelbad, so they're trying to repopulate
(04:57):
this other alien race withstolen human women, but they're altruistic
Only the women who are aboutto die. So it's not just any woman.
Only on death's door arewomen. And through a series of, you
know, hilarious events, sheaccidentally gives a lion that tried
to kill her the ability tospeak to her. And they set off into
(05:19):
this new land where dinosaursare roaming and aliens are all around.
I think I liked a lot of thecharacters. I thought Dory was wonderful.
But I think Toto the lion, ohmy. Be the gosh.
Yes. Toto, just like, heembodies like the type of personality
(05:42):
I wish to have in that kind ofinsane situation where he's like,
well, we're just here now andlike, what are you going to do? Like,
I have to eat and I have to becomfortable and I don't know. He
is just so funny. He's just sofunny. Keeping Dory in check. Like,
girl, we're here.
Yeah. Hey, look at this othersaber toothed tiger I found. I'm
(06:05):
going to go make myself a ladypride. Yes. I'm going to kill her
some stuff and feed her. Goinggood. She's like. He's like, you
have a mate. You smell horny.Okay. We all smell it. Okay. Don't
try to kid yourself. Go overthere and I will leave the room for
sure.
He's just like the perfectlike wingman, wing, lion. Totally
(06:27):
down for anything.
And unbothered.
And unbothered.
I'm the king of the pridelands. I'm the predator.
Like, I'm the best. Like,regardless of what anything happens
here, you have to know that Iam the top of the food chain. I'm
the best.
Yeah. I thought this wasinteresting. So many of the alien
romances that I have read,human women obviously end up on these
(06:48):
alien planets. But usually thealiens that they end up on their
planet, it's their planet. Sothey know what's going on in the
planet. Typically they're notthe only women, although sometimes
they are, but usually theyunderstand the local fauna all makes
sense. Like the world as it isobviously is not Earth, but it makes
(07:11):
sense as its own littleecosystem. I thought that this take
of having this be like acompletely newly terraformed world
and them doing like the mostminimal. Like this is like a D minus
project. Like they put solittle effort and they're like, oh,
we went to this like twomuseums which all specialize in dinosaurs
(07:32):
and we just like snagged somesamples and we just like chaos gardened
around this place and justcreated all these species. Nbd.
Yeah. It was like, this iswhat Humans, like, look at these
billboards that don't make anysense that are written by AI and
they, like, the car that.
(07:52):
Has nothing in it is just inthe middle of the jungle.
Nothing makes sense.
The little cul de sac. They'relike humans, like, cul de sacs. There's,
like, a little cul de sac ofhouses in the middle of the jungle.
Because that would make humansfeel good.
Right. And one of them isbasically like, the Mojo Dojo Cosset
house.
(08:12):
And they all have only one bedbecause the manual that they read
for creating this wholecivilization was a how to write romance
novels. And so only one bedwas the trope.
Yes. I just loved all of it. Idid really enjoy back to talking
about how, like, we werediscovering everything with Dory.
(08:35):
It was also nice that, youknow, like, Sol and Locke were like.
Or Loki were, like, droppedinto this. Into this planet as well
as you said. Like, usuallyit's like the aliens and they know
everything and women aredropped there. But it was nice, like,
seeing them discover theplanet, too.
Right?
Like, that was so interestingto me.
(08:56):
Yeah. And then being like,wait, you know about these creatures?
Like, right? And she's like,well, I mean, I guess they're dinosaurs.
Like, yeah.
This frog.
They shouldn't all be here.Oh, my God. When Saul keeps shouting,
you know, saying like, oh,she's just shouting at plants again.
And Lock or lo. Or whateverhis name is. Like, oh, it's. Oh,
(09:18):
wait, what? What is she doing?And he's like, this is a thing she
does. She shouts at plants.Like, you'll get used to it. Because
everywhere they go, she's justlike. As a wildlife PhD biologist,
she's like, you shouldn'texist. What are you here for? How
did this all happen? Andshe's, like, trying to figure out.
And I. I know I'm skipping tothe end, but I love that the resolution
(09:39):
in, like, the warring tribesof these other aliens is her knowledge
as a PhD student. Yes,absolutely. I was thrilled, because
sometimes I feel like authorsforget to close the loop on. Like,
if you say someone's, like,super intelligent, then they're super.
