November 3, 2023 • 61 mins
In which Hannah and Caroline attend Old School School, study Moonstruck Madness by Laurie McBain, and call a press meeting about how The Man sucks.
Reminders:
- Check out our Old School School Syllabus and read along with us! Tune in on November 17th for Lesson #15: Morning Glory by LaVyrle Spencer.
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Intro: (00:00)
✪ Lesson #14: Moonstruck Madness by Laurie McBain - (4:45)
Outro: (55:42)
Socials:
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(Disclaimer: Caroline works for Forever Publishing; all opinions are our own and not affiliated with any other party. Image by Freepik)
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Well, hello.
(00:01):
Well, hold on.
I thought you weren't going to say anything.
What if I just sat in silence?
You're like, we're trying to record a podcast.
I thought you looked up and looked down, and you're like eh.
And I was like yeah.
Ignored.
I did sign on, but I am only here to ignore you actually.
I was like honestly, it fits the vibes.
(00:26):
Does it?
I don't think that's my vibe.
Not your vibe.
Just the vibe of my week.
Oh.
I mean, I guess that's fair.
I guess.
I don't know anything about your week, so I assume you're not lying.
I'm a lying liar who lies.
No, I got my COVID booster on Monday, and then I thought it was fine, and then I died
(00:48):
a little bit yesterday.
So that wasn't fun.
And then today is just a Wednesday.
I mean, it wasn't like that bad.
But I mean, it could have been Friday, and it wasn't, so like.
That's so true.
It's really Wednesday's fault.
Coulda shoulda woulda.
Coulda, coulda, coulda, woulda.
Woulda comes first.
Woulda coulda shoulda.
(01:08):
Yeah.
You got it.
I got it.
I got there eventually.
It's Wednesday.
It is.
Wednesday.
It is.
My brain has just actually ceased, but I was messaging somebody at work, and I made a joke
about like, I was, the words that I intended to message were like, call a press conference,
(01:32):
jokingly.
But the words that I typed were call a press meeting, and then I sent it, and then I sat
there and I stared at that message for like minutes, because I was like, something about
this isn't right.
And so like several minutes later, I followed that up and was like, conference, press conference.
(01:55):
I need coffee so badly.
Like, it was bad.
It's fine.
I know words sometimes.
I didn't have coffee today either, so like, that's also part of the vibe.
That was never part of my vibe, if I can possibly avoid it.
I know.
It's unfortunate for me.
It is.
(02:16):
Well, I don't have much to think the masses on.
Well we just spoke so recently about Halloween.
Yeah, it was very recent.
And we bantered ourselves out.
We're all bantered out, guys.
Call a press meeting.
(02:39):
Call a press meeting.
We're all bantered out.
We have no updates, except I assume our next episode will be 1989 pairings.
Yes.
Yeah, that's the 10th.
I haven't started on, but you know what?
It'll be, it'll happen.
I, it's going, I like had some already and I've been like trying to work at it.
(03:04):
But it's just so many second chance romances, but like, not all of them fit.
It's very hard.
This is a hard, this is I think the hardest it's been.
We've only had two, but.
Well, I mean, I've done more album pairings, but those aren't, song pairings are harder
to me than just like the vibes of an album or the general themes.
(03:27):
Cause like 1989, I wouldn't like, I think red is more second chance to me than 1989
is, but there are so many songs, especially now with the vault tracks that you have to
use a second chance for cause they're like breakup songs.
Yeah.
See, like I just know, cause basically like the whole album was like Harry Styles and
I know that they like got back together like a few times.
(03:49):
And so like that's what I like, cause I was like deeply into that lore.
Like I spent hours researching it when I was younger, when I was a wee lad.
And so yeah, and it's not like particularly my favorite trope.
So I'm like having to comb through all the ones I've read and liked, but then it's like
(04:12):
those ones don't quite fit the vibe.
And then I'm like, what do I do?
And then there are some where I'm like, that's perfect, but that doesn't happen a lot.
So it'll happen.
We'll have to do it.
So it has to, says us.
We decided.
(04:32):
Yup.
We're like, well, I can't believe they, that nebulous, they are forcing us to take on this
task.
It's the man.
It is every time.
Speaking of the man, that's how we're bantering our way into this.
(04:55):
We're talking about Moonstruck Madness by Lori McBain.
Welcome to romance your TBR.
We are silly gooses who know very little, but have a lot of opinions.
And that's so true.
Yeah.
I stand by that.
