Dark Romance pt2

This week, Jordan takes you on a wild ride of her favorite dark romances she didn't have time for last season, while Dev tries to reign her in. This episode will follow a slightly different format than usual so stick with us as we dive deep into this genre of romance. 



*Please be aware that sensitive themes and topic will be discussed in this episode that may be triggering to some. Some of these include non consent, bullying, unaliving, necrophilia, cannibalism, primal play, and spanking.

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Episode Transcript

Devonnie (00:02):
Welcome to Romance recs where book besties explore
the world of romance novels andencourage you to expand your
TBR.
Join us as we dive into thehottest releases and hidden gems
of the genre.
You can find us on Instagram andTikTok at Romance recs Pod.
You can also find us on DiscordRomance recs Pod.
Hi guys.

(00:23):
Welcome back to another episode.
As you can tell, this is Def andI am currently listening to A
Throne of Broken Gods.
Or the throne of broken gods,the throne of broken gods by
Amber V Nicole.
This is book two in her gods andmonsters series and I'm eating

(00:43):
it up.
I'm so excited that I finallypicked up this series.
It's been on my TBR for a while.
I'm even more excited that Amberis going to be at books, gowns
and crowns this week and that Iwill hopefully get her to sign
my first copy of the book.
So yeah, I'm really excitedabout that.

Jordan (00:59):
Yay, me too.
Hi, I'm Jordan.
Get ready for, hearing me a lottonight.
I am currently reading The Bloodis Life by Ariella Isabella,
which Dev and I felt

Devonnie (01:13):
No, you started it.
Okay.
I have to start that tomorrow.
How is it?

Jordan (01:19):
I'll talk about it in a minute.

Devonnie (01:21):
Okay.
That be squealing.

Jordan (01:25):
And I'm listening to Pen Pal by JT Geisinger because I
just have to know whateverybody's talking about.
So buckle up for some bookishbanter, a lot of Jordan's
bookish banter, because todaywe're gonna take a deep dive.
We're gonna dipe deeve, as Devwould accidentally say,

Devonnie (01:46):
Oh

Jordan (01:48):
My favorite subgenre.
In season one, our most listenedto by miles is Dark Romance.
And so we're gonna do, I'm gonnatalk a lot about Dark Romance.
I'm gonna give a lot of recs.
I'm gonna go on a lot of rantsand raves.

(02:08):
I'm gonna give you a lot morethan what you got, hopefully, in
season one for the Dark Romance.
Next month we're going tohighlight some extra stuff that
Dev loves.
And then hopefully by December,we'll get Christina back on here
and we can have her rant andrave about we're trying to do
AO3 and

Devonnie (02:25):
Yes.
Yes.

Jordan (02:27):
that's what we are here to do today.

Devonnie (02:29):
sure you're buckled in, babes.

Jordan (02:32):
Yes.
But we will start like we alwaysdo

Devonnie (02:34):
Quote.
Yes.

Jordan (02:35):
So Dev, why don't you start us out with a quote?

Devonnie (02:37):
Okay, so as I said, I am reading The Throne of Broken
Gods, and my quote is gonna comefrom that.
And this Quote is so likeinconspicuous.
I don't it's really nothing.
It's literally some words in asentence like I know but what
i'm trying to say is it's notspicy.

(03:00):
It's not romantic It's nothingbut this is so poignant to me
because it really shows how downbad the mmc is for his morally
black pitch black FMC, which welove, but this is all he says to
her, right?
He's trying to convince her to,to relax, essentially to cut

(03:22):
down on her activities.
And he says, come home and teachme what you do I'm sorry.
I was giggling and kicking myfeet because I'm, I don't want
to give anything away for peoplewho haven't read it or people
who plan to read it, or maybeyou're in book one, cause this
is book two, but He's literallytrying to stop her from doing

(03:42):
her nefarious activities and toconvince her He's just come home
and show me what you like So yougotta you don't got to keep
doing other stuff with otherpeople and I'm just like wow How
down bad do you have to be sir?
Come home and show me what youdo so yeah, that's my quote.
He's so swoon worthy.

Jordan (04:04):
In the thick

Devonnie (04:04):
like a grandpa.

Jordan (04:06):
Well, he is.
He's so old.
He's

Devonnie (04:08):
he is literally millennia old, but the way he
talks, I'm like, cause everyonearound him adapts the language
and he's just not getting it.
Like he just isn't getting it.
So it's Oh,

Jordan (04:20):
he's been so, he's been so focused on other things that
he hasn't had the time orbandwidth to, to learn the
mannerisms of this world.
Sometimes you just got to dipethat Deve.

Devonnie (04:37):
I will never live that down.
Oh man.
But yeah, so that's my quote.
What you got for us, Jordan?

Jordan (04:43):
Okay, so this is my original quote for tonight
because originally this is gonnabe a different episode But we
decided we wanted to do a littlebit further investigation into
that topic Which we're gonnasave for another time But now
that we're here for my favoriteI decided you know what fuck it
We're gonna do another CarolinePeckham and Suzanne Valenti.
Try to do something else, but Iwas like no if this is what
we're doing tonight.

(05:04):
I'm gonna stop Stick to my guns,I'm gonna do it.

Devonnie (05:07):
when I tell you I knew it.
Go ahead, girl.
Tell us what they said.

Jordan (05:14):
I've never even mentioned this duology of
theirs.
So, this is from The Death Club,book one of the Dead Men Walking
series.
People were awful, but men werepigs.
So I lived by the rule that mendidn't exist to me 99.
9 percent of the time.

(05:34):
And when they did, they werealready on their last warning.
Sadly, I wasn't a lesbian.
Even the devil hadn't helped meout with that.

Devonnie (05:49):
I'm choking.
Excuse me.

Jordan (05:52):
So, this FMC has spent time in a mental ward.
will start that off by saying,She is the definition of
unhinged.
She, the way she thinks is nottypical.
I would, it's not even, I, it's,she's on her own wavelength.

(06:13):
But it's hilarious.
She's very much well, I'mobviously fucked The devil must
be on my shoulder God does nothelp me.
It's all the devil.
So she's devil didn't even helpme with this.
Couldn't even be a lesbian

Devonnie (06:23):
Right.
I hate men.
And I'm not even a

Jordan (06:26):
I feel this.
What a soul

Devonnie (06:27):
you girls.

Jordan (06:28):
I

Devonnie (06:32):
Love it when women

Jordan (06:35):
know.
So anyways, yeah, dark romance.
I'm going to rant.
I'm going to rave.
I'm going to give a lot of recs.
First of all, I think I'm goingto start by listing some of my
favorites.
I think I'm just going to do areally big list and then I'll do
like highlights from there.
Dev is going to keep me honest.