Intelligence should be thesuperpower of the thing. And all
(09:59):
of a sudden, that superintelligent person, like, learns
to throw daggers, and that'swhat helps. And you're like, well,
that's cool. But also, they'resmart. And so I liked that her knowing
about wildlife biology was thereason that she, like, saved the
day.
I know. Me too. And she waslike, just move.
Yeah, you're in a migrationPath. You're embarrassing yourself.
(10:19):
You've been here 10 years.This happens every year at the same
time. You didn't think tojust, like, move.
And like, you didn't think toask this other tribe because. Did
you ask them? Because they'renot having problems at all. They're
fine. At all. They're just.They're just fine. And they think
you guys are nuts because youguys are always trying to kill people.
And they're like, we don'twant to go by them. They're crazy.
Killing people and rebuildingyour fence.
(10:42):
Yeah, always rebuilding thefence. Although, to be fair, I feel
like if it was like an entiretribe of warring dudes, not a single
lady. Checks out. Checks out.That checks out. I feel like it's
pretty accurate. Totally.Okay, I want to talk about the aliens
who captured her and are doingthis experiment. The bird aliens.
(11:04):
Oh, my gosh.
I don't know that I have readanother book where the aliens are
not humanoid who are like, theones in charge in a row. I mean,
I'm sure I have at some point,but, like, none that I come to mind
right away. Where, like, theones who are sort of manipulating
(11:26):
everyone aren't humanoid insome way or the reason that the aliens
got kidnapped is because theyare humanoid in some way and want
those human women too. Like,they're not interested in the human
women.
No.
They're just like, trying tonot get sued by a corporation.
Exactly. Which is so funny,the copyright infringement conversation.
(11:47):
But yeah, they're trying notto get sued by a corporation. I think.
I think Ice planet barbarians,when they're captured, the aliens
that capture them aren'thumanoid at all. I don't think so.
Yeah, the first aliens, andthen when they get to the ice planet,
those are mostly humanoid.That's the only thing that I could.
Think of that could be true. Imean, I have heard that book, but
(12:10):
it's been a while since I.
Read book one, so I'm like,maybe years, but maybe. Yeah, I thought
it was really interesting. Ithought it was also interesting that
they were like, bird. Like. Idon't know, I kind of expected. I
don't know, I kind of expectedto be, like, really thrown into,
(12:32):
like, alien territory whilereading this book. So the fact that,
like, you know, Dory and like,I as a human could recognize, like,
different dinosaurs andmonsters. Not. Well, not monsters,
but animals and stuff likethat. I. I liked that, I think, because
it kept me kind of like in thestory being able to recognize these
(12:54):
things. As I said before, I'mnot huge into aliens. So I don't
know if that's like a typical.
It's definitely not typical.And I think one of the best things
about it is that even thoughwe were having to like, learn about
a new culture and learn aboutthe bird culture and what they're
doing, learn about the otheralien culture and learn about what
(13:16):
they're doing, I think it washelpful to not have to also learn
about everything else. Becausesometimes, you know, when you make
any first book, whether it'sfantasy, science fiction, alien romance,
whatever, if you'reestablishing a whole new world, you
have to do a lot of worldbuilding and explaining. Like, is
it a desert planet? Is it awater planet? Is it whatever planet?
(13:38):
And the fact that like her jobbrain was always like, oh my God,
what is this bullfrog so bigfor? Like, but we. I already know
what a bullfrog is, soimmediately I'm like, oh, my God,
that would be crazy. If yousaw a bullfrog that was as you. That
would be insane.
Yeah.
One that can't move becauseit's not strong enough and its tongue
isn't strong enough to get youyour little legs. Like, and I. And
(14:02):
like. Or like the T. Rexcoming and it's pink and she's like,
we were wrong all along.They're pink. Like all of that I
feel like, helped so that.Because like, imagine that if you're
on a planet and they're like,oh, the tuma little rock is a big
pink dinosaur. Like, you know,I mean, like, they'd have to really
explain that. True, very true.This book is fast, very fast paced.
(14:22):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I think it would bog itdown too much. Much.
Yeah, that does make sense.
For me at least.
No, I think that makes sense.Yeah, I do. Like, like the bird like
aliens. I think I imagine themin like little trench coats with
like their iPads, like, justlike collecting data.
They're like how their littlefeathers were like connected to like
(14:42):
the digital world so theycould pull up like little iPads and
stuff. I was like, that's cool.