That's it.
That's all the end of episode.
(05:18):
That's all I've got.
What was your segue?
What was your banter into it?
The man.
The man?
Just this man?
Because if not for that man, this would have been a fantastic book.
Oh yeah, no, the man sucked.
For me.
Yeah, I hated him.
I was so frustrated because the plot was so fun.
The plot was fun.
(05:39):
Yeah, I agree.
The romance gave me nothing.
I was like, but if we could have had it all, it started so strong.
I was even down with him being unlikable at the beginning.
I was kind of a dick at the beginning, but I was like, it'll be fine.
It wasn't.
Yeah, it wasn't fine.
I got to, so I was having a time, I guess.
(05:59):
It wasn't the best thing I'd ever read, but I wasn't hating it.
I got to 50% and I think I made an update in Goodreads.
I was like, I mean, it's fine.
It is what it is, but it's just not my cup of tea as it was.
He just, again, like you said, gave nothing.
Go king, give us nothing.
And then it was like 2% after that.
(06:20):
And I was like, oh, actually, no, I actively despise this.
Because he just got worse and worse.
And he just never got better.
No, he just...
And I just...
I have two hands and they could fit around his neck so nicely.
You know I'm normally much more forgiving than you.
(06:41):
I thought you would have liked it.
I don't mind an unlikable character.
Guys, this has turned the tide of my Wednesday.
Guys, you were preparing to fight me because you almost always have to fight me.
I was like, god damn.
I was thinking of...
Because it's a great Wednesday.
It's a Friday.
And I was like, meh.
(07:02):
I was like, surely there's something redeemable about this.
But actually...
The more you thought?
Yeah, the more I thought, the more mad I was because again, the premise was so fun.
I think if we had gotten them being kind of forced into marriage much sooner in the book
and then spent more time together and had them at odds for less of it and more of them
(07:27):
actually getting to know each other.
And also I needed to one, see him suffer because we kind of alluded to the fact that he was
suffering but we didn't see it.
And I was like, but I want to know what that suffering entailed.
And two, he needed to come to appreciate the error of his ways and grovel.
And he didn't.
And I was like, where was it?
(07:48):
The only thing I saw was his hair was like frazzled when he showed up and his hair was
frazzled.
Well, there was a mention that he was looking rough.
He was rough and they were like, oh, what a troubled man.
Or something.
And I was like, valid.
But see, the thing is, I would rather have hung out with him and watched him suffer.
So badly.
He could have like suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer.
(08:12):
Because I think I would have forgiven a lot if he had like really suffered and been like,
oh my God, like, I can't believe I did this.
And now I've come to love her and she'll never want me to get like if we really got to see
that agony and him like trying to get her back.
I think I would have forgiven him.
Yeah, the thing that really for me was just like, I really just cannot believe the audacity
(08:33):
of this man was when he was like, yeah, I fell in love with her when she didn't have
any memories of like any of her trauma or any of the past.
And like that's when I really loved her.
Like she was like good to me then.
And I'm like, but sir, you fell in love with her when she wasn't herself.
Like that's you didn't fall in love with who she is.
You fell in love with a woman who wasn't flagged by any memories of any of her life.
(08:55):
And I was like, he literally said that.
I was like, my dude, she is you are that is not her.
Yeah, even our sister was like, oh, she's reverted to like childlike innocence.
It didn't help that he kept calling her little one also.
And I was like, why are we all like, I know she's like 17, but why are we consistently
(09:17):
referring to this pregnant woman as a child?
You know, you know, we've read a lot of old school romances.
And you're like, yeah, she's 17.
She's she's not a child.
I just feel like if she's pregnant, we we need unless she's like actually a child.
And this is like an oh, no, this person has been assaulted type of situation.
(09:41):
If she's like pregnant of her own volition type of stuff, I'm like, we got to you, the
man who impregnated her have got to stop referring to her as a child.
Yeah, I know this was written in 1977.
Yeah.
The other dude was like 10 years older than her sister.
And he managed to have a mostly normal, not super infantilizing relationship with the
(10:03):
exception of a couple of times.
Yeah, I did find it funny that him and his army did slaughter her grandfather and she
kind of just like got over it.
And I'm like, I mean, good for you.
But also, that's a pretty big hurdle.
I also thought I also thought the soldier was this guy, like the hero, whatever his
(10:27):
name was, Lucien.
No, at the beginning, I thought that when they like she had they had like seen each
other and I was like, oh, so that's going to be the hero.