(06:55):
Dev is going to ask mequestions.
Dev is going to put in her own

Devonnie (06:58):
I have

Jordan (06:59):
her own what she thinks, questions.
Just why, I think the questionis going to be why a lot, I'm
just saying.
So some books that I absolutelyadored in, well, I'm going to
say bully slash dark romance.
I would say always falls underdark romance, but I love it so
much I have to specify it.

(07:20):
So I've mentioned Devil's Nightseries and Punk 57 by Penelope
Douglas, The Coven by Harper L.
Woods.
Hollow heathens.
Oh, shoot.
Bye.
It was here.
Anyways, I'll have to look thatup.
Basically any Tate James fromthe Shadowgrove worldverse.

(07:45):
Losers by Harley LaRue, which Imentioned in our first Dark
Romance episode.
There's Gothicana.
There's basically anything byPenelope Douglas.
I have like multiple things onthere by them, but Penelope
Douglas is awesome.
almost always bully romance andit's gonna be dark themes.
J.
Breeze, Hannaford Prep I'vementioned.
And then there is just I'd sayeverything by Susanne Valenti

(08:09):
and Caroline Peckham.
So I'm gonna go into their stufflater and it'll be its own
little segment I think would bethe, I just read Red Fang Royals
by Lola Rock.
It's part of Pac Darling series.
Eva Ashwood writes dark romance,usually why choose?
There's a lot of mafia romancethere.

(08:32):
Katie Robert does a lot of darkromance.
What have I read recently?
Oh my goodness Blood Bride thatis super dark and i'm gonna go
on a tangent about that laterJust you wait.
So remind me Blood Bride by cdreese dishonestly yours by
krista and becca ritchie Sofreaking good.

(08:54):
I saw that it's that's the coverwith the baby pink strawberry
with melted gold coming down thebottom So good.
Penn Cassidy writes good stuff.
I need to read more of hers.
Wickedly sweet.
I mean, there's just, I have somuch.
I love it.
But I will do the caveat andI'll go on my rant that when it

(09:16):
comes to dark romance, I feellike, there is a line where
sometimes I'm reading darkromance, and I DNF dark romance
a lot because it feels like someauthors will write things just
to say, this is dark romance.
Look how dark this is.
This is as dark as it can get.
And I want to say, sweetie,that's just rape.
Want to say that's not dubiousconsent.

(09:39):
There is no consent.
And, some people like that.
That is good for you.
I, that's where I draw the line.
I can't.
So if you're getting into this,and you're like, dark romance
oh, that's horrible.
It's not all like that.
If you have read one like that,it is not all like that.
There is consent in darkromance.

(10:00):
There is strict consent.
If you really want a goodrepresentation of that, please
read Losers the Duet by HarleyLaRue.
Safe word.
Always explicitly mentioned.
They talk about it, theircharacters mention it, they
talk, they fill out a form tosay what they're okay with, what
they're not, what their maybesare.

(10:22):
If you want a good

Devonnie (10:23):
Shades of Grey.

Jordan (10:25):
I mean, but not in a cheesy way.
It was more oh, someone who it'swritten like someone who's a
part of this world actuallyunderstands this in real life
and has put it into a book.
I think that's how it

Devonnie (10:36):
Ooh.
Not me looking at Harley LaRue.

Jordan (10:41):
They've mentioned a lot that this is, this book was kind
of their way to really discoverthemselves in a lot of ways, and
that they were really finallyable to actualize a lot of
things that they felt throughthis writing.
And you can tell this is apassion project.

Devonnie (11:00):
Oh, okay.

Jordan (11:00):
Caveat.
We do not get on this podcastand blast books.
We understand that there is areader for every book and there
is a writer for every reader.
Just because I didn't likesomething doesn't mean it's not
amazing for someone else

Devonnie (11:13):
Right.

Jordan (11:14):
so When I talk about this book the writing itself was
phenomenal.
The writing itself wasphenomenal all of the content
wasn't necessarily for mebecause I felt like There should
have been like to me.
This was straight non con fromthe male main character Even on
to the female main character andor attempted on to the female

(11:37):
main character You Right?
Attempted, but it didn't workbecause of magic and
supernatural ways.
And to me, that's where I drawthe line.
Like I, that's not for me.
So any of my recs will not bethat.
Will not be that.
Because, if the option is to dosomething with someone, or you

(11:58):
will have severe bodily harm, oryou will die, or someone you
know will die, that is notconsent.
No matter what is said from thatpoint on, that is not consent.
And I feel like some authorsreally need to learn this lesson
and need to change their triggerwarnings.
And that is a big pet peeve ofmine, is people not

(12:18):
understanding what consentreally is.
So this is a serious topic.
We will get away from this andit will get more fun.
Don't worry.
I just, I felt like I needed tosay this up front because I
don't like, dark romance is sucha touchy thing for a lot of
readers.
And they're not sure, and I justwant to say that, you won't find
those recs from me.

Devonnie (12:39):
Right.
They'll be dark, but they won'tmake you like question your
morals a little

Jordan (12:44):
Yeah! Well, I mean, they might a little bit.

Devonnie (12:47):
Just not

Jordan (12:48):
Not those morals.
Not

Devonnie (12:49):
Yeah.

Jordan (12:51):
where there should be hard lines.
None of

Devonnie (12:53):
yeah.

Jordan (12:55):
None of that.
Dev, when you think dark romancethough, what do you think?
What are like, the subgenres youthink of?
Or what are some things thatcome to mind?

Devonnie (13:03):
When it's contemporary, I for sure like
immediately go bully in mybrain.
Like I Think of bully romance.
When it's like paranormal orfantasy or romanticy, I, for
some reason, just immediately mybrain goes to shadow daddies.
I go to people being heldhostage.

(13:24):
But yeah, for me, like darkromance could literally be
anything that's just a little.
It makes you question again,your morals a little bit, but
not in a negative way.
Just there's just somethingextra spicy about the way the
FMC or the MMC or the group,whatever, whoever the focal
point is, the way they handlethe situations that they're in.

(13:47):
Right.

Jordan (13:48):
yeah.
I, and I think that comes from,you have these.
Dark, usually male maincharacters, MMCs, right, doing
these horrible things, but theyhave all of their good
intentions centered around theFMC.
And you know that no matter howdangerous or like crazy things

(14:08):
are getting, he puts her safetyfirst.

Devonnie (14:11):
Right.
She's always the top priority.

Jordan (14:14):
yeah, even if there's like blood play or like
Asphyxiation, or like any ofthese things, or

Devonnie (14:22):
Yeah.

Jordan (14:22):
run.
You know, you know, he's stillputting her needs before his in
these

Devonnie (14:29):
It's all a safe, controlled environment as safe
and controlled as he can makeit.
He's going to make it, but it'sstill real dark because I mean,
she is running barefoot down awooden, I don't know, path or
something.
I don't know.