Yeah, that was super cool.
Aliens are cool.
Yeah. Yeah.
Also, I liked that the one whowas like observing them was an intern.
I know.
Because how perfect is that?That this company, genocided in an
entire alien world, stole allthese human women, completely modified
(15:05):
them so they could breed withthese other aliens. And then they
don't even send a managerlevel person. They just interned
over.
They're just like, you can dothis. Just report back what you see.
He's like freaking out. Like,you guys have got to fall in love.
Look at this Tamagotchi. It'snot. Let's get it. Someone is going
to fire me.
(15:26):
Oh yeah. The Tamagotchi thingwas so weird. Like, what did you
think about that? I never hadone as a kid.
Really?
No, I mean, like, I feel likeother people did. I would like saw
them and I was like, I don'twant to do that. That seems like
something I don't want to do.But everyone is like obsessed with
them.
Yes. They're so cute. I hadone as a kid for sure. I would definitely
(15:47):
buy one today if I saw it.
Probably.
That's how much I love them.And I loved it being incorporated
in the story to have like adigital little soul, like dancing
whenever his little love meterwent up. I thought it was nice.
I did too.
Yeah, I thought it was nicebecause like for the majority. Well,
yeah, like for the majority ofthe book, Dory was like, I'm just
gonna like do this thing andthen I'm gonna go home. Like I'm
(16:10):
gonna go home and go home. AndI felt like, you know, she was like
holding back a lot from likebeing into them or you know, even
soul. Just saying like, well,it's. You can't, you know, bottle
like mysticism and like, youknow, ancient practice, like whatever,
it'll wear off. And so I feltlike the Tamagotchi was really nice
because it was like, well, youcan't lie. Either you like them or
(16:33):
you don't. So I liked it.
I did. I thought it was funnybecause it a like, like you said,
allowed us to track what shewas feeling even if she was denying
it. It's like, well, it'sgoing up so you're lying. I liked
that. It put the two guys werelike, ahaha, my score is higher than
yours. Haha. My score ishigher than yours though. And also
(16:56):
I thought it was funny that itrelated to the way that the alien
bird was trying to get them tofall in love. And she is like trying
to get this bird off her backand she's like, you can't just have
one bed and expect people tofall in love. You know anything about
like humans?
Yeah.
And he's like, well, whatshould I know? And she's like just
throwing out random stuff totry to get him away from. Well, we
have to be away from eachother and pine because she just wants
(17:18):
her own bed for the night. Butlittle does she know he's going to
like set up a series of eventsso that they get separated and kidnapped
so that she can pine for them.And he's like, you were right. It
worked. Look, the love meetingis going up. And she's like, did
you do all this? Is this yourfault? That might kill you.
Yeah, that was perfect.
(17:39):
Yeah, he's. And, like, I alsothink them not just doing any real
investigation into humanculture at all and her, like, having
her birth control pill.Because a lot of times when you read
romances like this, you'relike, ruh, roh, we're gonna get pregnant
right away. Because not that Idisapprove of pregnancy, I have children.
(18:00):
But, like, in a book, I wantit to be on purpose, usually. And
I'm like, ooh, alien planet, alot of alien sperm. That usually
is a recipe for babies, right?And this time she, like, still had
her implant because theydidn't know about birth control implants
because they didn't do anyresearch. And then when she tells
(18:20):
them, oh, we need chocolateand coffee or we can't have babies,
right? She's just like,listing stuff she wants. I need coffee,
right?
I need chocolate. Like,there's more to this. No, I loved
that. I did love that.
I want to know what yourthoughts are about spice level in
books in general. Obviously,you read monster romance, so, like,
(18:42):
those books are usually veryspicy. But when you pick up a book
that has, like, this has,like, a little sort of illustrated,
animated cover, if you've readher books before, you know it's going
to be spicy. But if youdidn't, you picked this up, what
are your thoughts about justpicking up a random book and dipping
into it, not knowing what'sgoing to happen?
(19:02):
I mean, I'm open for anything.So, like, I love monster romance,
but I read dark romance,contemporary romance. Like, I'm a
romance girly, I think,picking up. I mean, since I'm into
so many different things,typically, I have to say that, like,
okay, I don't typically just,like, pick up a book in a bookstore,
(19:28):
right? Like, I have, you know,my bookstagram and my book talk and
stuff like that. So books areconstantly being fed to me. So typically,
like, I'll see a cover andit'll be a blurb, and I'll pick it
up. When it comes to spicelevel, I don't really look at that.
