Romantasy part2

Romantasy (or romantic fantasy) is such a big genre that we had to do a part two! Devonnie, Christina, and Jordan bring you their latest fantasy heavy reads. You'll find fae, shifters, and magic of all kinds staring in these recommendations. Maybe you're feeling the book hangover from books like Onyx Storm or Heat Of The Everflame? We're here to help!

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Episode Transcript

Devonnie (00:01):
Welcome to Romance Recs.
We're three romance obsessedbesties sharing book wrecks
broken down by genres andtropes, so you can be sure
you're getting exactly what youwant out of your next read.
Make sure you're following us onInstagram and threads at
romancerecspod for behind thescenes content and all of our
updates.
Hey guys, it's Dev here.

(00:22):
I am currently reading A Debt ofShattered Hope by N.
Caceres and listening to Lore ofthe Wilds by Analei Sabana,
Sabrina, hope I'm saying yourname right,

Jordan (00:36):
I'm Jordan.
I am currently reading threeARCs.
One is an AALC.
So I am listening to The WrongBride by Gina Showalter and Jill
Monroe.
And I am reading A Debt ofShattered Hope by N.
Caceres, just like Dev.

(00:56):
And I am just starting Slapshotby Chelsea Curto, which comes
out this Friday.
So for you, it's already out.
If you haven't read it, what areyou doing?

Christina (01:06):
Hey guys, it's Kristina.
I am currently reading UnderLock and Key by Lana Ferguson.
And I'm reading My Dark Princeby Parker S.
Huntington and L.
J.
Shen.
Buckle up for some bookishbanter!

Jordan (01:21):
Woo hoo! We're here.

Devonnie (01:24):
Laffit, buckled in.
Buckled.

Jordan (01:27):
we have a good current reading list.
I feel like we're all in thezone right now.
We've got things we'reinterested in.
This is a good time to bereading, because we're all
escaping.
Life.

Devonnie (01:39):
Right, and I'm so jealous, Christina, that you've
already finished A Debt ofShattered Hope.
I can't wait for us to talkabout it.
But by the time this episodecomes out, will our interview be
out?
No.
Okay.
Interesting.

Jordan (01:53):
You'll learn more about that book.

Devonnie (01:58):
It's so good so far.
So I can't wait for us to beable to talk to you guys more
about it.
I can't wait for it to be in theworld.
So yeah, stay forward, lookforward to that.

Jordan (02:09):
Perfect.
Well, on that note, I'm justgonna start us off with a quote,
I think, because I want to, so Iwill.
Okay.
This is actually from A Debt ofShattered Hope by Anne Caceres.
Oh, I'm getting looks.
I'm getting

Devonnie (02:26):
gosh.
I'm so happy that you've alreadygot highlights.

Jordan (02:29):
know.
I'm only at, I don't know, 35percent or so, but I have
highlights.
And I just loved this one.
They're going back and forth,the FMC and MMC.
It's early days, but a lot hasalready happened.
And so he's accusing her ofthings, and she's just denying
it.
So he says, No, what you are isa beautiful little fucking liar.

(02:53):
Or at least, you had better be.
He was halfway across the smallroom before I found the next
thing to volley at him.
Or what?
Ah yes, some of my finest work.
Eloquence, thy name is Cricket.
Or you'll wake up with a bouquetof roses made of his flesh and a
footstool of his head, hegrowled, before slamming the

(03:14):
door to the storeroom behindhim.

Devonnie (03:17):
Okay,

Christina (03:17):
part.

Devonnie (03:19):
I hate it because I don't know.
I haven't met the MMC yet.
I'm not even that far in so Idon't know who this is and I'm
so excited

Jordan (03:26):
I'm so glad it

Devonnie (03:27):
yeah, okay,

Jordan (03:28):
The FMC's name, she goes by Cricket, in this world.
But it's giving asshole MMCthreatening to kill people.

Christina (03:40):
Very

Jordan (03:41):
you better not have fucked him.
I'm gonna, oh.

Devonnie (03:45):
Can't wait.
I love Cricket's vibe in thisbook.
I love the way she talks toherself.
She also talks to herself a lotbecause baby girl ain't got no
friends, let's be real besidesactual Cricket.
Who I don't even know if we'llever see cricket again.
Anyway, that's giving too muchaway.
But yeah, I

Jordan (04:02):
don't look at Christina because I don't know the answer
either.

Devonnie (04:05):
Oh, right.
Okay.
Christina knows the answer tothat.
Christina.
No.
Yeah.
Hide your face please.
But I can't wait to read moreabout her because she's so
funny.
Like her inner workings, the wayshe works through things in her
head and talks to herself.
And we all, well, at least I do.
I know a lot of people don't,but I have that like inner
monologue.
And so hearing someone else's.

Jordan (04:24):
sounds like kind of boring and lonely if you don't.

Devonnie (04:27):
If you don't, right?
But some people don't have that.
Some people just silence abeach.
Nothing.
Yeah, I love you.

Christina (04:34):
Okay, I'm gonna do something a little different
today.
It is not a quote, it has aquote, but it's kind of like a
rave rant.
I dunno how to explain it.
It's a rave.
It's exciting.

Jordan (04:46):
It's

Christina (04:46):
It is also from A Dead of Shattered Hope by N.
Caceras.

Jordan (04:50):
Wait, this doesn't give anything away, right?

Christina (04:52):
It does not.
It is something very early on inthe book.
The main character, she has aset of rules she lives by, and
this is the quote.
It's very quick.
Rule number 21, just survive.
And I wanted to share this fortwo reasons.
One, because we're gonna beinterviewing the author and I
wanted to sing her praises.
I loved this book.
But two, I think with the stateof the world right now, We just

(05:14):
need to survive our daily life.
Sometimes it's 8 p.
m.
and you're going to get your kidnuggets from a brown paper bag.
But you just, that's okay.
Sometimes you need a 30 minuteshower and get in your jammies
at 2 PM and that's okay.
Sometimes you need to go get alittle treat from a coffee shop
and not feel guilty about it.
I was thinking like, we need tojust survive.
We get through this day, thishour, this 10 minutes, just like

(05:38):
the main character, like whocares what's happening in three
weeks, like just get throughtoday and just survive.
And I loved that was short, butI loved the epitome of it.
Everything's hard and everyone'sgoing through it.
But if we can get through it.
Ben, it's gonna be okay.
We just survive.
That's what I loved.

Devonnie (05:55):
No, I'm actually about to cry because what the hell,
Christina?

Christina (06:00):
sorry.

Jordan (06:01):
you know, I was actually going to talk about this later
in the episode and I will touchon it later about this is why I
think so many of us loveromanticy and fantasy in general
is because you really, and wetalked about this with Penn Cole
in her episode, is you reallyget to reflect on real life in a
safe space, in a world you can'tgo to, you can't do it only in

(06:22):
your imagination.
And so it's a safe place toprocess that.
But.

Christina (06:27):
I

Jordan (06:27):
Wow, Christina, thank you

Devonnie (06:30):
and what was that rule number 21?

Christina (06:32):
Just

Devonnie (06:33):
Imagine you get a tattoo, rule number 21, and then
everyone wants to ask you, whatrule?
How good is that?
Just survive.
NEMMIE! Look what you've done,NEMMIE!

Christina (06:45):
I

Devonnie (06:45):
I'm so happy you loved it.
I can't wait till we have totalk.
I'm not going to, we have tosave that for the episode, so I
don't want to talk about it toomuch.
But also I have to finish it.
But I'm, you don't understand, Iam screaming on the inside that
you loved it.
Screaming! And now I am begging

Christina (06:59):
Also,

Devonnie (07:00):
to read Obsidian

Christina (07:01):
I needed to have a thesaurus when I was reading the
book.
There were so many words, I'mlike, what does this mean?
I have to figure this out,because

Jordan (07:06):
why you read it on your Kindle so you can highlight it
and it looks it

Devonnie (07:09):
And then look it up.

Christina (07:10):
nice.

Devonnie (07:11):
Yeah.
And also I love the glossarythat she put at the front of
that.
But anyway,

Christina (07:15):
me

Jordan (07:16):
Oh

Devonnie (07:17):
the, her cult, the way she dives into like cultures and
does the research in her booksis

Jordan (07:21):
You surprise.
You thought you were gettingromance romantic part two.
You're really getting us justtalking about a dead of
shattered hope

Devonnie (07:28):
You're right.
JK.

Christina (07:29):
It doesn't even come out.
It's not even out yet.

Devonnie (07:33):
I know that's crazy.
These

Jordan (07:34):
Not even when this comes out either.