Jordan (14:40):
awfully specific, Dev.
Wow.

Devonnie (14:44):
you know what I'm

Jordan (14:46):
I do know what you're saying.

Devonnie (14:47):
It's still a dangerous environment, but it's safely
dangerous.

Jordan (14:51):
Yeah, and I

Devonnie (14:52):
Yeah, that's just what I think of.

Jordan (14:54):
and for me, after living on this earth for almost 34
years, as a woman it's nice tosee women in dangerous
situations that they knowthey're not in danger.
And they can fully let go.
It's,

Devonnie (15:08):
Oof, love that.

Jordan (15:10):
why all dark romance is fantasy.

Devonnie (15:13):
Not real, not, I was just about to say, not real life
being a dark romance without theromance.

Jordan (15:18):
It's just

Devonnie (15:20):
Psychotic.
Yeah, just dark.
Real life is just

Jordan (15:23):
Q, welcome to America.
Okay, so let's get some funthings going from this because
this got real dark real fast.

Devonnie (15:30):
know.
Wait, I do have a question foryou because I have questions.
I have questions listed out foryou.
So one of my questions, yes.
Yeah, I was on it.
One of my questions is, Whichdark romance trope do you
secretly love the most?
Of all of them.
Or, I was going to say kinks,but no.

(15:51):
Whatever

Jordan (15:51):
do that

Devonnie (15:52):
come up with.

Jordan (15:53):
I just loved, I love bully romance so much.
I do, Cool.
I don't know why do I, if Ireally look deep, could I tell
you why?
Probably.
Is it appropriate to share on apodcast where anyone could hear?
No, I

Devonnie (16:07):
Not your dad listening to this and now trying to do the
math.

Jordan (16:10):
that would not surprise him.
Not that's weird, but I don'tthink that would be surprising.
Like I, but within that trope,my favorite is when the MMC.
grovels and has to earn thattrust back and I think that's
what I love about it is thatredemption

Devonnie (16:32):
Mhm.

Jordan (16:33):
And that final like release of Their true feelings
or release of whatever washolding them back whether it be
out external forces andpressures from other people or
themselves and their own traumabecause there's usually trauma
involved and It's kind of it's areckoning And it's a reckoning
for everyone involved, and Ijust love, I don't, I love that

(16:58):
moment.
And, because it also, I feellike Bully Romance is done
right, also create the best slowburn, and the because you have
to go through all of this shit,and then you have to reconcile.
I think when you have them allof a sudden I mean, if they're
hate fucking, then great, theycan hook up.

(17:19):
But if they're all of a suddenLovey oh my gosh, we made love
and I don't know why it startedout so angry.
I don't want it.
I want

Devonnie (17:26):
Groveling.
Intense.

Jordan (17:28):
I need groveling or I need both of them angry and hate
fucking and then they come to aconclusion of things later.
But I just love the tension andI think that's what it is
because bully romance creates avery unique kind of tension.

Devonnie (17:42):
Yeah.

Jordan (17:45):
I don't know why I'm sighing about bullying.
Bullying

Devonnie (17:48):
I know that.

Jordan (17:49):
please.
I hate it.

Devonnie (17:50):
real life, yes.

Jordan (17:52):
as an elementary school teacher, I have to tell you,
bullying is never okay.
Okay?
This is, these are fictionalworlds.
Don't get it twisted.
Please.

Devonnie (18:02):
Thank you for that anecdote, Teacher Jordan.
I love

Jordan (18:05):
Any, yeah, I will say, and I think that's why I love
Caroline Peckham and SusanValenti so much is because they
write so much bully romance.
But they do it in fantasyworlds, they do it contemporary,
and the way they do it, I'mjust, I just love it.
Because usually the female maincharacters, give just as good as

(18:27):
they get.
And that's what I love, too.
I don't like the meek I mean,the FMCs that just take it and
they're just beat down and thenthey're like, Oh, now he's
giving me love and now hechanged his mind.
Oh, no, I love you.
No, I don't like that kind ofbully romance.
Don't give that to me.

Devonnie (18:43):
That feels

Jordan (18:44):
need a strong I need a bad bitch who's got a strong
backbone.
She can cry about it in private,but in their faces, she's gonna
she's gonna

Devonnie (18:52):
Yeah.

Jordan (18:53):
the bird while her face is in the mud.
Like she's gonna

Devonnie (18:56):
make me cry if she's soft and she's being bullied.
Like I will actually cry becausehow.
How am I supposed to enjoy this

Jordan (19:03):
Well, because then they're just assholes.
If they can go back and forth,then I like it.
Then it's yeah, of course,they're gonna get you back.
Of course, there's gonna berepercussions.
Get them.
Like

Devonnie (19:12):
You're sick.

Jordan (19:14):
I Yeah, well, weird, but I feel like I don't, I like dark
fantasy, but I don't think Ilike it nearly as much.

Devonnie (19:23):
Really?
You know, I think I'd preferdark fantasy over dark
contemporary.

Jordan (19:27):
Right, and I understand that because there's a level of
it not being part of this worldSo you can excuse some behaviors
because it's not a part of theirculture or that's not a part
literally their world Like and Iget that I think that's why I
like Zodiac Academy becausethat's not like that's not how
their world works Literally, Butthere's something about that
whole process.
I don't know.
I like it being

Devonnie (19:50):
set

Jordan (19:51):
modern world.
I don't

Devonnie (19:53):
Yeah.

Jordan (19:53):
Because the tension is real to me.
It's not outside forces likemate bonds or things like that
are forcing them together.
It's genuine attraction

Devonnie (20:04):
Right.

Jordan (20:05):
understanding of each other and I think that's why I
like contemporary dark romance.

Devonnie (20:10):
Okay.
Wait, I have a question.
So, if.
Knowing you like contemporary,what, which FMC in a
contemporary dark romance wouldyou trade places with?
Would you would be her in thebook?

Jordan (20:24):
Lark.
What was her name?
And

Devonnie (20:27):
Oh my gosh.
From Leather and Lark.

Jordan (20:30):
Huh.

Devonnie (20:30):
Yeah.

Jordan (20:31):
I don't that's

Devonnie (20:32):
I'll allow

Jordan (20:32):
to mind.

Devonnie (20:33):
Amazing.
Bravo.
10, 10.
No notes.

Jordan (20:35):
yeah.
Yeah instantly.
I was like because I also feltThat was the first, I think,
contemporary, especiallycontemporary story that I read
of any romance book that I feltso, I related so much to that
character, on a personalitylevel and just like the

(20:58):
criticisms that she got as aperson and the things she worked
through on a personal level.
Obviously not the like,unaliving bit

Devonnie (21:04):
right.

Jordan (21:06):
but, that I just, I saw myself in that book, and that's
such a weird book to seeyourself in.
Yeah.