Like, I don't typically carebecause I do read monster romance,
(19:48):
which we know is pretty spicy.So I don't gauge what books I pick
up by the spice level. Itcould be, you know, closed door,
it could be open door, itcould be you know, erotic. It could,
you know, so things like that.I don't really, like, gauge my reading
by a typical spice level.
(20:10):
Yeah, that's a good answer. Idon't either. I mean, we do read.
Obviously, in romance, youread some open door and some non
open door. I personally, ifit's gonna be open door and you have
aliens or monsters, I wantthat to be involved. That's like
my biggest criteria. I don'twant you to have human sex. Yeah,
(20:30):
basic missionary human sexwith an alien or a monster.
Absolutely.
If you have horns. If you havehorns, someone better be grabbing
onto the horns to hold on.
Yeah.
It would be someone. Ifthere's a tail involved. Let's give
the tail a purpose.
Yeah.
And in this case, the tail hada great purpose.
Such a great purpose. Buteven, like, if there's horns, like,
I need that to be, like, azone for you. You know what I mean?
(20:53):
I needed to activate something.
Yeah.
Which is so funny because Ihave this reel that's just taking
off on Instagram right now.
About.
It was a silly audio that waslike, when I get 30% into a monster
romance, the monster doesn'thave a weird peen. And I'm super
upset about it. And there's somany people in my comments that are
(21:15):
like, yes, why is it human?Like, why are we doing this? Like,
we're here for the strange,we're here for the weird. I wouldn't
pick up a monster romance if Iwasn't down to clown with the weird.
Exactly.
Yeah.
100%. Like, I want the spermbetter be magical or the penis better
be different in some way.Ridges, knots.
(21:38):
Yeah.
Two of them expands inside ofyou. I don't know. Pick your. Pick
your poison.
Yeah.
Something better be exciting.You know what I mean? Something exciting
should be different. OtherwiseI could read contemporary romance.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And that's nice.
It's sweet. Or historical.It's nice as well. I mean, and you
could read dark romance with ahuman dude, and it could be dirty
(22:01):
and crazy, but also, he'sstill just equipped with man parts.
Yeah.
But if I'm doing an alien withhorns and a tail.
Yeah.
And I feel like she delivered.I feel like, yes, she delivered because
the tail, I also, like, thisis related to the tale. But she tells
him, like, he's like, what doyou need? And she's like, I need
you to touch my. And he. And Ithought this was great that he didn't
(22:23):
just magically know where itwas because he never met a human
woman. He's like, show mewhere this clit is. And then he follows
her instructions, and then helevels it up by being like, oh, you
know what I have on my body? Atail that can suck.
Right?
And he just latches it righton there. And she's like, I can't
anymore. And he's like, yes,you can. You'll do it. You can take
(22:44):
it. You're here for this. Youasked for it.
Yeah, Even that. And, like,their tongues. Like, her describing
their tongues being ribbed.You know, they have, like. Yeah,
it was, like, the perfect, youknow, alien for me.
Yes. You know what I likeabout this character in general,
in relation to sort ofeverything in the world, but especially
(23:06):
the sex, is if I met a hotalien dude, I'm on an alien planet.
Okay.
All right. Set the scene.
Hot alien dude. Who knowswhat's gonna happen If I found out
that he had ridges on histongue? My immediate thought would
also be, I would like to feelthat between my legs. That would
be my next. The intrusivethought would be right there.
(23:27):
Are you into this?
Yeah. I'd be like. And if hewas like, oh, I'm in love with you.
And, like, I want to get iton. I'd be like, well, what we're
not gonna do is not try it andsee what's happening down there.
Yeah.
Just once.
Yeah.
And I liked that her thoughtswere always, like, very, like, funny,
(23:49):
but also very real. Like, shesees. Okay. Okay. There's a pink
dinosaur. Okay. Aha. We almostdied. Okay, well, you know. Okay.
You have a rib tongue. Well,definitely. You should lick me. No.
Bad Dory, don't say that toyou. You know, like, that's very
relatable.
Right, right. Like, shementioned that Toto had, like, never
had intrusive thought, and I'mlike, neither have you. Like, what
(24:15):
are you talking about, girl?