Devonnie (07:35):
about?
I know that's wild.
But now how excited are you togo listen or read it?
You know, we're just sayingwe're amping it up.
Okay, so I have a quote and it'sfrom the songbird and the heart
of stone by carissa broadbent.
It is Book three or four in thecrowns of niaxia series
depending on how you look at itthis world Technically, there's

(07:56):
the duology and then this is thenext duology, but there are some
novellas in between so Do withthat what you will, but I
decided to pick something alittle more romantic in lieu of
Valentine's day being rightaround the corner and our
galentine's day event.
I'm going to pick something

Jordan (08:14):
so put out.
You look so put out by thisthought

Devonnie (08:17):
I

Jordan (08:17):
we don't talk about romance every day.

Devonnie (08:20):
I know.
And I don't love a good MMCquote.
Yeah.
Right.
I know.
Okay.
No, I really do love it.
All right.
This is the.
MMC Asar talking to the FMCMisha.
I'll tell you what you'll haveif you lose the sun, Misha.
You'll have a soul gentler thanany vampires I've ever known.
You'll have an incredible magicand skill to wield it better

(08:41):
than the bastard who gave it toyou.
You'll have a soft heart and asharp wit and the wisdom to know
when to use one or the other.
You'll have countless inanequestions and horrible taste in
food and a penchant for makinglost souls love you.
I couldn't breathe.
I couldn't speak.
He leans closer until hisforehead touched mine.
And if you'll take it, Misha,Ilie, you will have me too.

Christina (09:04):
Aww.

Devonnie (09:05):
I'm gonna ruin your mood right now by sharing his
other another line from thissame MMC to this FMC.
And his nickname for her is DonDrinker.
That's her religious Label ifyou will

Jordan (09:18):
Cricket is a

Devonnie (09:19):
he goes to her right?
Oh,

Jordan (09:22):
me.

Devonnie (09:23):
I don't what?
Okay.
All right.
Let me focus.
Let me focus.

Jordan (09:29):
It's an inside joke.

Devonnie (09:31):
Oh, yeah, I got inside jokes now because I haven't
gotten up to that part.
Anyway This is what Asar says toMisha as well.
Let me defile you dawn drinker.
He murmured, please

Jordan (09:44):
don't know why you think that ruins it as Enhances it

Devonnie (09:49):
It, yeah.
Ruin was the wrong word.
Yes.
It's giving, he can do both.

Jordan (09:53):
he can

Devonnie (09:54):
Yes.
Ruin was the wrong word.

Christina (09:56):
her, and ruin her.

Devonnie (09:58):
yes.
Yes.

Christina (10:01):
Woo her, then ruin her.
That's what we

Devonnie (10:03):
All right.
And that's exactly what,actually, you know, the cute
quote came after the ruining andthe defiling.
So

Jordan (10:09):
drinker.
Okay.

Devonnie (10:10):
yeah, exactly.
Okay.
So yeah, that's my, those are myquotes anyway.
Romantici part two.
Are we excited?

Jordan (10:16):
15 minutes in.
Let's finally get to these recs

Devonnie (10:18):
right.
I know.
I know.
That's what you guys are waitingfor.
Who wants to share their recsfirst?

Jordan (10:25):
Hi, it's me.
It's Jordan.

Devonnie (10:28):
Hey God, are you there?
It's me, Margaret.

Jordan (10:31):
you can just call me Jordan.
You don't have to call me God.
That's fine.

Devonnie (10:35):
I love that, because you

Christina (10:36):
line.

Devonnie (10:37):
Yeah, but she was actually supposed to be Margaret
in that saying, but she saidskip the Margaret.
I love that, yeah.

Jordan (10:44):
A new favorite.
I think about it every once in awhile, I'll just be sitting
there I'm wondering what thesecharacters are up to.
North is the night by EmilyRath.
I got an advanced listener copyof this through neck alley.
And then I got to go listen toEmily talk at a panel, not a

(11:04):
panel.
It was just her little, a meetand greet at Barnes Noble
Northgate in Seattle.
I learned so much, and it'samazing.
So here it is! This is a dark,Finnish folklore inspired
fantasy about two women whoattempt to defy the gods and
mortals alike.

(11:24):
Ciri and Aina's village, likeothers in their country, Are
being overrun by zealousChristian priests who pressure
the young to denounce the oldways So their entire way of life
and their gods are in dangerWhen Ina is taken to the
underworld called Tuonela by adeath goddess Ciri will stop at

(11:45):
nothing to find the ancientshaman of legend For only he has
successfully traveled to Tuonelaand returned.
They must battle both the livingand the dead to get back to each
other.
They find unexpected love alongthe way, but never let go of the
love they hold for each other.

Christina (12:05):
Aww.

Jordan (12:06):
They are best friends.
Their entire life, they are bestfriends, but their love runs
deep.
They just kind of They've neverhad a romantic relationship, but
they are each other's person.

Christina (12:21):
Soulmates.

Jordan (12:22):
are soulmates.
Absolutely.
And it's so unique in thataspect because it's basically,
you're reading two storieshappening simultaneously.
Right?
They're both fighting to getback to each other.
But along the way, they bothfind new loves.

(12:46):
In different ways.
They find new relationships andnot all romantic.
And they just both grow intothemselves.
But the thread through that isstill, they hold on to that love
they have for their person.
And they don't forget about thatperson.
And in that way, it is such aunique story.

(13:09):
Finnish folklore.
Emily did an amazing job withthis.
She is Finnish.
She learned a lot of thisfirsthand from her grandmother.
She learned, and then throughthat, she did a lot more in
research on her own and throughlistening to her, I learned a
lot about it, how most Finnishfolklore wasn't even written
down until just over a hundredyears ago, because it was.

(13:34):
Because Christianity is a bitch,and in history, and so it was so
interesting to hear and to hearthe Finnish version of the
underworld, Tuulenella, and thedifferent gods and things they
have that like that.
It's really interesting how itmirrors the Greek and Roman

(13:56):
pantheon, but it was.
developed completely separately,so it is very unique in a lot of
ways, but you also feel thissometimes you're like, oh, that
feels familiar, but not enoughto where you go.
I've already read this story.

Christina (14:14):
That's awesome.

Jordan (14:15):
I, it's just so good.
And I just loved therelationship.
At first, I was like, Oh, theyneed to only be about each
other.
But I'm like, no, they don't.
That's not natural for what'shappening in the story and it's
beautiful and it's a duology.
So the next one is actuallygoing to follow a different

(14:36):
couple.
They are still going to beimportant characters in it
though, but it's going to happen20 years in the future.

Christina (14:44):
Okay.

Jordan (14:44):
we're going to get to see where they are in 20 years
and I'm so excited.

Devonnie (14:48):
Yeah, that's actually really cool.
I love that time jump.
Yeah,

Jordan (14:53):
the big bad in the background of this one is the
Christian church

Christina (14:59):
That makes sense.

Jordan (15:00):
and the colonizers.
But, it's really gonna be theforefront, at the end they set
it up to where that's the bigbad in the second one, and I am
so excited! Well, and Emilytaught, when she talked about
how she was raised in thechurch, and so a lot of writing
things like this is verytherapeutic for her, and things

(15:22):
like that, and same with readingit.

Devonnie (15:26):
that.
Side note, sorry, this is not awreck, but maybe I should have
thought of it, but you remindedme of it.
Karina Halle also has a seriesthat It focuses on Finnish
mythology and folklore.
It's her Underworld God series.
I don't think I've everrecommended it on the pod, which
is crazy because it's one of myfavorite series.
But Tuonela is also a thing.

(15:46):
The descent into the underworldis a thing, which I really

Jordan (15:51):
the boat.

Devonnie (15:52):
the boat, yup, the coins, like the, all of that
stuff is a part of it.
So I guess that's kind of awreck too.
If you guys want to check out ifyou like what Jordan is saying,
Karina Hallie Always, also has aseries.
Underworld Gods, look it up.

Christina (16:07):
I love mythology, so that's amazing.

Devonnie (16:09):
Me too me too.
I'll eat that up.
I don't care whose mythology itis, honestly.
I'm here for everybody's myths.
I'm here for everybody's

Jordan (16:15):
give me a pantheon.
I love a

Devonnie (16:17):
get, I love me a good Pantheon.
Christina, I know you might havesomething, but Jordan's just
setting me up really good.
I have a rec that involvesPantheon of Twelve, I think.
I did, the quote that I did

Christina (16:33):
Take it away.

Devonnie (16:34):
this series.
Thank you, because I feel likethat was just a beautiful
assist.
My actual rec, not the KarinaHalle books, but also look that
up.
The Songbird and the Heart ofStone by Krista Brogben, which
my quote was from earlier.
This follows Misha and Asar, andit is basically like your
favorite, Niche a court ofsomething and something The

(16:58):
something and the something anyof the books that have fey and
magic and all that and thatwhole system and there are
different territories it followsthat same model, but also add
dante's inferno Like it's verymuch about the descent into hell
about the different layers,right?
And I really love this becausethe first two books, the duet,

(17:22):
the Niaxia duet or duology thatwas like very, I feel like very
fresh, very different.
It had like games, very hungergames ish kill to the death.
Somebody wins a prize, whatever.
But this was very specific.
Yeah.
And it is, it does.
The entire series involvesvampires, but this book.
It was particularly about thedescent into the underworld.