And then he like showed up with a scar like, oh, he must have just gotten scarred in battle.
And then when I realized it wasn't him, I was like, oh, well, that happened.
I was like, oh, that's not him.
(10:47):
No, I didn't.
Admittedly, I did not like what's his name, the soldier most of the time.
By the end, I was like, I was rooting more on I was rooting more for him and Mary than
anything really else in the book.
He just like I had vibes for the as soon as he started being like, obviously, I'm not
going to turn your sister in.
I'm just trying to stop her from being a highwayman.
(11:11):
I was like, OK, I can work with this.
It was it helped a little bit that I had just watched Practical Magic and their relationship
in Practical Magic kind of gave me those vibes because he was, you know, see, he was giving
me Colonel Brandon this whole time.
(11:31):
So that's unfortunate.
Why is that unfortunate?
You didn't like him.
But I like Colonel Brandon.
Well, I guess that's good.
He was helping.
It was the age gap.
It was the like, oh, my sweet summer child.
Your whole family needs me to just like take you under my manly, manly wings and solve
(11:52):
your problems.
And I was like, slay.
Yeah, I could have done without the like, you need to be spanked.
And also the man needs to come in and but to be fair, she was doing some very illegal
things.
Do I support the soldier guy?
Oh, I thought you were talking about him marrying to be spanked.
(12:12):
I was like, what?
No, no, no.
He said that to Sabrina.
Yeah, I was like doing all the illegal things.
Yeah.
Do I support her in those illegal things?
Yes.
Yes.
Do I think he had a point?
Perhaps also, yes.
I know I wanted the highwayman stuff to be like more at the forefront and to last longer
(12:33):
and to like be more of like a bit and like campier, I think.
Like, it could have just been a lot more fun.
I don't know, like it could have been like a woman in pants situation.
It could have been like, I don't know, she like accidentally kidnapped him or something.
Like I there just I liked that.
(12:55):
And I agree that if they would have gotten together earlier with less between them, because
it was really only in the last like page or two that he ever admitted like his feelings
to her.
And I was like, oh, yeah, it was like at the very, very end.
She was like, I know you probably hate me, but I want to be with you anyway.
And I was like, Sabrina.
I know.
(13:15):
And she had blamed herself.
She was pregnant and alone.
And she was like, oh, I kind of blame myself for all this.
I'm like, no, I think we need to not have that thought.
It's fine.
I mean, it's not, but it's fine.
I did.
I did really appreciate the very beginning.
I liked when we got to see her as the highwayman.
(13:37):
Yes.
I liked her showing up in the very beginning and just being like, he hello, gentlemen,
give me your stuff.
So I was like, yeah.
I'll admit I was also confused when she robbed the was it the com tests and the Marquis
(13:57):
Marquis.
And I was like, is that like Sabrina and Mary and like, cause I was like, what is happening?
So I did not put into the guy.
I was like, well, the guy has like violet eyes and I'm like, well, that means that there's
some connection.
I didn't even put two and do together that that would be her father.
And then I was like, oh, that could have been fun, but it wasn't because he was horrible
(14:19):
and he got paid off and he just got to leave after beating her or whipping her.
And I was like, don't support bad, bad man.
I was happy he was gone, but he just got money.
Very generous, a very generous amount.
(14:40):
And he just got to leave with his com tests, who is also kind of a twat.
I thought she was funny.
I liked her until she was like, yeah, I'm ready to blackmail her to get my money.
And I was like, well, you have now fallen several degrees from my heart.
(15:01):
So money, money, money must be funny in a rich man's world.
She needed.
She had to get that bread somehow.
I just think I was not happy.
It was more on happiness at the Markzwa's guy.
(15:23):
And then I fully forgot about him.
He left and I was like, and you have now exited my brain forever.
Well, I was just keeping tally of all the injustices happening throughout this book,
because I want to do that.
And for one, Lucien had just ruined her and wasn't going to do anything about it.
(15:44):
And then she got whipped because of that.
Obviously, he was like, I didn't know she would get whipped.
But he ruined her entire reputation for shits and giggles and then teetheed all the way
home.
And then she literally got whipped and was like, curled on the floor bleeding.
And then he like storms in as the savior and like, I didn't mean it.
(16:06):
And then pays off the Markzwa's right after that and strikes a deal with him.
And I'm like, well, to marry her.
Yeah, I think he could have blackmailed him if that guy needed money.