I was excited because herother books. Correct me if I'm wrong,
but I feel like they were inthis same world, but they didn't
introduce the characters. Andthey were, like, standalones in the
same series, basically. Theywere. They connected.
They were interconnectedthrough. What's her name? Is it Cherry?
(24:40):
Between, like. Like, theywere, like, sisters.
Oh.
The main girl, she was bestfriends with the girl who was in
the one that. That time Ineeded a love potion at a werewolf.
That's right.
And then the younger sister ofthe main character was, like, abducted
or taken in, like, the swamp,and so she ended up with the other
(25:01):
dragon.
Did you introduce the coupleor just the character who. Then the
next book was about it wasjust the character, right? Or am
I wrong? I don't know.
I think it was the. I thinkboth. I think the couple appeared
in the first one that wasabout the yeeted love potion. Like,
(25:22):
we had seen them or we knew ofthem in the town. And then, and then
the last one, because thesister had been abducted, she was,
like, kept in, like, the tower.
Right, Right.
So, yeah, that didn't reallylike, mesh with that story because
it didn't take place in thatsame town.
Right. I, I in general, likebooks, series like this. Like, usually
(25:47):
they're two series. It's likeyou have a main, like, characters
in the romance who are goingto be in a trilogy. Same characters
throughout the trilogy. Or youhave these where it's like, standalone,
but it's all in the sameworld. They're all connected. They
introduce the next couple, soyou're excited about them, and then
they're book two. Maybe yousee Doriel be there in the background,
perhaps. But like, the mainromance of the next book is this.
(26:10):
This is sort of my preferredone. Unless I'm reading, like, a
bigger fantasy series orscience fiction series in romance,
I usually prefer, like, thateach book is contained with a happily
ever after and then it, like,leaves the door open for the next
couple.
I absolutely have to agree. Iabsolutely have to agree. If it's
(26:32):
a fantasy series, I needeverybody to stay the same. I'm already
trying to learn the world.Please, like, everybody just stay
in the same box. But when itcomes to, like, romance or, like,
you know, monster romance orseries like that, I do like for each
couple to be in its ownlittle, like, container, like, love
story.
Yeah, they're happy at theend. Happy.
(26:55):
They're so happy.
The sex was so good.Everything's great. And then, ooh,
these other people are feelingsome kind of conflict. Feelings or
something's happening. Someonegot kidnapped. Ooh, like, next time,
we'll visit them on nextweek's episode of Aliens. I. I liked
that again, like, I can'tstate enough how bad these bird aliens
(27:19):
were at creating this worldand understanding humans and human
women. But at one point, late,like, sort of late in the book, they
find another human woman. Thislady is like, a badass. She's like,
I need to get my jacket. Ithas a gun and a knife in it. And
Dory's like, it has what? Whatare you talking about? She's like,
give me my jacket. And she,like, gets. She has also been shot
(27:42):
with a love dart. And one ofthe other aliens has and he's like
the warlord kind of of this.
Oh, my God, you know, CrewKing Osid.
Yeah. And he can't. Like, it'simpossible for their race of people
to hurt their soul mates orwhatever you would call them. Zalis
(28:06):
H A L I. Yeah. And this otherlady just pulls out her gun and shoots.
Shoots him in the. Andeveryone is shocked.
Yeah.
Dory's shocked, too, becauseshe shot him even though she knew
it was gonna happen. Becausethe lady's like, I'm gonna shoot
him. He's shocked because he'slike, you shouldn't be able to hurt
me. The bird is like, youshouldn't be able to hurt. That's
not a human thing.
(28:27):
Right.
Right. It's not us.
We can do whatever. No. Blairis a badass.
Yeah.
She was like, get me out of here.
Yeah.
Y. I can't wait. I hope thenext book is about them.
It has to be.
I need it. The fact thatthey're at couples counseling and
(28:47):
she's, like, tearing down thisfacility and maniacally laughing
and shooting. It's amazing.
It's amazing. I already lookedup. I was like, does she post when
the next one comes out? Whichis crazy. And, Kimberly, I apologize,
because this is what readersdo. Okay, Kimberly, this book. We
are recording this nine daysbefore your book comes out. And I
(29:09):
apologize in advance that I'malready like, when the fuck's the
next one? Get on it. Okay.Work faster, please, girl. Right.
Yeah. I actually see Kimberlynext week at YALL Fest.
Oh, cool.
So I'm hoping to have her signsome of my books that I have of hers
(29:29):
and bring this up.