(17:44):
And so most of the book, that'swhat you're reading, because it
takes a while.
You're going through all theselayers, and you have to go
through these different sectums,like mind, body, psyche, soul,
breath, all these differentthings, and you meet these rapes
on the way.
But the story follows Misha,like I said, and basically she

(18:05):
was like a disciple, if youwill.
A god chose her, one of the godsfrom the pantheon chose her to
be his bride, his sun bride.
And basically she was nowwritten off from anyone else,
she could have no man touch her.
At 16 he consummates theirrelationship.
Yuck! Cause he chose her at 8.
Yuck, that's, it's, I wasscreaming grooming, I was

(18:30):
screaming, but she, right,

Jordan (18:33):
And that happens in real

Devonnie (18:34):
And that happens in real life.
And that's what I'm saying.
This book, I felt like it wasscreaming world.
Real world events at me.
It was written so well, but theway I was able to just look at
life while I was reading this Idon't know if I loved it or
hated it.
But like I was thinking likewow, this really happens.
She was innocent She neededhelp.
She asked the God to save herthe God chose her sister and her

(18:56):
were protected.
They were saved They were fed.
They were clothed.
So obviously what are you gonnado at 8 this God?
You're going to lean in.
Look, he saved me.
Then she becomes 16.
He's like, all right, right.
Like he's you're 16.
I'm going to make you my bride.
Everyone's going to respect you.
You guys will be safe.
You'll have everything you need.
He does the thing with her andnow nobody can touch her.
She has no idea.

(19:16):
It's not supposed to go likethat.
There should be love and youknow, something, it shouldn't
just be this icky.
Hundreds of year old God.
Anyway, Misha ends up becoming avampire, which is in direct
opposition of what her God is.
Her God is the sun God and thevampires are a legion.
Or a species that was created byNiaxia, who's not even a full

(19:37):
real God.
She was like a lesser God or alesser goddess.
And basically she gets turned bysomeone who is a part of one of
the oldest vampire families.
She kills him, which is like abig no.
And one of her punishments whenshe's captured for her evil,
she's about to be put to deathwhen she is saved by a SAR who

(19:57):
needs her for something.
And this something involves.
Going through the layers of theunderworld or getting to the
underworld or stuff like that.
And so it's

Jordan (20:06):
out by her god?

Devonnie (20:08):
Yes and no.
So like

Jordan (20:11):
Cast out, but no one else can touch her still,
probably?

Devonnie (20:13):
Yeah, no.
And the thing is the entire, Iwould say for the entire book up
until the end, I'm not trying toget too much away.
Misha still believes in her God.
Like she is still.
And she's older at this pointwhen we meet her, she's already
been a vampire for 50 years.
And I think she was turnedaround maybe 16 or 18.

(20:34):
So she's much older now, but sheis, she's ride or die for her
God.
She has his magic, which meansthat she can summon fire and
flame and sun, the powers of thesun.
But every time she uses it,because she's a vampire now,
every time she uses that power,it burns her skin and leaves
burns like wounds on her.
And she uses it anyway.

(20:56):
She's it's just a small price topay.
He's given me everything.
All these, and your heart breaksfor her.
Cause you, you agree with her.
You're like, I see, it'sheartbreaking.
But then you're also like, wakeup.
Like you wish you could shakeher.
And it takes this descent intothe underworld.
Right.
It takes this descent into theunderworld for her to like,
Start to see differently orrealize and even then she's

(21:17):
still not really grasping theidea that hey, babe This wasn't
okay until the very end So Ican't wait for book two because
honestly the way this book endsAsar is about to light this
world up I just know he's aboutto light this world up and I
don't know if that gives toomuch away But he's about to
light it up.
So I can't wait to see whathappens to book two definitely

(21:39):
suggests is like Very slow burnI will say as well So if you're
into a slow burn romanticy, thisis perfect for you.
They take their time and it'snot even pent up where they're
like going back and forth thatno, it's slow.
Like when they finally getthere, it is magic, but it's a
slow burn.
Not super heavy spice, verylight spice, lots of world

(22:00):
building, lots of folklore, lotsof

Jordan (22:03):
Mine is like that too.
Mine is very minimal.
Spice North is the night, butshe, Emily already promised book
two is gonna be heavy,

Devonnie (22:12):
it's going to be hot.
Yeah.

Christina (22:13):
Does this one take place right after the Crowns of
Niaxia series?

Devonnie (22:18):
Yes yes, kind of.
Did you read Crowns and Aixia,that one?
Yeah oh yeah, cause in thosebooks, you see Misha kill.
Her maker, right.
I don't know how much time haspassed.
I think it's very quick.
And so it does take place likeright after those events.
I don't, I think it's maybe acouple of weeks, maybe a couple

(22:40):
of weeks if I had to guess.
Yeah.
So it's it's, it leads rightinto it, but now you're focused
Great.
is on her and they still

Christina (22:48):
you should read the Crowns of Niaxia first for
someone to understand this or

Devonnie (22:53):
I feel like you should, I don't think you have
to, I don't think you have toread it, but I think you'll be
very confused about certainthings if you don't.

Jordan (23:02):
I read the first one of Crowns of Axia.
And I can't tell you hardlyanything that happened.
I finished it and I was like,that was a good book.
I don't even remember thecharacters

Devonnie (23:14):
Yeah.
Yeah.

Jordan (23:15):
like, that's how it was for me.
So I was like, I can't even readbook two because instantly it's
out of my brain.

Devonnie (23:22):
And

Jordan (23:22):
if I read that one, I would remember something.

Devonnie (23:25):
you should, I think you will.
Oh, actually, I don't knowbecause.

Christina (23:28):
she's the king's human daughter.
Do you

Jordan (23:30):
No, I remember that.
I remember the first chapter andthen being locked in the room.
And she shouldn't be, and then Iremember being in a forest, in a
cave, and that's

Devonnie (23:42):
Yeah.
Well, you remember quite a bitI'm not gonna lie to you
remember quite a bit because youjust reminded me of those two
books and I ate those books up Iloved

Jordan (23:51):
I didn't read the second one, that's just the first one.
I

Devonnie (23:54):
I know You should read the second one.
I will say

Jordan (23:58):
remember

Devonnie (23:59):
Oh, actually, I'm going to heavily request that
you read the first two beforestarting this, because I'm
thinking of the very end of thisbook and you have to read at
least book one

Jordan (24:11):
Oh, okay.
Okay.
Okay.

Devonnie (24:12):
to understand this first book.
So

Christina (24:15):
Good to know.

Devonnie (24:16):
I wish I could spoil it for y'all so bad, but I
won't.
It's really

Christina (24:19):
I will read it, so don't spoil it for me.

Devonnie (24:21):
Yeah.

Christina (24:21):
Okay, I also have a series that is mythology based.
It's A Fate Inked in Blood byDanielle L.
Jensen.

Jordan (24:28):
That's right.

Christina (24:30):
this one's like a Norwegian Viking mythology.
With a romanticy twist.
I think if you liked the showVikings, you'd really like this
book.
So

Jordan (24:38):
they can get it.
I'll mute

Christina (24:41):
Yes.

Devonnie (24:42):
I'm not gonna lie to you, I think I love me a viking
down.
Please don't take my black card.
Please.
But I do love me a viking.

Jordan (24:49):
that's the show that Peyton and I watched when we
came home from the hospital withwith our baby.
And we sat there in the middleof the night, just watching
Vikings.
Because you're up 24 hours a dayand that's what we watched all
night.

Devonnie (25:05):
I don't know, that show got me hot and bothered.
I don't know if I could

Christina (25:08):
I know, I thought you were gonna say that's the show
you watch to get your pregnant.

Devonnie (25:11):
That's exactly where I

Jordan (25:12):
don't have to watch

Devonnie (25:13):
I was about to say, yeah.
Okay, next.
I'm muting myself.
Did Jordyn just spit her

Christina (25:20):
This book follows Freya, who lives in a world
where gods and goddesses couldgive a drop of their blood to
humans to grant them powers.
But not everyone is born withthese and so the ones that are,
like, revered, held to a highestate from birth, but Freya has
kept her powers hidden.
She doesn't want anyone to knowabout it.
And she lives in this reallyunhappy marriage.

(25:40):
And she's only in it because shethought it was what her dad
wanted.
And honor his memory, she stayswith this complete jerk guy.
I don't want to say more thanthat, but he deserves a word
bigger than jerk.
So, anywho, he finds out thatshe has these powers.
He sees it, right?
And so then he decides to sellher to another man.
And the governor like guy of thearea named I don't know if I'm
going to say this right becauseI don't have a norwegian accent,

(26:00):
but Jarl.
Jarl.
Okay.