Like I think there could have been other things to happen.
But he needed a wife.
So that's all another thing.
But he was like, oh, yeah, I actually fell in love with her.
(16:27):
I'm not just marrying her to get my inheritance.
So I'm like, I trust that in no way, shape or form.
Well, that was after he had married her.
Yeah, no, I yeah, that's after.
But I still that whole inheritance thing was also annoying.
I was like, I he has not proved one bit that he loved her before that.
So I was like, I don't.
Well, I don't think he did.
He said he claimed he did, though.
(16:49):
I thought he said he came to love her after they had married.
It was something in gardens.
I don't know when they were laughing in gardens.
I mean, that could have been after they married.
But he said, I loved you when you first laughed in the Vacker something gardens.
I highlighted it because I was like, bitch, I don't believe you.
(17:10):
I just don't remember when they were.
I'm trying to think back to I know.
I don't remember the gardens at all.
I just assumed it was like at the beginning of the relationship because that's what always
happens.
Like, I've loved you forever.
Oh, wasn't it?
Was that where her father found them the first time and was like, pull your shit together
before you ruin your reputation?
And then later is when he actually ruined her reputation.
(17:34):
Yeah, let me see.
Yeah.
So they were in the gardens.
And then her father found him.
I don't even remember what that word is.
Vacker?
I don't know.
And that's not the word at all.
I have no idea.
But he said he loved her with like some gardens.
And I was like, well, you loved her when she had amnesia and she didn't know we work.
(17:57):
You the queen of amnesia.
Yeah, it works when he's not gaslighting her to that extent.
Like I get amnesia tropes are always like some form or another of gaslighting.
And I was trying to think I was like, why does it not work here?
And I was like, well, one, he's a dick.
And like, I just don't like him.
So like, I can put up a lot with amnesia if I like the hero didn't happen here.
(18:22):
Two, when he was like, I like most of the amnesia books I like, the hero doesn't fall
in love with her because she is like an innocent, like unplagued by years of trauma and like
having to survive and then realizes that she is actually very innocent and like lovely
(18:44):
to him.
Like that normally doesn't happen.
And I was like, well, and then he was like, yeah, we don't need to tell her because I
think she maybe just hate me.
And I was like, well, I mean, that's a normal thing of amnesia that happens.
But she was fully pregnant.
And he was like, I'm just going to say that she was happy.
(19:06):
We're gonna have this baby and it's all gonna be fun.
I was like, sir, you're so stupid, but not acute stupid.
You're just stupid.
And then she got her memory back.
And I was like, I knew she wasn't gonna rail at him as hard as she needed to.
And it was still a disappointment.
(19:26):
I mean, she she was kind of like, I'm going to fuck up your life and just spend all your
money.
I'm going to be so real with you.
If I found myself married to a Duke that I hadn't wanted to be married to, but oh, well,
now I'm having a baby with him and we're already here.
I feel like my best recourse also would be like, you know what?
Get every dressmaker you know.
(19:48):
Tell her I'm buying the most expensive things.
Get all those annoying ass ladies in this room right now.
We are going to spend so much of this man's money.
And hopefully you wouldn't blame yourself for the entire thing.
I don't remember her really blaming herself so much as just being like, I have a weird
I don't have a lot highlighted, but maybe I took a picture of it.
(20:10):
No, that was just from the amnesia part.
I know the same needs. It just felt very.
Iggy.
And maybe it makes me a hypocrite and I'll probably wear that, but I simply did not like
it.
It was not fun.
Also they bang so early in this.
(20:31):
I was like.
What?
So that was unexpected.
I didn't hate it.
I was just like, whoa.
He's fully been penetrated.
Not a good enough reason to use the word penetrate.
I have to say on a romance podcast, I feel like when is a good reason?
(20:58):
Almost never.
I feel that way about ejaculate.
He ejaculated into the conversation.
I love ejaculate as the way it actually is intended.
There are multiple definitions, but in the verbal sense, it makes me laugh every time.
(21:19):
So funny.
Oh yeah, and then Blanche just got straight up, I think her name was Blanche, murdered.
Yeah, I mean she was annoying.
Yeah, I didn't like her.
And then she was just dead.
And I was like, well, I don't like that on principle.
It was more so that I didn't really care that she herself Blanche was dead.
(21:41):
I was just like, say what now?
And then I did you get the vibe that the siblings were incestuous?
Yeah, I don't think they actually were.
I wrote down very few things, both of them related to the twins.