Here's the thing aboutMonsters 2 is it allows you to experience
things that you would neverexperience in real life. Like, I
don't want to be stalked.
No.
In real life, hardest,hardest, hardest imaginable. Pass.
I don't want to be kidnapped.I don't want to be kept from my family
and friends and loved ones. Idon't want to be injured in some
(29:52):
dramatic way and thenresuscitated or whatever. All of
that sounds terrible. However,in a book, I would like to dip my
little toesies of imaginationin a land where I've been stalking,
kidnapped by some sort ofcreature, and then it turns out that
I'm their mate and they'regonna just basically fuck me until
(30:14):
I pass out. That is a worldthat I would like to imaginatively
live in. Literally.
Right. And love me undeniably.Like, my every whim is their, like,
complete and total desire.
Yes. Like they are here for meto do whatever. They think all my
quirks are wonderful. Right?
I'm so funny.
(30:35):
Yeah. When Saul's like, shejust shouts at trees. How cute is
she? Like, that is what I want.
She's so cool.
And Locke is like, oh, you'retrying to pretend like you're not
wet right now when my finger'sinside of you. How sweet. How sweet
you are. Your body isn't lyingto me. You're so silly. You're so
silly. You're so beautiful and wonderful.
Absolutely. I feel the sameway. I mean, I read dark romance.
(30:57):
I think it's like, kind oflike the same. I get the same feeling
when I read dark romance aswhen I read monster romance. Although
monster romance tends to be,like, a bit on the lighter side.
But like you said, it allowsyou to experience those things. Like,
ooh, he's outside my window.That's kind of creepy. But also,
I'm a little into it in the pages.
Okay. He's in some sort ofviolent motorcycle gang. Oh, my God.
(31:23):
What's gonna happen in reallife? I'd be like, wait, you guys
have guns? I don't think so.That's not for me. I'm gonna go home,
drink some tea, and read abook. Thank you. No, thank you.
Yeah, totally, totally, totally.
That's so funny. Are there anybooks aside from this one that you
(31:44):
have on your radar that youwanna talk about or you're excited
to read?
Not in the monster romance orjust any.
I mean, it doesn't have to bemonster romance.
Oh, yeah. Oathbound by Tracy.
Oh, my God. Like, that isright before you came on. Guys, I'm
(32:07):
holding up a copy ofLegendborn. Yes. I just started my
reread because I have to. It'sbeen so long since I read the first
one, and I was like, I can't.This is such a good story. So I'm
gonna reread this and thesecond one so that I'm ready for
the third one to come out.
Yes. I'm in the middle of mybloodmarked reread right now. I have,
like, a buddy read over onStorygraph, so that's really fun.
(32:29):
Okay, cool.
And I'm hosting a Oathboundmidnight release party in Atlanta.
Oh, cool. Wait, are you doingthat with Amanda?
No, they're in New York.
They're in New York. Okay.
I'm in Atlanta. I'm doing minewith Brave and Kind books. It's a
black owned woman runbookstore here in Atlanta. Amazing.
Yeah. So Oathbound is like, onthe top.
(32:50):
Yes, I agree. I've beenwaiting. When this book came out,
I want to say it was likeNovember, release the first one when
it came out or somethingbefore Christmas, I literally bought
like six copies because I waslike, this book is so good. I gave
it to my niece, I gave it tomy brother. I gave one to a bunch
of friends. I was like, guys,you have to read this book. This
book is incredible.
(33:11):
No, it's the most amazingthing. It's like what I live my life
for every single day is towake up and have Tracy Dion notice
me online. Absolutely obsessedwith her and she knows that. So I
cannot wait for Oathbound.There are some other books that I'm
excited. Nia Davenport wastalking about her adult book that's
(33:34):
coming out called Our ViciousOaths that comes out this year. And
oh, Lore of the Tides. Haveyou read Lore of the Wilds by Annalee?
What is Annalee's last name?Oh, my gosh, please don't hate me,
Annaleigh. Please. Yes, yes.Her second book, Lore of the Tides,
(33:59):
comes out this year and I'mvery excited about it.
Okay, I'll have to check thatone out.
It's an adult fantasy. Lots ofFae, which I love.
I love a good fae.
Yeah. I categorize Fae asmonsters. I don't care.
I think they are monsters.
They are.