Jordan (26:03):
the Jarl.
a title.
It's not his name.
It's the Jarl

Christina (26:06):
Yeah, he's like the governor, right?

Jordan (26:08):
For all you Skyrim fans, we know it's the Jarl

Christina (26:11):
Okay.
Sorry, I didn't mean to beculturally inappropriate.
Idiot.

Jordan (26:18):
Sorry, I just spit my wine.

Christina (26:24):
On video, I

Devonnie (26:26):
crazy.
Please, I heard it.
I didn't see it, but I heard it.
Let me tell you something,Jordan.
I will come to your house andsmother you with a pillow if you
do not clip that and put that onsocial media somewhere.
I need that.
When he tells you, we'll

Jordan (26:40):
At least it didn't come out my nose.
That's

Devonnie (26:42):
Yeah, that's crazy.
Well, do you need to wipe stuffdown or

Jordan (26:45):
No, it made it, it's, we're good.
I swallowed most of it.
It was just like an almost.
It was like a, it was like ajust in case.

Devonnie (26:52):
I didn't see where it went.
Okay, I'm muting myself.

Christina (26:57):
Her husband sells her to the Jarl, who's like the
governor, okay?
And Jarl realizes, you know,she's got power, so he's gonna
take her on as his shieldmaiden.
Even though he's got a wife, he,this is like an honorary
position in his court, right?
He swears a blood oath with her.
She doesn't really have achoice.
But, while she is attached tothis guy, she finds herself

(27:19):
intrigued by his son, Bjorn.
Yeah.
Bjorn, who also has God's bloodblessing, right?
He's like the only

Devonnie (27:26):
love Mia Bjorn.
I'm

Christina (27:27):
her powers.
Yeah.

Devonnie (27:30):
Sorry, I just had to say I love Mia Bjorn.
Because that took me straight toVikings.
Bjorn! Yep, love him.

Christina (27:36):
Bjorn is trying to teach her how to use her powers
because he's got some cool godpowers.
And then there's a forbiddenromance starting between Freya
and Bjorn.
He swears to keep her safe.
She's feeling safe with him.
But can she escape his dad?
What do we find out?
Bjorn's pulling some shit behindthe scenes we don't know about.
He's got some other secretsgoing on.

(27:59):
Yeah, we can't I'm not sayingwhat it is, but poor Freyja.
She's being pulled every whichway, but everyone wants
something from her.
She just wants to do her ownthing.
No one cares about what Freyjawants.
Anywho Will their love last thisbetrayal?
We don't know.
You're gonna find out in thesequel.
It's A Curse Carved in Bloodbeing released in May.

(28:22):
Maybe we'll find out then.
I loved listening to this onAudible, I just wanted to say,
because the narrator was anative Norwegian speaker, so I
feel like that really brought meinto the story and I just wanted
to point that out.
If like me, you are somebodythat calls Cale Cole because you
read words differently, listento this audiobook, because I
just called him Jarl.

(28:43):
So listen to the audiobook

Jordan (28:45):
It is very good.
I listened to it on Libby.
I dfd it because all of a suddenI had arcs I needed to do.

Christina (28:50):
Yeah, bring up Bjorn.

Devonnie (28:52):
I think i've Let out all my bjorn angst.
I love me a bjorn, you know,just bjorn Yeah,

Christina (29:00):
Maybe she's

Devonnie (29:01):
you know

Christina (29:02):
it.

Jordan (29:04):
Maybe that's why we like, maybe that's why, we like
it so much, cause Baby Bjorn is

Devonnie (29:07):
baby Bjorn safe supportive.

Jordan (29:10):
quality.

Devonnie (29:12):
That's what I'm saying.
I've

Christina (29:13):
Lasts a long time.

Devonnie (29:14):
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah, that's why we like

Christina (29:18):
Well,

Jordan (29:19):
I need a hair tie.
I love this.
It's

Christina (29:21):
I think you would like this book.
And stay tuned for the sequel,Danielle Jensen.
She's a great author.
She writes another one, a seriesthat Jordan loves,

Jordan (29:28):
Bridge Kingdom, bitches! It's so fucking good.

Christina (29:31):
I've read some of them, but yes.
I did get interrupted by a deeronce, so

Jordan (29:37):
That's right.
That was that one.
Alright.
This

Christina (29:41):
Jordan, what you got for us, lady?

Jordan (29:43):
lends perfectly into this chaotic energy that we have
going.
is exactly the energy of thisnext book.
I cannot stress that enough.
This is called My Feral Romanceby Tessonia Odette.
It is book two in the Fae Flingsand Corset Strings series.

Christina (30:05):
Love that.

Jordan (30:06):
yeah, so good.
The first book in this serieswas fun.
This one sold me on the wholeworld.
I fell in love.
Okay.
They are all standalones,interconnected standalones.
You absolutely could read themin a different order.
It's still fun to read them inorder, but you know, do what you
will.

(30:27):
Okay is, in this world, there isa Seelie realm.
There are Seelie and Unseeliefae.

Christina (30:33):
One does.

Jordan (30:34):
yes, and then there's, and then there's a human realm,
of course.
This one follows a fae shifter.
Fae have a unseelie form.
Okay, their seelie form isusually like an animal or an
element, and their unseelielooks more humanoid, but it's

(30:57):
got like the traditional likepointy ears and things like
that.
So this one follows a Faeshifter named Daphne.
Daphne is in need of both amodel for her paintings, because
she just landed a deal to drawthe covers of her favorite
romance series.
So she's drawing

Christina (31:17):
Yay, Daphne.
Snaps for Daph.

Jordan (31:19):
Right?
It's so good.
And she also needs anattachment.
To this town so that she doesn'thave to go back to her home
village and live full time inher pine martin form She is a
pine martin shifter If you donot know what that is, please
look it up.
They're so fucking adorable, butthey are vicious carnivores

Christina (31:41):
Here

Devonnie (31:41):
What?
Yeah, me too because I don'tknow what the fuck a pine Martin
is, but I will know in aboutthree minutes.

Jordan (31:46):
It's european.
It's like a weasel fox thing andit's so stinking cute Please
hold dev and christina arelooking it up.
Okay

Devonnie (31:58):
Okay?

Christina (31:59):
a weasel! Oh,

Jordan (32:00):
like a weasel, but they are carnivores.
They are vicious.

Devonnie (32:04):
That's crazy.
They look so cute

Jordan (32:06):
So when she's in the Pine Martin form, she can talk,
right?
So in the first book in thisseries, we see her only in her
Pine Martin form, and she'sworking and she's part of
society, right?
It's it's just one of her forms.
But this one, she's trying toIngratiate herself into society
more, so she has donned herunseal y form.

(32:27):
Because of a deal that we learnabout later in the book, that
she will have to go back to herhometown.
If she does not have asignificant attachment where she
is now, in this life.
Enter MMC.
Monty needs to prove that he cansuccessfully play matchmaker so
that he can get his bookpublished, all while holding on

(32:47):
to a life altering secret.
He has been working for a columnas a Mrs.
Whatever giving relationshipadvice under like an old lady
name.

Christina (32:57):
I love that.

Jordan (32:59):
But he needs to prove to this publisher that he actually
knows what he's talking about.
And he, like this publisherwants to see a success, a
successful couple come from himbased on only his advice.
And Daphne needs to get married.
They have a history, not sexualhistory, but they have a working
history in the first book, okay?
He overhears her issues, so theystrike a bargain.

(33:23):
They make a fae bargain to helpeach other.
And drama ensues.
Monty is determined to findDaphne a husband.
This world is so fun.
It is so unique.
The way Tessonia Odette writesis hilarious.
It's also moving, and it keepsyou engaged the whole time.

(33:44):
So much fun.
And shenanigans are everywhere.
So Daphne, right, when she's inher Seelie form or un Seelie
form, Right, looking just like anormal Fae, what we think of as
Fae.
She still has these instincts ofa Pine Martin sometimes.
So she doesn't quite understandcertain societal things, and

(34:05):
it's just

Devonnie (34:05):
That's so funny.

Jordan (34:07):
Yeah, and of course, they each have their own baggage
that you learn about later, butit's just hilarious.

Christina (34:15):
what is he shifting to?

Jordan (34:17):
No you can't.

Christina (34:19):
oh man.
Guess I gotta read to

Devonnie (34:21):
why does that give it away?
Does that give stuff away?

Jordan (34:24):
Well, he doesn't necessarily shift so like
they're Parentage and hisbackground is his big secret.
His family life is the bigsecret that he's holding onto.
Oh, but he's, so I don't think Iever explicitly said this, but
he is the model that she needsfor her paintings.
Because she's having a hard timewith the male form with certain

(34:44):
aspects of it, and so he is

Devonnie (34:46):
the bargain.
Find me a husband.
I'll be your

Jordan (34:50):
needs that, and he's I need to get you married.
And you need a model.
So I'll model for you.
And they trade, he goes like onedate or like advice session for
one modeling session.
And of course there's a hotmodeling, like sexy scene in
front of a mirror.
And it's.