The first one is it's not an exact quote.
(22:03):
I was listening to the audiobook, but it was some quote along the lines of the Brett Percy
saying, try to plan a simple murder and you have busy bodies hanging all over you, like
complaining about all the people he was having to deal with while planning his murders.
And I was like, slay Percy, but don't actually because I would prefer that you didn't actually
(22:26):
successfully murder someone.
Well, he did.
He did slay.
And I was like, that's hilarious.
The other thing I wrote down was why are the twins giving Team Rocket energy?
Because similar to how I felt as a child watching Team Rocket on the Pokemon show shows, I also
(22:46):
was wondering if they were siblings or lovers.
They would be like, oh, my darling brother.
And I would be like, Team Rocket is blasting off.
Like why?
Why was it giving Jessie and James?
I will agree now that you say it.
That's all I could think of.
(23:09):
Did I love disfigurement as the punishment, implying that beauty is virtue and the lack
thereof indicates a lack of virtue?
No.
No.
And I also didn't like that that was the extent of their punishment.
Yeah.
Because they were straight up murderers.
(23:30):
And he was just depressed that she was ugly.
That was his thing.
That was his punishment.
Yeah.
They were like, oh, well, he takes pride in her beauty also.
And I was like, do I want to read more of their silly little, oh, my dear brother, when
are you going to kill him?
Teehee.
Yes, I do.
Because I think they're hilarious.
(23:50):
Did I also want them to be arrested?
Yes.
Yeah.
Yeah, I wanted them not to end the book alive.
But that's asking a lot, I guess.
But I mean, I guess.
That sure happens to murderers.
And I was just like, no one is getting the comeuppance they need.
(24:12):
It just happened over and over again.
I was just like, can't take any more of it.
And then there was a treasure hunt?
Not true.
That Scottish ghost guy.
Yeah, okay.
That Scottish ghost guy who honestly was just doing his best.
He was just deeply mentally unwell.
(24:33):
And then he gets murdered.
And then they're like, yeah, he's out of misery.
He's more at peace now.
And I'm like, well.
I mean, he was like living in a cave waiting for his ghost clan leader to come back to
life.
Also, he had killed people.
He had.
He's not perfect, but he was not incestuous.
(24:57):
Or had incestuous.
We don't know that the twins were incestuous.
I'm happy we didn't see anything on the page.
I'm so happy.
So thankful.
Because I didn't want to see that.
Sky O'Malley did a number on us.
Yeah, yeah, it did.
Good old incest.
(25:19):
They did have weird vibes.
The vibes were despicable.
I wanted to read more of them, though.
I can't say that for the hero.
I just thought they were so absurd.
Yeah.
I guess they gave the vibes that needed to happen in an over the top campy book.
(25:40):
It's true.
I needed everybody else to match their supervillain energy.
And she kind of did when she was the highwayman, and then that just fell off.
You know who did match their energy?
The little brother.
Yeah.
I loved him.
He said, bang bang, get out of my sister's bed.
(26:04):
I thought he was super cute with the glasses.
He needed them.
I was a little like, son, why are you telling this creepy man about this treasure?
And I was like, I know.
But I was just like, she's suspicious of him.
I'm like, why are you guys doing this?
But when your older trusted sister is like, oh, I know this guy.
(26:28):
He knew our grandfather.
We can trust him.
Why don't you ask him?
I don't know why she thought that they could trust him when she was getting the creepy
vibes from the start.
Because she knew him.
Because she was also not fully trusting him.
She was sleeping with him.
Yeah.
But I just don't think if I don't 100% trust someone, I'm not going to go up to them and
(26:50):
be like, I have this treasure map.
Let's go get this treasure together.
I mean, they needed to find the cave.
What else were they going to do?
Use the map.
They had.
They didn't know how to find it.
Well, then get better.
And they were like, well, this is a guy that we know and that knows the land.
He would be able to help.
(27:11):
I mean, I just did not enjoy this book past 50%.
So I truly found no joy in anything.
So there's that.
I don't know.
I stand by it.
I like the plot.
Did we need a treasure hunt?
Not particularly.
(27:31):
But I was like, all right.
Sure.
Let's head to Scotland.
Let's tie up some loose ends that I didn't remember were loose.
They were like, oh, yes, of course.
What grandfather said is he was dying.
And I was like, I had forgotten he said anything.
Yeah, I didn't even really know why we needed that whole plot of her being Scottish and
(27:55):
him die.