Devonnie (21:15):
get you.
But if you take out the, herextracurricular activity, she's
just a girl, you know?
There are things she's, she wasgoing through.
So I get that.
And the book, sorry, I don'tknow if I said the title, but it
is Leather and Lark by BrynWeaver.
That's the book that, Jordan istalking about, but yeah I get
it.
If you've read that book, youcan understand because
alongside, and that's the goodthing about Bryn's writing too.

(21:36):
She writes like these darknuanced characters and stories,
but if you remove the unaliving,the severing of body parts, then
you get these FMCs and theseMMCs who are like actually going
through normal people stuff andtrying to navigate.
What that is so I totallyunderstand your answer of
picking lark.
That's cool I don't

Jordan (21:58):
Well, it's all of her issues.
Yeah, it's like you what?

Devonnie (22:03):
I don't think I don't want to be in any of those dark
romances

Jordan (22:06):
no, do I want to no, but do I see that being like me?

Devonnie (22:11):
When you would yeah

Jordan (22:12):
just if I had the stomach for it

Devonnie (22:16):
Yeah, I mean, yeah

Jordan (22:19):
No, she's down there just working on her art.
She's that's what i'm saying,too That's what I was
referencing Like she's just downthere working on her art pieces

Devonnie (22:28):
It's arts and crafts Her home The home is big.
She has to do arts and crafts.
What else is she gonna use?

Jordan (22:35):
Yeah, and where else is she gonna put a finger

Devonnie (22:38):
Right.
It only works in a snow globe mylove.
There's no where else you canput a severed finger.

Jordan (22:45):
else are we supposed to do with it?
Yeah, because I don't think I'dwant to be part of a mob family
I'm, not I like to

Devonnie (22:53):
little too

Jordan (22:54):
mob mafia like crime No,

Devonnie (22:59):
I would not survive.
I don't have it in me.
Every day your life is anadventure.
I can't manage.
manage.

Jordan (23:06):
at least they have money but at least they have the funds
to take care of the small thingslike they're not Doing their own
laundry.
You never hear them doing theirown laundry.
You don't hear them dustingtheir bookshelves They are not
vacuuming.
They are not cleaning out thefridge of last week's leftovers.
They don't do that What areleftovers to

Devonnie (23:25):
a killer, yeah.
If I have to run from a killerand also plan next week outfits,
I'm gonna, I might startactually unliving some people.
So you're right.
They have balance.
They do.
They do have a good

Jordan (23:37):
Well, I mean, if you have that much time and money,
what else are you gonna do?
You're gonna take over the citywhere you live.
Naturally.

Devonnie (23:44):
just nothing else to do.
Naturally.
Naturally, when you have money,you're just going to start
unaliving people.

Jordan (23:53):
Oh my.

Devonnie (23:55):
Not be side eyeing the rich.
It's a good thing I'm not rich.

Jordan (23:58):
Well, I mean, a lot of stuff is coming out now.
Like we didn't already all thinkit in the back of our head oh,
this is probably happening, butnow we're like, oh, this is
definitely happening, and all ofyou are involved.
Wow.

Devonnie (24:10):
Yeah.
Interesting.
I'm just looking at them crazynow.

Jordan (24:15):
Well, this episode got awkward real quick.

Devonnie (24:20):
that's like a head embarrassment from our own
podcast.
Yeah.
It's crazy.
Wild.
The things that are happening inthe world.
Okay.
Do you have another wreck?
Another dark romance wreck thatyou think Give us one that you
think it's kinda entry level,but not something that a lot of
people, if they're looking fordark romance what is a What is

(24:42):
something you'd ease them into

Jordan (24:45):
Okay, I want to do this one.
Let me make sure I, is itconsidered dark?

Devonnie (24:50):
Even if it maybe not be like fully dark, but have
darker themes in it?

Jordan (24:54):
okay.
So, Dishonestly Yours by Kristaand Becca Ritchie.
I'll start with that one.
So this rec follows Phoebe andher best friend Haley.
They were raised together, theirmoms are best friends.
And by best friends, I mean likethey are ride or die.
They are each other's actualsoulmates.

(25:17):
But their moms are con artists.
And

Devonnie (25:20):
Oh god What in the thelma and

Jordan (25:24):
were And their fathers are in on it.
So they have So their moms havethese families.
And their families were raisedtogether, working cons, okay?
So, hear me out.
They both have brothers.
They're both the only girls intheir families.
but it follows Phoebe.
They've been through shittogether you can imagine, right?
They're early 20s now, early tomid 20s it's a family empire,

Devonnie (25:49):
Oh God.

Jordan (25:50):
but their parents have been using them since they were
little kids to be like, the cutecons, and that's how they lure
people is through the cutePhoebe has two brothers, and
Hayley has two, three brothers.
Two or three.
Three brothers, I think.
Two or three.
I don't know.
Sorry.
That's not important.
Anyways, after this certain jobthat Phoebe and Hayley work
together, Hayley calls theirsecret code word, which means no

(26:13):
matter what happens You go, andyou go with them.
You, it's like their safe word.
I'm requesting you do this onething, no matter how you feel
about it.
And they've, only one of themhas used it once in their life.
Because these girls are ride ordie just like their moms are.
Like, it's,

Devonnie (26:27):
Right, right.

Jordan (26:28):
but Haley says, I want out.
I want to, us to go get fake IDsof our own without telling our
parents.
I want us to leave, and I wantus to go.
start a new life, an honestlife.
So this is them trying to startan honest life, Phoebe has this
tension, sexual tension historywith Rocky, who is Haley's older

(26:49):
brother.

Devonnie (26:50):
Ooh,

Jordan (26:51):
They have been Yeah, I do too.
They have been forced on jobstogether.
So they have played each other'ssiblings.
They've tried to play eachother's like boyfriend
girlfriend.
They've played fiance.
They've played married.
They've played like all thesethings for different cons,
right?
That their parents like scheduleand make up and like plan.
It's crazy.

(27:13):
But Rocky finds out and he's I'mgoing with you.
You guys can't live an honestlife.
You can't get a nine to five.
You can't do this.
And it's just them trying tomake a life without running
cons, even though that's allthey've ever known.
You don't learn about the jobthat kind of was the snapping
point for Hayley, until later inthe book.
And it's the slow, you get likeflashbacks throughout the book.

(27:35):
And it's so good.
So there's a lot of high stakes.
And then the end, I didn'trealize this is, It's an
incompleted series because it'snewer it came out this year and
I've seen it a lot of places butI didn't realize this is the
first of I think two or three Idon't how many there's gonna be
but it

Devonnie (27:51):
Wait, is it the first?

Jordan (27:52):
yeah it ends on a cliffhanger

Devonnie (27:54):
thought it was the second.