Christina (35:09):
my god.

Devonnie (35:10):
do, are they end game?
Are they, do they

Jordan (35:12):
Well, this is your FMC and MMC, so

Devonnie (35:16):
I was just, yeah, because I was like, he's finding
her husband, honey.
Where's the MMC

Jordan (35:20):
It says

Christina (35:21):
he's got a look in that mirror.
Romanticy

Devonnie (35:25):
I got it.

Jordan (35:26):
it's yeah.
They have a history of angst.

Devonnie (35:31):
Yeah, I love

Jordan (35:34):
Meh, it's not fake dating.
They didn't fake date.
She tries to date anyways.

Devonnie (35:40):
Yeah.

Jordan (35:41):
understand so And it's so funny because she does not
understand societal Norms, whenlike conversing, she just walks
up and is Hey you asked me outon a date six months ago and I
am ready to accept.
And he's

Christina (35:54):
I love that for her.

Jordan (35:55):
and he's it's been six months and she goes, I'm aware.
And I have thought about it andI am ready to accept because I
need a husband.
And so I thought we could go outon a date and he's I've I'm with
someone now.
That mean that's a no.

Devonnie (36:08):
Okay.

Jordan (36:09):
it's that's, this is like the first couple chapters.
So this is like her interactingwith society.
She's trying so

Devonnie (36:15):
a pie.
Martin what do you expect?

Christina (36:18):
She's just meant to be out there digging and

Jordan (36:20):
she doesn't want to.
She doesn't want to go back toher village.
What?

Devonnie (36:24):
Pan from his Dark Materials is that?

Jordan (36:27):
I didn't watch that.
Oh, wait,

Devonnie (36:29):
a Pine Martin?

Christina (36:31):
yes.
I, well I think he's a weaselcause he's white, right?
A little white weasel like aarctic weasel or

Devonnie (36:36):
Yeah.
I don't know they were, I sawthat picture on Google and I

Christina (36:40):
I love his dark materials.

Jordan (36:42):
So stinking cute.
It's but it's also hilarious.
I

Devonnie (36:47):
Is a comedy?

Jordan (36:48):
Yeah, definitely a rom com.
I listened to it and it's sogood.
The accents are amazing thatthey do and this the whole
production So highly and Ihighly recommend looking up to
Sonia Odette's whole catalog toobecause it's great.
Yeah.

Devonnie (37:06):
I love that.
Love that.
Okay.
My second rack is actually booktwo in a duology.
Actually, I don't know ifthere's going to be There should
be another book, so I won't sayit's a duology because I don't
know how many books are actuallygoing to be in it.
But it is The Night is Defyingby Chloe C.
Penaranda.
And I read the stars are dying,which is the first book.

(37:28):
I think that book came out twoor three years ago.
I really enjoyed it.
That first book was just sogood.
The world building is so uniqueand I love anything with like
gods and celestials and thisfocuses heavily on like
celestials and gods and stuff.
And then there's also a vampireelement, which are actually,
these are all my favorite.

(37:48):
If you would have thrown somefey in here, this would have
really been a, Wait a minute,there were Fae! This had
everybody I loved! Oh my god!Okay.

Jordan (37:58):
Lightbulb!

Devonnie (37:59):
what I love.
Yeah, lightbulb moment.
So book two follows Estrella andnight, and it's definitely a
star cross stars, star crosslovers kind of romance.
These two should not betogether.
They shouldn't be together.
Them two together literally endsworlds and Estrella.

(38:19):
In book one, you, when you meetEstrella, she pretty much has no
memories.
She has no memories of why she'shere, who she is, what she's
doing.
And what you learn is that shefell.
She was a celestial or a babyGod.
And she fell because she wantsto go chase this man and they
shouldn't be together.
But love is love.

(38:40):
Anyway, book 2 follows herjourney of recovering her
memories and understanding howshe got here in the first place.
There's a lot of secrets.
Her, she wasn't born.
She was created by dawn anddusk, the gods, dawn, god and
goddess dawn and dusk.
So she's like a baby god.
She's not necessarily, she's acelestial plus.

(39:01):
Celestial asterisk?
I don't know.
She's a little more than youraverage

Jordan (39:05):
She's like a primordial kind of a thing.

Devonnie (39:07):
yeah, kind of vibe.
She just wasn't born of a body.
And you're discovering like, herlife and how she got there as
she you have no secrets.
before she has them.
So you're literally unravelingher.
There's nothing like you're likehinted to before as you're
reading this, but it follows herjourney into remembering her

(39:27):
past, remembering who she is,getting her magic back,
understanding what her magic is.
And also what we're privy to isthat we're seeing the same
pattern, the same mistakes thatshe's making in present day,
because it does jump back andforth in time.
As to how she ended up with nomemories in the first place,
those things are replayingbecause Night is still our FMC,

(39:49):
I mean MMC.
She also has another MMC, but heis so trash.
Oh! Want to spoil too much, butI'm going to say that.
Anyway, yeah,

Jordan (39:59):
Oh

Christina (39:59):
get out of here with that.

Jordan (40:01):
Get out of here, Gale! Get

Devonnie (40:03):
Yeah!

Jordan (40:03):
Ha!

Devonnie (40:04):
He's, he was rough to tolerate.
And it's not, that might be aspoiler.
So I'm just going to, anyway,moving on her and night, like
they really do love each other.
And that's the frustrating partbecause you can see how much
they are not supposed to betogether.
These two people should stopfalling in love in every
lifetime.
And that's the problem.
They keep finding each other inevery lifetime.
Stop already die or just likeyou, you want them to have

(40:28):
peace.
I want peace for them so badly.
And do they choose struggle?
Is it by force that you muststruggle in love?
Oh my God.
But also they're so cutetogether.
And night is a shadow.
Daddy.
I mean,

Christina (40:41):
I just loved your like, flip there.
You're like, stop going neareach other.
But also, I love them together.

Devonnie (40:47):
they are because he's okay.
He's the type he knows she hasanother bonded.
He knows this, right?
He full well knows this.
That's what they call it.
Yeah.
He already knows that she hasanother bonded before we even
know that he knew this, but he,once we find out in the book, as
you're reading as a reader, He'sif you need to spend time with
him, go ahead and he hates itBut he's like willing to like

(41:11):
because he understands that themtwo together is literal
destruction So he's if you canfind something with him, then
finally we can both be free.
But can she?
No she cannot

Jordan (41:22):
I need a sticker,

Devonnie (41:23):
daddy nights

Jordan (41:24):
I need someone to draw you doing that for

Devonnie (41:28):
The hair behind, the hair that I don't have behind my
ear

Jordan (41:33):
I don't know.

Devonnie (41:34):
Yeah

Jordan (41:35):
it.
I need it so bad.
I am so sorry.
But that's just

Devonnie (41:39):
It's my favorite little sly look but the story
honestly is really cute if youdo the whole Romeo and Juliet
star crossed lovers kind of vibeWith God's face vampires.
There is a lot of like politicsin this.
There are different courtsKnight is like trying to hold
back his bloodthirsty vampiresfrom Starting a war against the

(42:00):
Celestials because they are likehating fit like they do not get
along So there's that element atplay then there are the gods who
you're like, hey Y'all want tohelp you y'all want to do
something?
Are y'all gonna do something?
And then they're just arelationships that she creates
That are just so beautiful andso pure but she loses everything
or she feels like she's losteverything And then she

(42:22):
continues to lose more So Iwould definitely suggest it do
not start book two without bookone because you will be utterly
confused This is not like astandalone situation read book
one so you can understand booktwo one thing I really love
about chloe's writing is justThe way she uses her words, I
don't know, everything feels somagical, feels so like ethereal,

(42:43):
and I listened, I read the bookon my Kindle, but I also
listened to the audiobooks, andeven when the narrators speak,
everything, there's this layerof I don't know, this like
Ephemeral being or somethinghappening in the background as
you're reading everything feelsjust so Celestial, I don't know
how to describe it But I reallylove that because I am in the

(43:04):
world when i'm reading it likei'm very focused on what's going
on I would say book two for mewas a little slower pace, even
though I felt like it shouldhave been Bang on with the
action.
Especially with secrets beinguncovered, but it was still a
really enjoyable time.
Definitely romanticy vibesbecause star crossed lovers and
whatnot.
So yeah, check it out.
And Chloe's writing is prettygood.
She also has another series thatis super popular.

(43:25):
I'm pretty sure it's why a thateveryone loves.
I have never read that series,but look her up if you're
interested in her writing.
If maybe this doesn't sound likeit's your tea, She has another
series for you, babe.
So yeah, that's my second rec.

Jordan (43:40):
Thank you.

Christina (43:42):
you were so into that.
I loved that.