I. I mean, well, I think itdepends on who you ask, but I think
if you think about the waythat monsters function is like they
(34:21):
are not human in some way. Sothey either have powers or physically
they're different. But I feellike the Fae, like, check that they're
like physically different.They're usually faster or stronger
or both. Live longer. Yeah.Have powers of some kind.
Yeah.
I think they go into that samefantasy. Because monsters are really
fantasy. I mean, they're justfantasy. They're just like a little
(34:41):
subset of fantasy.
But that's true.
That's your fancy for sure.
Because I put everything thatisn't human under monster and I call
it a day. I'm like, EdwardCullen monster.
I mean, he eats people. So Iwould say vampires are monsters for
sure.
That is true.
That is true. Oh, EdwardCullen. What a. What a character.
(35:04):
What a character. Shiny skin,you know what's creepy? And I feel
like typically, or maybe, Idon't know, maybe this is not true
now that I'm saying it, but Ifeel like in monster romances that
are like monster monsters,like some sort of hooved individual,
some sort of, you know, likeyou said, Kraken individual. Whatever.
(35:26):
Sometimes they're really old,but sometimes they're like the same
age as the character or verysimilar age. But like when you have
like vampires or whatever,they're always really old.
Yeah.
It's inevitable.
Yeah.
And. And when you think about,like, if you made him look his age,
so he would have been 100 andsomething, when the. If you made
(35:47):
him look like a littleshriveled one hundred and something
year old man hitting on thisseventeen year old girl, it really
takes the fun out of vampires.It does.
It absolutely does. I also,like, I'm part of like the Edward
Cullen, like, hate fan club.Like, I am always like, meh, Whatever.
(36:11):
I'm always. I've been teamJacob since I first read Twilight
in 2005.
Okay, I get that. Wherebecause you like werewolves, you
like the more monstrous ones,you know, shapeshifters.
You're onto something. Wait aminute. Am I being perceived?
Well, here, let me ask you aquestion. I had this debate with
friends last night. Do youthink in Beauty and the Beast the
(36:31):
Beast was hotter as a beast oras a man?
As a beast, he turns into aman. He looks so dirty.
What a letdown. What a letdown.
You could have at least givenhim a beard. He could have been like,
play it up.
Thank you. Not this, like,pretty, like with his pretty hands.
I was like, what are we doing here?
His like, golden locks. Like,I don't want to see that, Barb.
(36:55):
So I was at a dinner and theywere like, there were three women
who are all like my age, likemid to late 30s. And then there were
four guys, all also mid tolate 30s. When I tell you the guys
were shocked that we preferredthe Beast over the prince, the girls,
(37:17):
I was like, well, you thoughtthe Beast was hotter. And she was
like, of course I did. And theother woman was like, yeah, obviously.
And they were like, wait,wait, wait, what? And I was like,
yeah, the Beast can get it.That human man. Hard. He would have
turned back into a prince. AndI would have been like, well, you're
welcome. I fixed your curse.I'll just hang out in the library
and you can putter around asneed be. But I'll be in this beautiful
(37:40):
library drinking tea with myfriends Cogsworth and Lumir. And
you can do you. Not me,because you're real.
110. I actually read a monsterromance that is called Beast by Jennica
Snow. Have you read that? Itis. It's like if the Beast never
(38:01):
turned into a human.
Okay.
And it's everything I needed.
Yeah, yeah. It. I mean, Idon't. I'm not looking up the COVID
right now because I'm like,did I need it?
I think the COVID is in blackwith, like, rose petals or something.
(38:22):
I think it's Jenna. Is thather name?
Yeah, that's right. Let melook. Oh, yeah. It's like the rose.
I don't think so, but I'llhave to check it out because I. I
do enjoy a retelling of afairy tale for the same reason that
I think it was nice that allof the animals and creatures and
dinosaurs and plants in thisbook were human or earthbound. I
(38:45):
guess. Right. When you dipinto those retellings, your brain
automatically understandswhere the story starts. And so even
though it ends up in adifferent place, you already know,
oh, I know what the beast islike. I understand the curse might
be slightly different, but Iunderstand sort of the basic players
and the basic plot so I canget behind. Like, there's a bunch
(39:07):
of Peter Pan ones.
I want to get into romances.Yeah, I love Peter Pan. It probably
is one of my top fairy tales.But I have not dipped into all the
books that I've seen that arelike, dark romance. Peter Pan. I
know that Emily McIntyre hasone. It's called Hooked, isn't it?