Jordan (27:55):
no I wish the second one was out it is I need to know
like I was reading this and I'mlike okay It's okay.
Oh my god.
It's okay.
No, it's okay.
I need to know what happens.
It was like that build

Devonnie (28:10):
Yeah.
It just kept go getting better.
Yeah.
So it has darker themes in it.

Jordan (28:15):
there's there's violence and Deceit I mean, so that's
dark in that way.
Do you know I mean, so if youreally want to see Oh, do I want
like darker drama?
That would be a good one.
If you want to dip your toe intolet's say spicy mafia, nothing
too complex, middle of the road,good writing, storyline is

(28:41):
there.
This has a why choose.
So Vicious Kings by Eva Ashwood.
Grace left the life of being amafia princess when her father
took her and they left theirlife in Chicago behind six years
ago when she was a teenagerafter her mother was murdered.
She, because her father he wasone of the top people in this.
Mafia.

(29:01):
So she led a charming life andboring, average, suburban lie.
Cause her father, they left, shesaid, he goes, we will never
speak about our former life everagain.
He got them new identities,everything.
I think it was in Washington orIdaho.
I think it was Idaho.
So a life full of lies andhidden identities until her
wedding day, when four dark menfrom her past storm in, guns

(29:22):
blazing in a shootout in thechurch and drag her back into
their lives.
With her father now dead, thereare unanswered questions and a
debt to be paid, because

Devonnie (29:38):
Yeah.
That's a

Jordan (29:39):
she thought they left scot free but they did

Devonnie (29:41):
There would no, oh

Jordan (29:43):
Will her old friends, her four best friends, be her
captors or her salvation?
And so, it is a why choose, andit's dark.
I mean,

Devonnie (29:54):
yeah.
It sounds dark.

Jordan (29:55):
There is spice off the bat, and it's just This,

Devonnie (30:02):
Why choose spice off the bat?

Jordan (30:04):
Huh,

Devonnie (30:05):
I'm so

Jordan (30:06):
like the leader of the four, they are, but they also,
one of them is the son to thecapo, so like the head of their
mob or mafia, sorry, I knowthese terms have different
meanings.
I'm not going to lie.
I get them mixed up.
Okay.
I'm sorry.
And I also read a few of these,so I get them all, forget which

(30:27):
one is which, So she was bestfriends with these boys in her
early teenage years.
Oh, two of them are twins, holdup, two of them are twins,
identical twins, and her firstsexual encounter were with both
of them because they shareeverything.

Devonnie (30:42):
Okay, so, okay, I think that might be a trope that
actually I do not like.
I think the twin

Jordan (30:48):
It's, if you think about it, it's gross.

Devonnie (30:50):
it

Jordan (30:51):
If you think about it, it's gross.

Devonnie (30:52):
The a dark series that I actually have not finished and
I don't think I DNF'd it, but Ithink there's just so many other
good things that I have to readthat

Jordan (31:00):
Oh, I know which

Devonnie (31:00):
back burner.
What is the series calledthough?
The, with the twins in it andthe, it's the Peter Pan
retelling, but I can't,

Jordan (31:08):
king,

Devonnie (31:08):
is it Nikki St.
Crow who wrote that book?
That series?
Yeah, Vicious Kings or yeah,it's a dark Peter Pan retelling
and the only thing about thatbook that gives me pause is
honestly the twins.
That's it.
And I think there was a scenewith them too.
And I was just like, okay, mySouthern sensibilities.

(31:29):
I don't like, I don't know.
I had

Jordan (31:30):
My

Devonnie (31:31):
I had to put it down.

Jordan (31:33):
Oh, I don't like that Don't like that.

Devonnie (31:39):
First of all, I'm not Southern.
But yeah, I just, I

Jordan (31:47):
The lost boys, I think isn't

Devonnie (31:49):
The Lost Boys series.
Yes, by Nikki St.
Crow.
I'm pretty sure she's rightthere.
The Author of that series.
But yeah, so the twin sandwichthing for me may be the thing in
dark romance that makes me like,Ooh, I don't know if I can do
this.

Jordan (32:03):
Yeah,

Devonnie (32:03):
might be the one.

Jordan (32:04):
when you

Devonnie (32:05):
a

Jordan (32:05):
about it, it's real gross but if you just suspend
reality and you don't think hardabout The concept of not gonna
say that, nope, nevermind.
Nope, nevermind,

Devonnie (32:17):
What I tend to do is just remake them.
One, they're not brothers.
They are not related at all.

Jordan (32:24):
hot who happen to look similar.

Devonnie (32:26):
Yeah, exactly.
That's it.
And I have to do that for me toenjoy what's happening anyway.

Jordan (32:32):
Yeah, no I fully get that.
I fully get that.
So, anyways,

Devonnie (32:38):
the same one who enjoys a decent stepbrother
romance.
So I don't know that's weird.
So

Jordan (32:43):
Okay, but Stepbrothers on Bright is I, no, I can't say
that either.
That makes, gives me the ache.
step, okay, step brother I cando.
Step parent, absolutely not.
What the situation

Devonnie (32:59):
never read

Jordan (33:00):
I will never do.
I haven't either because I neverwill.
I don't think that's one I cando.
No, I know that's one I can'tdo.
I have a step parent.
That's absolutely fuckingdisgusting.

Devonnie (33:10):
Yeah.
Nope.
Nope.
Can't do that.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I can't And stepbrother for me,has to be done.
It has to be done right?
Like they can't have beenholding hands on the playground
at three.
And then also I want y'all tohave met at

Jordan (33:24):
pubescent.
Yeah.
Pre pubescent.
Absolutely not.
Even even teenage, like younger

Devonnie (33:30):
no.
I need 18.
And 18 and up.
Y'all met at 18 or your parentsmet at 18, y'all realized y'all
are joining family.
And then you're like, but also,why are you kind to.

Jordan (33:40):
or you had a crush before.

Devonnie (33:42):
right, right.
Yeah, right.
And then now y'all are joiningfamilies and it's oh, this is
awkward It's two couples in thehouse like, you know, like
something like that, but I can'tdo anything other than that

Jordan (33:52):
Penelope Douglas did Step Siblings, right?
So check out their stuff.
I think it's in the Followayseries.

Devonnie (34:01):
but did they also do uncle daddy or something?

Jordan (34:06):
Okay, let's talk about Credence for a minute.

Devonnie (34:08):
Please, because I will never understand.

Jordan (34:11):
Credence by Penelope Douglas.
This is one of the most hypedbooks on, I'd say, BookTok,
Bookstagram, anywhere.
It's, I don't know if It's theirmost popular book, but I think
it's the most viral, probablybecause of the relationships.
So, have you read it?

Devonnie (34:29):
Have not, will

Jordan (34:30):
Okay.
I

Devonnie (34:31):
spoil it.