Jordan (43:45):
I just wanted to sit back and listen to you for a
while.
Just

Devonnie (43:47):
don't know.

Jordan (43:48):
tuck that imaginary hair behind your headphones

Devonnie (43:51):
cuz it's cuz I forgot that Knight was a shadow daddy
And then when I remembered I waslike, whoa, does he ever shadow
daddy?

Jordan (43:57):
If you would like an

Devonnie (43:58):
might

Jordan (43:59):
of All Shadow Daddies,

Devonnie (44:01):
Please tell us.
Please

Jordan (44:02):
know.
We will do a

Devonnie (44:04):
so many.
Yes, I have some good shadowdaddies.

Christina (44:10):
That's what you're

Devonnie (44:10):
He might be the shadow granddaddy because he is right.
I said multiple lifetimes.
He's probably hella old.
This man is old He is definitely

Jordan (44:17):
Aren't all Shadow Daddies old?
Show me a 30 year old ShadowDaddy.
Oh! North! Never

Devonnie (44:24):
Oh No North is oh, no, he's a baby shadow daddy.
No because he's a baby

Jordan (44:33):
of the group, though.
He is the daddy.
He is the shadow daddy.

Devonnie (44:37):
but then put him in a room with Reese Luthor Knight
He's a

Jordan (44:42):
still look down his nose at them.
It doesn't matter.
That attitude.
He has the attitude of a 500year old Faye.

Devonnie (44:49):
He's not going to pick any lint off him.
He's just going to

Jordan (44:52):
Technically, he might be older because his soul has been
around, his bond has been aroundfor so long.

Devonnie (44:58):
You're

Jordan (44:59):
where the magic comes from.

Devonnie (45:01):
You're right.
Okay.
Alright.
North can hang with the big

Jordan (45:04):
fun.
This, I,

Devonnie (45:05):
He can hang with the big dogs.

Jordan (45:08):
He's

Devonnie (45:08):
So yeah, tell us if you want a shadow daddy.
Okay.

Jordan (45:13):
His Doberman! Come on, guys.
Sickos.

Christina (45:17):
Tentacles.

Jordan (45:21):
does with those shadows, though.
Sorry.
Christina,

Christina (45:24):
He has shadow tentacles.
Okay,

Jordan (45:25):
have another one?
Do you want to

Christina (45:26):
I do.
I have Quicksilver by CallieHart.
This is this was one of my fivestar reads in 2024.
I finished it right before Rightafter Christmas, right before
New Year's.
I read it in that stretch thatteachers get to relax.
So this book follows Ceres wholives in a world where there's,

(45:48):
it's like Star Wars y.
There's two suns, there's nowater, it's a desert.
Everyone is just burning up inthe heat.
It's Arizona in July.

Jordan (46:00):
live until they die.
Everyone's trying to

Devonnie (46:02):
She said it's Arizona in July.
you were not wrong.

Jordan (46:09):
It's, yeah, gross.

Christina (46:11):
Yes, it's giving all the run.

Jordan (46:13):
Would say, sick.

Christina (46:16):
exactly.
But Ceres is a little pickpocketgirly pup.
She's just trying to survive andkeep her little younger brother
alive, right?
As

Devonnie (46:25):
Right.
We celebrate women's rights andwrongs on this podcast.
Okay.

Christina (46:30):
Exactly.
But she pickpockets the wrongguy one day.
It's the Queen's guard.
She steals his little goldengauntlet, like he wouldn't
notice that's missing.
Maybe go for something smaller,but that's just me.
Like Anyw, who she erases, triesto run away from him.
They arrest her, yada.
She's taken up to the castle,she's hauled up there.
She gets to go.
Meet this undying queen who'sbeen ruling the world for a

(46:52):
thousand years or something.
That should have been your firstsign, but, you know,

Jordan (46:55):
wee oo.
Red flag.

Christina (46:57):
Right?
Exactly.
She goes to be, like, axemurdered for her crimes but
wouldn't you know it, there'sthis silver pool that just psh,
it explodes.
And out pops the main character,the

Jordan (47:12):
Dun, da dun, da dun.
That's how I imagined him

Christina (47:17):
her life.
He hauls her back to his world.
And he's a fae, and he's gotthis fae world.
And she wakes up, and she's WTF?
Where am I?
I need to go home, save mylittle brother.
But he's no girlie, you're stuckhere.
You can control Quicksilver.
That's a rare thing.
No one can do it anymore.
Yeah, we're keeping you hereuntil you figure this problem
out for us.

(47:38):
The whole thing is she's nowtrying to solve this magical
problem for the Fae, right?
Oh, by the way, his name isKingfisher.
I don't think I mentioned that.
It would be better to just callhim Fisher, okay, girly?
Forget the King thing.

Jordan (47:51):
I would have just called him King.

Devonnie (47:53):
hated the name Kingfisher in that entire book.

Jordan (47:56):
It did not faze me.

Devonnie (47:58):
I don't know why I have such

Jordan (48:00):
giving fantasy to me.
If I read fantasy, I don't wantto read about a Philip.
I want something like that.
I want

Devonnie (48:06):
Absolutely.
I love an Eowyn.
I love a Shadrick.
I love a I

Christina (48:14):
love a Bjorn,

Devonnie (48:16):
I love a Bjorn.
I

Christina (48:18):
but you don't love a Kingfisher.
Sorry.

Devonnie (48:20):
could not stand a Kingfisher.
I ate this book up.
Every time Kingfisher was set, Isaid, Okay, Fisher.
All right, Fisher.
Yeah, I rewrote it in my head,yeah.

Christina (48:31):
so any who, Fisher basically is like, you need to
help us solve this problem.
She really doesn't have achoice.
She's brought in front of theirking.
He basically forces her.
He's look, you literally can'tget home until you Open these
portals of Quicksilver anyways,so might as well stay here and
help us.
Then you can hitchhike it backon home, right?
So she's basically forced intothis servitude of labor of

(48:51):
solving their problems.
That is not her problem, but I'm

Devonnie (48:56):
during Black History Month is crazy.
Not slavery! She's first intoslavery!

Jordan (49:01):
She has a, she gets a familiar.
That's like the most excitedpart for me.

Christina (49:04):
Yes, definitely.

Devonnie (49:06):
Onyx.
Naming her Onyx.
What is it, a fox?
It's a fox, right?
A white fox that she names

Christina (49:11):
I love

Devonnie (49:12):
I love that.
I love that.
That whole imagery, too.

Christina (49:15):
I like how Kingfisher just kept trying to like, kick
him out of the cave and he justkept coming back.
He's fuck you.
I'm gonna stick

Jordan (49:20):
And he's gonna threatens to kill it, but he's really just
taking care of it for her.

Devonnie (49:26):
Yeah we caught on to that.
I know, sorry, spoilers, guys.

Christina (49:30):
Hey, oh wait, real quick Dev, you know how it's a
fox?
It probably has toe beans, Iwant you to know that.

Devonnie (49:38):
Why would you tell me that?

Christina (49:39):
Anywho, back to Quicksilver.

Jordan (49:41):
This episode's gonna suck for me.

Christina (49:43):
Ceres and Kingfisher start feeling

Devonnie (49:45):
many clips.

Christina (49:47):
magnetic force.
Get it?
Because it's metal.
They feel a magnetic forcepulling them together.

Devonnie (49:55):
Jail, Christina.
Jail.

Christina (49:57):
I loved the banter in this book.
Also, the most hilariouscharacter was a side character
and I literally loved him.
Karrion is his name and I lovedhim because just everything
about him.
He was perfect.
He was like Riddick.
I just loved him.
He was there for the comedicrelief and the good times and
the bad times.
There when you need him.
Supportive.

(50:18):
Love him.

Devonnie (50:18):
I agree.
I agree.
I do think it's funny that hisname is Carrion, though, because
isn't Carrion like,

Christina (50:26):
like dead meat.

Jordan (50:27):
Yeah, dead meat.
Absolutely.

Devonnie (50:29):
think

Jordan (50:29):
why I knew it had to do with something.
I was like, the whole time I'msending voice notes to

Christina (50:33):
Yeah, Jordan was like sending him over,

Jordan (50:35):
This has gotta be something! He's gotta be this!
This is my theory about Carrion.
I didn't care about any of therest of the story.
You can ask her.
I was like, Carrion is this,Carrion is that, Carrion is not
this, Carrion is And I was like,and then at one point I said, If
Carrion is just a normal fuckaround guy I'm done with this
series.

Devonnie (50:53):
He was funny.
Carrion was, yeah, definitelybrought the comedy the entire
time.

Christina (50:59):
Yeah, definitely.
And I wanted to say that I'musually really good at guessing
plot points, but even I did notsee the ending of this book
coming.
And I really think that wasperfect.
Cause some, so many times I'mlike guessing plots and I'm
like, oh, this is going tohappen.
And this came and I was like,oh, gasp.
And did not know it was coming.
And the sequel Brimstone will bereleased in November.