Yep, I read that one. I alsoread Never. It's a dark romance.
(39:39):
Let me think about this.
Oh, it's like a Lost Boy.
Never King. Yeah, Lost Boys.Never Something. Never. I think it's
called Never King.
I think it's called the Never King.
The Vicious Lost Boys. Maybethat's the series. Maybe Nikki St.
Crow. The first one is calledthe Dark One. Oh, wait, no, that's
(39:59):
the second book. The NeverKing is the first one. Dark One is
the second one. Vicious LostBoys. I read those. I made a mistake,
though, because I really needto pay attention more to whether
the whole series is complete.Because I read the first one, burned
through it. I was like, thisbook is so fun and dark and weird,
but, like, Peter Pan and theLost Boys, everybody's fucking like,
(40:21):
I'm into it. Read the Seguebook, got to the end, went to Kindle
Unlimited, tried to get thethird book, and it wasn't out yet.
And I was like, oh, I've mademistakes. I've made. I've backed
myself into a corner, and Ican't get out of the corner because
this book doesn't come. It waslike six months before.
Are you that type of readerwhere you need the series to be complete
(40:43):
before you start it?
So not Always. And like, backwhen we were younger, because books
came out once a year, I wasused to waiting. I think it depends.
If I'm reading, like, a bookin, like, that I get, like, for instance,
like, Legendborn, I got. And Iknew it just got published. It'll
be a year. I knew it. But Ifeel like sometimes when I'm on,
(41:04):
like, Kindle Unlimited or I'mreading series that are faster and
maybe slightly shorter, oreven romances where I just, like,
don't really think about itand it's like, ends on cliffhangers
all the time. Then I'm like,oh, shit, I should have waited. Because
part of me is such a moodreader. And also, like you, I get
(41:27):
sent a lot of books. I getrecommended a lot of books. And so
I feel like sometimes if Imiss my window of when I'm like,
have a. The time. And also I'mlike, into that series, then I won't
finish it or I won't ever goback to it if I miss. You know what
I mean? Like, if I. Unless,you know, in two years when book
(41:48):
four comes out or whatever, orin a year when book four comes out,
then someone's like, oh, myGod, did you read the last book?
And then I'm like, wait aminute. I didn't wait. I must go
back and find it. So that's tricky.
Yeah. Yeah. I think. I don'tknow. I think because like you said,
like, we both get, like, getsent a lot of books. I can like,
(42:09):
supplement in between whereI'm like, okay, I want to finish
this series, but I have allthese other books in the meantime
that I could just, like, plugin there.
Yes. I mean, that isdefinitely what I do. I. Now that
I'm thinking about it, I'mlike, did I read the final book?
I read the first three. Whendid the fourth one come out? Let's
(42:31):
peruse. March of two yearsago. So who knows? It's hard to say
whether I read it or not.
Yeah.
Impossible to know. I'd haveto reread the whole series. This
has been a delight. Thank youso much for coming on and talking
about this book with me. I wasso excited a. Because I just thought
(42:51):
it was so cute. Like the COVIDof it. So cute.
Yes.
And after we read the firstone on the podcast, I wanted to read
another one of her books. And,you know, this was the perfect mix
of dinosaurs and hilarious,you know, banter and aliens and horns
and tails.
Yeah. I do want to mentionthe, like, ending of the epilogue,
(43:15):
where yeah, the intern. Hiscode name is now Cupid.
I'm like, oh, my gosh. Isigned it. I.
Love.
And he's obviously going to bein the rest of the books, which is
exciting because he was a veryfunny little character.
Yes, he was.
And I'm excited. In the nextbook, presumably, he'll find out
that they duped him about thecoffee and the chocolate, which will
(43:38):
be a very fun little time.
Absolutely.
All right, well, you guys, ifyou want to follow Trey, you can
go to Xo Treylee on Instagram,and I'll, of course, drop a link
in the description of the appthat you happen to be listening on.
And until next time, may yourbooks be your lover and your hand,
your best friend. Bye for now,kids. Thanks for hanging in with
those romance readers. Headover to Instagram to continue chatting
(44:00):
with us. We're super friendly.We want to cackle with you. We want
to know what your favorite sexscene was, and we need more book
recommendations. If you wantto read along with.
Us, go to our website,romanceataglance.com to.
See what we're reading next.And we'll see you next podcast.
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