Jordan (34:32):
I have read it because I just needed to read it and I
needed to understand.
It's actually not for me, and Ilove Penelope Douglas.
Their writing is amazing.
They have some of my absolutefavorite books.
I forget the female maincharacter.
She was basically forgotten andneglected by her parents who
were like in Hollywood andfamous.

(34:54):
And she was just kind of leftalone with a caretaker or nanny,
like her whole life.
Her parents only lived for eachother.
When one of them was dying fromcancer, they decided to do joint
suicide and they And theirdaughter was about to turn 18.
So she was seven.
Oh God, was she 17 at thismoment?

(35:16):
17 or

Devonnie (35:17):
Oh

Jordan (35:17):
18?
Son of a fuck.
That's not great.
Anyways Even though she's livedin like boarding schools and by
herself this whole time, shestill has to go like her.
Guardian is her dad's stepbrother,

Devonnie (35:33):
Oh.

Jordan (35:34):
so her step uncle

Devonnie (35:37):
Got it.

Jordan (35:38):
and his two boys in the wilderness of, I believe it was
Colorado.
And they are like, they live ina small town, but they live like
an hour outside, like up in themountain to the point where once
the snow hits, they are snowedinto their house for months, for
three months out of the year.

Devonnie (35:59):
No.

Jordan (36:01):
So,

Devonnie (36:03):
no,

Jordan (36:04):
So it's

Devonnie (36:05):
brain is already doing the

Jordan (36:06):
her step uncle and her two step cousins who are her age
and then a few years older.
Does she fuck all of them?
Yes.
Is, does she lose, she is avirgin when she goes up there.
Does she lose her virginity toher step uncle in the back of
his, Truck?
Spoiler alert, yes.
One of the biggest scenes inthis book is when she's

(36:27):
downstairs, oh, and one of hercousins does not speak because
of a traumatic event when he wasyoung.
He doesn't communicate, so hedoesn't sign, he like has no way
of communicating.
That's a whole thing, so she'ssitting on the couch and both of
her quote unquote both of theboys I'm just gonna say both

Devonnie (36:46):
Please do not say brothers.

Jordan (36:49):
the young men.
I mean they're brothers.
They are brothers

Devonnie (36:52):
Oh God.

Jordan (36:54):
They're down in the living room and this is before
she's Fucked.
Pike is his name.
Her step uncle.
So she's down there with them,and they turn porn on, and
there's this big moment between,like, all of them where
something almost happens, andthey kinda start to and almost
do, and Pike walks in on them,and he's get the fuck away from

(37:15):
her.
Go up to your room.
And he sends them, and then hespanks her over his knee.
for it.
I should have put spoiler alerton all of this, but I'm

Devonnie (37:33):
My flabbers are gasted.
I

Jordan (37:37):
love this shit.
And I was just like, this soundsso fucking awkward.
And then he sends her to herroom after he spanks her over
his knee and she gets all,

Devonnie (37:46):
gonna spank me and send me to my room.
Are you joking?
Are you joking?
Like another child?
No, I don't love that.
I couldn't.
I love a good spe you know what,I'm not gonna finish that
sentence.
But,

Jordan (38:01):
love a good spanking.
I think that's, I think that'sacceptable on this pot.

Devonnie (38:05):
but in this situation I will burn the house down.
Once you're finished and yousend me to your room, I'm
burning the house down with allof you.
No, I can't read this book.
Okay.

Jordan (38:16):
It wasn't my, again, really well written, not my

Devonnie (38:20):
So the writing,

Jordan (38:22):
Oh, yeah, Penelope Douglas, all the writing is
great, but it is the kind ofdark romance, all of their
books, where you're either gonnalove the story, or it's not
gonna be for you.
None of it is gonna be like Bad.

Devonnie (38:37):
yeah,

Jordan (38:38):
I, a lot of peop I saw a lot of people DNFing their
latest one, Five Brothers.
Oh, my god.
My new favorite of theirs.
And I didn't think anythingcould top Devil's Night series,
and I think it's right up theretied with it for me.
And

Devonnie (38:51):
really interesting.
Does it include five

Jordan (38:55):
Five Brothers, yes.

Devonnie (38:56):
Oh, okay.
And it's why choose?

Jordan (38:58):
No, it's not.
She ends up with one brother.

Devonnie (39:02):
Oh, okay.
That's like a little romantic orsomething.

Jordan (39:06):
Yeah, I mean, does she fuck m does she fuck all of
them?

Devonnie (39:09):
Oh

Jordan (39:10):
Yeah, but does she end up with one of them?
Yes.

Devonnie (39:15):
sweet.
Christmas will be so good attheir house in the upcoming
years.

Jordan (39:19):
Oh, no, she does and she and it is it's totally fine.
Like you just have to read it.
It's so good.
I love it so much.
I think you might like it.

Devonnie (39:28):
Nope.

Jordan (39:28):
you might I don't think you would nope it.

Devonnie (39:30):
Okay.
All right.

Jordan (39:32):
it sounds worse and you have to okay and I have to say
remember what I said at thebeginning of this episode how I
do not Fuck with, non con, oreven dubious dubious consent has
to be, like, acknowledgeddubious consent.
So I started reading this book,and it does start out with a

(39:54):
certain scene, and I was like, Ican't believe they wrote this.
This is not like them.
This is even further than Ithought, but at the end of the
chapter you find out that it wasThis Talked about beforehand.
So I just have to say anyone wholike DNFs in the first chapter
Please get to the end because itwas a whole scene that they had
already planned out.
So

Devonnie (40:14):
But we're just arriving in the middle of it.

Jordan (40:17):
Yeah, and I was like what's happening?
Oh, no.
Oh, no

Devonnie (40:23):
Interesting.

Jordan (40:24):
Mini spoiler, but

Devonnie (40:25):
but

Jordan (40:26):
yeah, but sometimes they lose me before because I'm like
Oh, no, too

Devonnie (40:30):
Yeah.
Yeah

Jordan (40:32):
I put Five Brothers by Penelope Douglas.
It's so good.
It's a standalone, but it alsois interconnected with Trist Six
Venom which is a sapphic story,from the Jaeger sister who is
like the brother the fivebrothers of the Jaegers You And
she's the only girl

Devonnie (40:52):
okay,

Jordan (40:54):
so they did her they did hers first And then the brothers
and I think there will be morethere better be more.

Devonnie (41:00):
Oh That's good

Jordan (41:03):
Yeah

Devonnie (41:04):
I do have another question for you

Jordan (41:07):
Okay

Devonnie (41:07):
of all the books that the dark romances that you've
read every single one Which onewould you pay serious money to
see in a film exactly as it waswritten?
Exactly as it was written all ofyour money would go to them.

Jordan (41:23):
hbo

Devonnie (41:25):
HBO, there's no like at this point the content
warnings is just black They justhave a black box like cuz
everything's gonna be includedIt can be a series too.
If you can't, if like the bookyou're thinking of is not just a
standalone and it's part of aseries I'll give you, it can be
a series and they'll transformthe entire series for you.