(51:22):
Look for that one.
I pre ordered that one.
It's got fancy sprayed edges,and I'm so excited.

Jordan (51:27):
As they all do now.

Devonnie (51:29):
Yeah, I know,

Christina (51:30):
But, I will keep buying them, okay?

Devonnie (51:33):
have

Christina (51:35):
go! Even if I never read them, those sprayed edges
are calling my name.
Yes.
I do not, because By the time Iread it, it had already been
pulled from American shelves fortraditional publishing.
So right now, you cannot buy itin America, the new one, until
August.

Jordan (51:53):
There's

Christina (51:54):
but you can buy it from the UK.
Yeah, you can buy the paperback.

Devonnie (51:57):
but not

Christina (51:58):
buy the hardcover that was the pretty one.
That's, you can buy it in the UKversion,

Jordan (52:03):
Christina is an elitist when it comes to buying books.
She only buys sprayed edges,special edition, hardback.

Devonnie (52:11):
You know you can buy it, Blackwells, I think that's a
site where it's like they shiphere and the shipping's that
crazy.

Christina (52:18):
Yeah, I wanted the Waterstones version.
It's all I asked for Christmasand I didn't get it.
Womp.
Anywho,

Devonnie (52:23):
check Blackwells, you might still get it cause they're
in the UK and they sometimeshave the same things as

Jordan (52:27):
Aren't you going to London though?
Isn't that wasn't that yourChristmas gift?
So you could just go toWaterstone yourself.

Devonnie (52:35):
Get it there.
Okay, well.
Alright, I've got another rec.
Well,

Jordan (52:40):
Oh, it's my

Devonnie (52:41):
it you or is it me?
I'm sorry.

Christina (52:43):
Wow, Dev,

Devonnie (52:45):
know.
I know My god, hold on not y'allganging up on me during black
history month

Christina (52:51):
Oh,

Jordan (52:51):
excuse

Devonnie (52:51):
Sorry, I rarely get to use this.
Okay, this is the month to useit.

Jordan (52:56):
rarely?
You can use it anytime you damnwell please.
Yes.
Listen.

Devonnie (53:00):
I love that supportive yeah.
Love that for us.
Okay.
This episode is unhinged.

Jordan (53:07):
So I recently got the honor of listening to this ALC,
A Cursed Son by Dei Leitou blewme away.
This ALC came through, I was allcaught up on all my arcs and
everything, and I was feelingpretty good because I had things
I needed to read for the pod,and I was like.

(53:30):
I'm not gonna get anythinganyways, and I went on an ARC
application spree, and this camethrough with four other books,
and I was like, what the fuck?
So this happened to be the firstone I listened to, and I am so
glad I did.
This is gonna be a top read ofthe entire year.
I am so excited.
A Cursed Son.

(53:51):
So good.
Five stars.
Astra's life has never beenhers.
Alone.
Like it's, it does not belong toher.
She has been raised in thepalace as a decoy princess.
So think like in Star Wars, ifyou're a Star Wars fan, think
like Padme's handmaidens, whereshe has them fill in for her,

(54:13):
okay?
She is trained to replace aprincess in any situation,
including a political marriage,if that comes up and is needed.
She believes it is a great honorand knows that she would have
been dead by now if she had notbeen plucked from the orphanage.
She has no time for love ordesires of her own.

(54:36):
Yet, her devotion to their humangod has connected her to her
kindred soul in her dreams.
Each night, she finds pure peaceand happiness in the arms of her
unknown kindred soul.
Yeah.
But, when her carriage isattacked, well, so she is in

(55:00):
disguise as the princess as sheis her entire life.
She doesn't even know hernatural hair color because they
dye it constantly.
So her carriage is attackedwhile on the road to another
realm.
And it's attacked by anothercourt's disgraced prince.
And her whole life comes intoquestion when she notices

(55:21):
something about him and thinksthat he is the man from her
dreams.
So in this world, there aredifferent fey courts.
And from what I understand, onlyone human court.
Fae have magic and cannot lie.
Different courts representdifferently.
Right?
So, some courts might be veryanimalistic.

(55:43):
Some from the sea will be likemerfolk fae.
Some will be elemental.
They all have differentcharacteristics, right?
So they all look very different.
Almost like creature like, someof them even.
And she's from the human realmand humans try to wield their
magic through, through magic,through artifacts, or if they

(56:06):
have mixed ancestry with Fae,they might have access to
certain types of magic becausedifferent courts have different
magic.
In her dreams, she's never quiteseen a whole face.
She sees differentcharacteristics of this person.
She's held by them.
They share things in this dream.
And she's been happy to have itonly in her dreams because she's

(56:27):
been raised in this palace, inthis role, she feels indebted,
right?
This is her greatest honor,because there also, she has a
secret about herself, of courseshe does, and so without being
there, she would be dead.

Devonnie (56:42):
Interesting.

Jordan (56:43):
She believes.
She, the whole carriagesituation gets resolved pretty
quickly, and so she goes back tothe castle.
But, because of certain thingsthat transpire between them, and
he believes about her and hismagic, what he finds out about
her, for one, he does not knowthat she is his kindred soul.
Only she knows this, because shedid the ritual to discover him

(57:06):
that linked them.
And so he has no clue what'sactually been happening.
He just knows that there is thisgreat solid presence in his
life.
And he doesn't know that's her.
He does not know that's her.

Christina (57:20):
So she's been dream stalking him.

Jordan (57:21):
Well, it's been mutual.
But he doesn't realize thatshe's the one who picked up the
phone.

Devonnie (57:27):
got it.
Got it.

Jordan (57:29):
that make sense?
Because there's so manydifferent kinds of magic in the
world.
There's mind magic, too.
So a part of him is is shetricking me?
Is this a big ploy?
But, because of the things hethinks she knows about him, he
goes to the palace.
And is give me your princess'shandmaiden.
Cause he didn't realize it was,he thought, he didn't think it
was the princess.

(57:49):
He thought it was herhandmaiden.
So he's give me this maid.
I will give you X, which wedon't find out about later, if
you give me her to marry.
So she is thrust and forced intothis marriage.
And goes with him.
So fucking good.
And this is like the mostquotable book I've read in so

(58:10):
long.
As long as I can remember.
I was listening to this, and Inever do this.
I paused it to type out thesequotes.
I was sending it to Dev andChristina.
Like these things that werehappening and the quotes.
It's so good.

Devonnie (58:22):
Know.
I want to read it.

Jordan (58:23):
like funny and hilarious, but also serious.
Like really good quotes.
One of my favorites is, are notyour trauma, you're the person
who overcame it.
And just, The way they processthings through this book.
10 out of 10.

Devonnie (58:39):
I love

Jordan (58:40):
The new one is out this month, so by the time this
episode comes out, the secondone will be out.
Cannot

Devonnie (58:44):
that.
Yeah I know.
I want to listen to it.

Christina (58:48):
is the Disney movie Princess Protection Program,

Devonnie (58:52):
I thought of that too.
I thought of that too when shesaid the because you know I'm
not a star.
I'm not a Star Wars girly, so Idon't get the handmaiden
reference But like immediately Ithought about it is the princess
protection program.
Like I know this I've watchedthis movie

Jordan (59:06):
I not remember that one?

Christina (59:07):
it was like, 10, 15 years ago, oh, gosh,

Devonnie (59:12):
I don't know.
I just know I've seen

Christina (59:13):
all the same

Devonnie (59:14):
It's probably Lindsay Lohan Hillary Duff, you know,
our heavy

Jordan (59:17):
what I was wondering.
I was like, I'm picturing Hilary

Christina (59:20):
it's neither of them, but it's, oh, Selena Gomez.

Jordan (59:23):
was just gonna say Selena if it's later! Damn it!
Ha! I didn't watch that.
That was too

Devonnie (59:28):
Yeah

Jordan (59:29):
I didn't

Devonnie (59:29):
That's too late in the

Christina (59:31):
And Demi Lovato.

Devonnie (59:33):
Damn it.
Classic pairing

Jordan (59:35):
I've got it.
Maybe I need to watch this.
Maybe I need to have a littlespecial gummy and eat

Devonnie (59:39):
Yeah, and just watch

Jordan (59:41):
so long.

Devonnie (59:43):
I know.
Okay.
Well, to be fair, I don't reallyhave any more recs.
I just have two honorablementions.
One, Bull Moon Rising by RubyDixon.
I'm including this in theromanticy part two, but it's
definitely sci fi paranormalelements.
There's magic, but I mean,there's romance and it's a
fantasy world.
So shoot me like that.
That's just how I'm going to.
Lay it out.

(01:00:04):
Okay.
I don't think it's actuallydescribed as a romanticy, but I
do love it.
It follows Aspeth and Hawk andAspeth is trying to join the
league of like scholarsessentially, but women are not
allowed to, you need achaperone.
You can't do this because you'rea woman.
Kind of vibe?
Boo.
Tomato

Christina (01:00:24):
tomato.
I

Devonnie (01:00:25):
Yeah, I said it three times.