Jordan (41:42):
That is that's

Devonnie (41:45):
a hard question.

Jordan (41:47):
that's so diabolical.

Devonnie (41:49):
If you wanna circle back

Jordan (41:51):
No give me just a second.
Give me a second, my firstinstinct is one of the the
Zodiac Academies, but I don'tactually want that in a series
unless it's anime.
Which, I guess I could do anime.

Devonnie (42:04):
You can.

Jordan (42:06):
oh fuck, I don't want to say that.
Okay, then I have two answers.

Devonnie (42:09):
okay.
I'll allow it.

Jordan (42:10):
Okay so, traditional long episode style.
I think I would do Madison Kateseries by Tate James.
I think that would be reallygood And it had to be the series
because there's an element ofmystery to it.
There's things we don't knowthat we had to find out
throughout the series and thingslike that.
And I think that would, I thinkit would translate really well

(42:31):
to that format, like HBO, likeGame of Thrones style,

Devonnie (42:36):
Yeah.
Yeah.

Jordan (42:37):
I think that'd be so good.
I think Devils,

Devonnie (42:40):
plot.

Jordan (42:41):
Right, I think Devil's Night series could maybe do it,
but I think it's almost tooThere's too many dark themes
that I think that would be goodin like a CW Remake.
I think the CW could do Devil'sNight like in a Vampire Diaries
way, but it's contemporary So Ithink that could be good.

(43:01):
Huh.

Devonnie (43:02):
That's a Those are good answers.

Jordan (43:03):
Yeah, but I think that the Zodiac Academy world, I
think there's, cause there'sthree series in that world in
the Solaria world.
I think those would be reallygood animes because I don't like
seeing powers like where there'sa lot of powers or minds reading
or like where a lot of theinternal monologue is in the

(43:24):
book or they're shape shifting.
I don't want to see someone tryto recreate that with AI.
I want to see, And I would haveNetflix do the anime because
Netflix is coming out with somegreat anime right now I could
talk anime too.
Let's go

Devonnie (43:38):
Yeah.
I see.
This is like the perfectquestion for you.

Jordan (43:43):
like, Hold on

Devonnie (43:45):
HBO, NCW, if you're listening, Jordan just gave you
guys some fantastic ideas ofwhere to

Jordan (43:51):
So much content

Devonnie (43:54):
Yeah.
All of those have like multiplebooks.

Jordan (43:56):
Dedicated fanbase.

Devonnie (43:58):
True.

Jordan (43:58):
Dedicated.
Although I think they should bedoing Sarah J Maas, too,
because, I mean, I'm sorry.
Mind speaking?
Real life?
No.
The wings?
Whenever you got wings poppinout, I don't wanna see CGI
wings.
I

Devonnie (44:14):
I'm really trying to think of the last time I saw a
movie or show that did thosethings well

Jordan (44:20):
The 90s when it was okay to be cheesy?

Devonnie (44:23):
true, but we don't want, I want it to be

Jordan (44:25):
No, I don't want

Devonnie (44:26):
Don't you

Jordan (44:27):
I want,

Devonnie (44:28):
No.
Oh, absolutely

Jordan (44:30):
charmed was perfect for charmed.

Devonnie (44:32):
In harry potter hear me out in harry potter When he's
speaking like parcel tongue andwhen voldemort doesn't voldemort
pop up in that brain not like tohave a conversation

Jordan (44:51):
You're talking in an ex pothead.

Devonnie (44:52):
Hold on.
I just got a cramp at my csection.
Hold on.
I laughed too hard

Jordan (44:57):
been a while since you've had one of those.

Devonnie (44:59):
I know Oh god, I can't I finished it.
There's no drink oh god, thatwas a good laugh.
Ooh, your parcel tug is justfantastic.

Jordan (45:10):
Yeah, I know.
It's bad.

Devonnie (45:12):
Ow, my stomach.
That was so funny.
Okay, so not Harry Potter.
Oh god, Jordan, that was such agood laugh.
Thank you.

Jordan (45:19):
It's the parcel tug where he's opening the chamber
of secrets and I know the exacttis.

Devonnie (45:31):
Hold on, because I can't actually breathe.
Yeah, I was going to try to usethat as like a reference for how
they can do like mind speak

Jordan (45:37):
But then it gets so intense all the time and they
have casual conversations.

Devonnie (45:42):
yeah, that's true.
Right.
Yeah.
That would be hard.
Okay.
So yeah, we just have yet tosee.
And guys, if you have recs forTV shows or movies that have
done the things that we'rediscussing, well, please let us
know.
Pop over to Instagram.
For this episode and leave us acomment about it because we'd

(46:02):
love to go check it out We wantthese shows done, right if
they're ever done.
So

Jordan (46:06):
Or send us a message because you can send us a text
message from this episodewherever you're listening.
There should be a link under thedescription of this episode.
You can or any episode.
You can go and send us directmessages.
Send them to us.
Subscribe.

Devonnie (46:21):
do

Jordan (46:22):
Send it.

Devonnie (46:22):
please

Jordan (46:23):
Just let

Devonnie (46:24):
We want to talk to you guys.
Yeah, that was so funny Oh man,what

Jordan (46:30):
Oops.
That slipped out.

Devonnie (46:33):
with you

Jordan (46:33):
don't know.
I can't.
I don't know.
Although, I think, and I can seethis Bryn Weaver's series.
I could totally see her gettinga deal.
And the Ruinous Love Trilogy.

Devonnie (46:47):
yes,

Jordan (46:49):
Actually, I think, isn't she getting a deal?
Wait, did I see

Devonnie (46:51):
I think so.
Yeah,

Jordan (46:52):
Because that would be good,

Devonnie (46:54):
and it's like dark enough romance where it's it's
dark and has Weird things, butit's at the heart of it.
It's a rom com series to be fairSo I think it would be adapted
to screen really well that wouldbe nice to see for sure.
I agree I butcher and blackbirdis like one of my favorite
Listen slash reads Of all time.

(47:15):
It was really good.
I enjoyed that

Jordan (47:17):
Yeah, the next one should be good.
I mean, Sexy Creepy Clown?

Devonnie (47:21):
I might actually be terrified.
Yeah, I might actually beterrified of that one.
So we'll see how that goes.