Jordan (01:00:28):
Yes!

Devonnie (01:00:28):
So she finds herself a chaperone.
She marries Hawk.
Hawk, by the way, is a minotaur.
Yeah, I said that.

Christina (01:00:35):
That.
I

Devonnie (01:00:35):
Aspeth's a regular human and then Hawk's a
minotaur.
So they come together.
It's Not faked.
It is faked.
No, it's marriage of conveniencebecause they both go into it
understanding what they're doingand that they're each getting
something out of it becauseAspeth, the only reason she's
trying to get into this programof scholars is to recover
artifacts that could keep herfamily's estate afloat.

(01:00:59):
Very funny.
This woman is hilarious.
Like when Ruby writes things,I'm just like, why does your
brain think like this?
But her main character aspect isso hilarious and so ridiculous.
Like she's very posh, but alsosays the darndest things.
I don't know, like just as somethings that she comes up with is
so crazy.
And she's a virgin in this book,I'm pretty sure.
So there's kind of like a littlebit of lessons, which is not my

(01:01:21):
favorite trope, but it's.
done in a really nice, notobvious way, but Asbeth will be
just staring at Hawk wow, that'sbig.
Like just just free everythingfrom her mouth free, I guess.
Which I do yeah, I don't, how doyou match it?
Yeah, but she is, she's very,and I think it's because, oh,
Also, she grew up pretty much byherself, like her maid, servant,

(01:01:46):
is her best friend.
And she's grown up by herselfjust reading, talking to
herself, so she's just built up.
I'm just gonna say whatever Iwant, because no one really
checks me anyway.
Has a little bit of a what's theword I'm looking for?
Sometimes she can be, as alittle rich girl, and then when
she's put into situations wherethere are people with lesser,
she kind of has to realize, oh,whoa.

(01:02:06):
However, she does love her maid,her servant.
That is her best friend.
She doesn't treat her like amaid or servant.
She treats her like her bestfriend.
friend.
So there is some understandingand self awareness, but she does
have tendencies to feel a littlerich girlish.
I really liked it.
It's a quick read.
It's funny.
Listen to the audio book if youcan, because it's a duet, I'm
pretty sure.
So hearing the authors play offof each other is always my

(01:02:27):
favorite.
And then my other rec, whichtechnically I didn't finish
this.
I got to about 59%, but it'sheavenly bodies by Imani Iriu.
Hope I'm saying your namecorrectly, Imani.
This book was a big, thing forme, the indie version sat on my
Kindle for I would say two,three years, two years, three
years, maybe almost a whilebefore I even finished it.

(01:02:50):
And then I listened to the audiobook and the trad version.
A lot has changed.
There's a lot of differences,but we have another celestials,
gods kind of story.
I'm not gonna Talk too muchabout this one because again, I
haven't finished it, but it isin that same world I would put
it in the world of the night isdefying of books like that of

(01:03:11):
hellfire If you've read thatbook, so yeah, check that out if
you need some new recs I thinkresearch any of those books see
if they're your thing check outthe authors.
They have other books as well Soif you don't like those then
check out something else.
Those are my recs

Jordan (01:03:27):
Thanks.

Christina (01:03:29):
I have one more quick shout out.
It is a series I recommended inthe retellings episode.
The Plated Prisoner series byRaven Kennedy.
But I'm shouting it out nowagain because it's one of my
favorite romanticy series.
It's probably one of my topthree favorite series of all
time.
And the final book just came outa few months ago, I think, in
November.
So there's six books in theseries.

(01:03:49):
It's a King Midas retelling.
Follows Arryn and Slade the twomain characters.
And it's more than meets the eyein the first book, because you
have a kind of a, female maincharacter in the first book
who's woe is me, all these badthings have happened, and I
don't really care, I'm gonna sithere and drink my wine and just
be okay with the bad thingshappening around me,
unfortunately.

(01:04:10):
Yes she has to have her eyesopened and some bad things have,
some more bad things have tohappen to her before she's maybe
that's not okay.
And so then we go on this longEpic journey of her really
coming into herself.
It's like self discovery andSelf acceptance and breaking
away from others expectationsand just setting your own story

(01:04:31):
and setting your own path I willsay that lately I have seen so
much division online about thisseries as people that really
love it and there's people thatreally Don't like it.
They're like, I just see itafter book one and I think if
you go into it expectingromantasy from page one, that is
not what you're gonna get.
You are gonna get a story of aabuse victim who is still under

(01:04:53):
the thumb of her abuser in bookone.
And you do not get out of that.
You don't even necessarily getout of it until end of book two.
So you really have to stick withit, and As a domestic survivor
myself, that was really healingbecause I think a lot of people
are just like, Oh, you can justup and leave and it's fine and
you're fine in a day or two andthat's not realistic.

(01:05:13):
And so I feel like Raven Kennedytruly captured how it is to get
out of a relationship and stillfeel guilty for months
afterwards and still am I doingthe right thing?
And still figuring out life.
So I really love it for thatreason.
So I think you should read it.

Devonnie (01:05:28):
Yeah.

Jordan (01:05:30):
It was,

Devonnie (01:05:30):
I didn't, I also didn't realize that the whole
series did that.
Is it?

Jordan (01:05:34):
It's fantasy first, like it starts fantasy and you don't
get to the really nitty grittyof the romance until you get
into it.
Like you understand thecharacters, you're there with
the character, and then they gothrough their true romance.

Christina (01:05:47):
It's definitely not like book one, you are gonna be
seeing all these spicy scenesbetween the two main

Jordan (01:05:52):
Well the first book starts with an orgy.
The first chapter, first sceneof

Christina (01:05:58):
I know, I said between the two main characters.
Yeah, you

Jordan (01:06:01):
No, yeah.

Christina (01:06:01):
Does start with an orgy, so there is sex.

Devonnie (01:06:04):
Fun!

Christina (01:06:05):
Unfortunately, they're sex workers,

Devonnie (01:06:08):
Yeah.

Christina (01:06:09):
own

Jordan (01:06:09):
not unfortunately, that is a legitimate job.

Christina (01:06:12):
their own accord,

Devonnie (01:06:14):
Record.
Yeah.

Christina (01:06:15):
That's what I meant.
No.
More power to them.
But, no.
Not being

Devonnie (01:06:19):
I

Jordan (01:06:19):
called Saddles.

Devonnie (01:06:21):
How many Oh, that's crazy.
Nothing right in the saddles.
Anyway.

Jordan (01:06:25):
their

Devonnie (01:06:26):
I know, that's crazy.
But how many books did you sayis in this series, Christina?

Christina (01:06:31):
Six.
There is Gild, Glint, Gleam,Glow, Gold, and Goldfinch.

Devonnie (01:06:37):
okay, and then, I'll she added more.
And then all six books followthe same two characters.

Jordan (01:06:44):
Yes.
They add more

Devonnie (01:06:46):
yeah.
Yeah.

Jordan (01:06:47):
characters, but it's still the primary two.

Christina (01:06:49):
It's definitely a found family series.
You'll

Devonnie (01:06:52):
Oh, that's

Christina (01:06:52):
the found family is in that.

Jordan (01:06:54):
definitely.

Devonnie (01:06:55):
Yeah, I wasn't sure I don't know But I mean besides
when you talk about I don't knowmuch about the series.
So I wasn't sure if it was likea

Jordan (01:07:02):
I think you

Devonnie (01:07:02):
Stand alone thing.

Jordan (01:07:04):
I think

Devonnie (01:07:04):
Yeah, you know, I gotta add it TBR just growing.
That's what we're all here for

Jordan (01:07:08):
It's in hell, as you To say.
TBR is in hell.

Devonnie (01:07:11):
TBR is very much so in hell just riding on the flames
of hell.
So I love that for me Hopefully.
Otherwise, we'll never get itright.

Jordan (01:07:24):
No, it's,

Devonnie (01:07:25):
You'll watch my slow descent into the underworld to
retrieve my TBR.

Jordan (01:07:29):
Thank you everyone so much for sticking with us.
That is a lot, but we love ourromanticy, and we know most of
you do too, and that's why wecame with the part two.
Thank you! for listening to usramble about this.
If you're looking for moreRomance Wrecks, be sure to
follow us on Instagram andthreads.
We still have a TikTok forwhatever that's worth at this

(01:07:50):
point in this world, if it'seven still out at this point.
At Romance Recs Pod, you canfind our favorite book wrecks
from our episodes, as well asbehind the scenes content.
Make sure you follow us whereveryou listen to.
Again, that's at Romance WrecksPod.
So make sure to give us a followand we will be back in two weeks

(01:08:11):
with another episode.

Christina (01:08:13):
Thanks,

Devonnie (01:08:14):
Love that.
Thanks for listening.