Jordan (47:27):
I'm excited.
Should be good.
I'm trying to think of what elsewould be a good rec.
I mean, Karina Halle

Devonnie (47:34):
Yeah, I think Karina has a lot of dark.
The last thing I read fromKarina was Oceans of Sin and
Starlight, which is her Arielretelling.
Which was very dark.
Like, when you hear an Ariel orLittle Mermaid retelling You
expect it to be like light andfluffy and cute No, this is not

(47:55):
a mermaid retelling.
First of all, they're notmermaids.
They're sirens So off rip youalready know this is going to be
a different kind of story but itis Dated so think of the same
time period as the littlemermaid But it was so dark.
It was so dark and it was sogood I really enjoyed it and

(48:16):
there is a You Second book thatcame out.
So, Oh, sorry.
I messed that up.
Oceans of sins and starlight, Ithink is the second book.
The first book is a ship ofbones and teeth.
Yes.
Just a double check that whenyou see, but if you go to Karina
Holly, you'll be able to see allher work.
She also has the, like the.
Underground gods or the dark godseries that is pretty dark.

(48:40):
Like the main male characters,death himself.
So

Jordan (48:44):
Oh, I love when

Devonnie (48:45):
a little rough around the edges.
Yeah, I do love it.
And he the best part about deathis that he actually cannot touch
anybody or he will kill you.
Can you imagine?
He can't touch

Jordan (48:55):
that trope is good.
That trope is

Devonnie (48:57):
yeah, that's a good one.
Yeah, because then you got allthe other things they can do and
normally they're equipped withlike

Jordan (49:03):
the other things they

Devonnie (49:04):
is

Jordan (49:07):
And then of course the obvious, the thing that everyone
can do.
I mean, everyone can whip outtheir shadows and just fuck
their partner.
That's fine.
They've either got that, they'vegot tentacles, they've got tails
that don't count, they've got

Devonnie (49:18):
reanimate

Jordan (49:19):
something.

Devonnie (49:21):
objects or something.
Yeah.
Something to keep the spice

Jordan (49:24):
oh,

Devonnie (49:25):
I don't think he can do that, but I'm just saying,

Jordan (49:28):
Interesting.
Okay.

Devonnie (49:29):
you're with a shadow daddy who reanimates a corpse?
No, that might draw that.

Jordan (49:33):
Corpse?

Devonnie (49:34):
Yeah.
A corpse.

Jordan (49:35):
did this happen?

Devonnie (49:36):
No, this doesn't happen, but I'm saying, imagine
a book.
I mean, I dunno, it might be ina book, imagine that he can't
touch you.
He can't touch the

Jordan (49:44):
So whenever I see necrophilia, like intentional
necrophilia, is this what itmeans?
I've never read a book with it,but I have seen it on trigger
warnings, and I'm like

Devonnie (49:53):
Is necrophilia and necromancy?

Jordan (49:57):
necrophilia is

Devonnie (49:58):
No.
Oh yeah.
No,

Jordan (50:02):
Necromancy is reanimating, like magic with the
dead.

Devonnie (50:07):
So essentially what I'm talking about would be a
little bit of Yeah,

Jordan (50:12):
You're using necromancy for necrophilia.
I think we've gone too far.
I think we, I think this

Devonnie (50:17):
I think that's the line and we've gone over it.
Yeah,

Jordan (50:21):
basically what I have learned about dark romance,
though, And dipping my toe intolooking at other people's lists
is There is a lot more that Ihave yet to read.
So I say I love all these thingsI need more please if you have
some that you're like jordan Ijust need to know what you think
about this or please Read thisbecause I need someone to talk
to about it.

(50:41):
Give me those recs.
I will read them Give me a weektwo tops.
I will have reddit and I will betalking with you about it Let's
talk fan theories.
Let's talk like giddy moments.
Let's talk.
What the fuck was that?
I would love it.
So Let me know or if you'relooking for something specific
or you're wondering about thingsthat I've talked about Please

(51:04):
reach

Devonnie (51:05):
Jordan's got the recs for you guys.
She is our resident dark romancebaddie because I could never,
like I read dark romance, but Iam not a connoisseur my love.
And most, like I said earlier,the most of the time I need my
dark romance to exist in anotherrealm with fantastical beings.
I want to be as far away fromreal life.

(51:25):
When I read my dark romance,it's possible.
Except for Butcher andBlackbird.
For some reason, I was totallyfine with them being in the
streets of

Jordan (51:31):
it's cuz it was rom com It's

Devonnie (51:33):
Yeah, I think, yeah, it's cause True, yeah.
The rom com ness of it all was,

Jordan (51:39):
She suspends reality for you.
You there is no effort needed tosuspend that reality

Devonnie (51:45):
Yes.
You're already like, there'sjust no way.

Jordan (51:49):
but there could but if there was This would be

Devonnie (51:54):
I just, the way Bryn Weaver ruins foods for people is
actually psychotic.
I don't think I've had cookieand cream ice cream.

Jordan (52:02):
oh, it's in my

Devonnie (52:03):
Oh, I can't,

Jordan (52:05):
I it's in my fridge right now diana and i've

Devonnie (52:07):
I could never.
That's crazy that you would feedher cookie and cream ice cream.
You don't know what's in it.

Jordan (52:17):
Okay, if you haven't read, please skip one whole
minute.
Okay, but it was only come Imean like I know it's gross when
you're not expecting it, buttell me you haven't already
Swallowed that in your life and

Devonnie (52:31):
First of all, it's how we cape, okay?
It's not even the fact that itwas in it.
It's how that scene starts.
How we get there.
How we are introduced to it.
Who's sittin and eatin it?
With the tub and a spoon?
That is my problem.

Jordan (52:45):
see to me It was funnier than it was gross like I mean
yeah, if you really I'm like ofall the things but of all the
things That you would have toeat.
Okay, I gotta stop talking.
This is too far from people arenot gonna want to listen
anymore.
They're like, Jordan's afucking, what's

Devonnie (53:03):
and no, they don't think that I think, like you
said earlier, there are booksfor everybody.
I think you'd probably besurprised how many people are
going to actually love the recsalready love the dark romance
recs that you talk about andlove talking about it because
there's, I feel like there arelimited spaces where you can
vocalize how much you love darkromance.
So

Jordan (53:24):
Please reach out and tell us.
It can just be a short message.
Just be like, keep it up, oryou've gone too far.
That's fine.
Don't be mean about it, but Giveus some feedback.
All we have is that Dark Romanceis doing the best out of all of
our tropes.
I need to know how far you wantus to take this.
Tell me.

Devonnie (53:42):
exactly.

Jordan (53:43):
So let us know.
And subscribe.
And follow us.
Thank you for listening to usramble about My favorite dark
romance books.
If you're looking for moreromance recs, other than just
these, be sure to follow us onInstagram and TikTok at Romance
recs Pod.
We're also over on Discord ifyou'd like.

(54:04):
You can find our favorite bookrecs from our episodes, as well
as behind the scenes content,because we also have interviews
now.
Go check them out.
Again, that's at Romance recsPod.
So make sure to follow us.
And we'll be back in a week ortwo, with another episode.
Bye!

Devonnie (54:24):
Bye guys.