I didn't know what was going on.
No.
Yeah, more highwayman shenanigans were needed.
I liked her fellow highwayman henchmen guys when they like...
(28:16):
They were giving Nick and Nack, but if Nick and Nack were actually good.
Yeah.
I don't know what they were doing.
Didn't they try?
Was it them trying to stop the Duke or something?
And then they were like, oh, we didn't succeed.
We shouldn't tell her about that.
What was it?
Do you remember that?
Yeah.
What were they doing?
Because that was fun.
They were doing something.
(28:37):
It's while she was hiding in the marsh and they went to...
I think they were trying to threaten him to get him to leave.
They were like, yeah, we're bringing a message.
Oh, yeah.
We've got to get out of here.
And the Duke was like, I'm actually going to pummel you.
Yeah, they're like, oh, that didn't work.
Should we tell her?
(28:58):
No.
I don't think we should.
I was like, I probably wouldn't either.
Will it come back to haunt you?
Yeah.
It's because the Duke was like, you can tell her that she actually just made this worse
for herself.
And they were like, hmm.
Yes.
Yes.
We'll not be informing her of that.
We're going to keep that one just between us.
(29:22):
Just between us.
Relatable kings.
Fair.
Mame you too.
Yeah.
So I liked them.
They were people I liked.
And I liked Sabrina for a majority-ish of it.
Would I have preferred not to have been reading a book about her?
(29:46):
Yeah.
But I didn't like hate her.
Mary...
She was like, pretty OK until she was like, yeah, amnesia did her good.
I was like, well, Mary...
Look, she was doing her best.
She was like, well, before my sister was kind of crazy.
She was good-hearted.
(30:07):
She at least had intent to do that.
In her defense pre the amnesia, Sabrina was her own worst enemy.
She was causing problems that didn't need to be caused.
And Mary was like, what if you just chilled out for a second?
And Sabrina was like, no, I'm going to run away and hide in the woods.
(30:28):
And also risk death on a regular basis to get a bunch of money instead of just marrying
a guy that I've already banged once.
And Mary was like, I'm not loving this vibe.
Generally.
There would have been more highwayman shenanigans.
Yeah.
But every time she did highwayman shenanigans, she was putting her literal neck on the line.
So not great from your siblings POV, if you will.
(30:53):
I mean, true.
And then after the amnesia, she was happy.
And Mary's like, you know what?
Honestly, I get it.
Fair enough.
And that's all valid.
But she's still...
I mean, she was still like, this is not going to be good.
And it wasn't.
And she also had like random visions.
(31:14):
She was just clairvoyant.
That's so Mary.
Like what?
It's like, well, that's random.
I didn't think it was random.
I did not even question it, if I'm being honest.
I was just like, is there going to be any more paranormal element type stuff?
No.
She has the sight.
It's like that contemporary series with the one cousin that has the sight.
(31:37):
She never leaves her room.
The Rajes.
I don't think I've heard that.
The Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors.
Oh, no.
Oh, okay.
Well, there's one cousin in the family who has like a severe nerve condition type of
thing.
She basically just lives in her room and they try to be like very careful with her because
she has like seizures and things.
But also, she has visions of the future.
(32:01):
And other than that, it's just like a normal contemporary series, but she has visions.
And just kind of says ominous things a lot.
She's the chorus of a Greek play.
Pretty much.
I wish I could just say ominous things that came true.
(32:24):
That's my dream.
Just say weird shit and have people have to listen to me because it's going to come back
to haunt them.
I wonder how I can make that happen for myself.
Laurie McBain wrote Weird Shit and made me read it.
So just be an author.
It's not the same.
I want to say something that sounds weird, but then later you're like, oh, I get that.
(32:53):
Just walk up to someone say 3031 7512.
Do you?
Nope.
You lost me.
Percy Jackson coordinates the Bermuda Triangle.
3031 7512.
Percy Jackson.
Why would I know?
You not remember that?
No.
The gray sisters when they're in the taxi, they're like 3031 7512.
(33:19):
And it's the coordinates of the Bermuda Triangle and the Sea of Monsters.
I read the Percy Jackson series once.
It was a good five years ago.
I read them several times.
I do not remember one moment from one book where they say a series of numbers.
It's so visceral to me.
(33:39):
But I've read them several times.
And I had the audiobook, so their delivery lives with me too.
So if you ever end up in the Bermuda Triangle, you can go, oh, because you'll know the coordinates.
If I'm in the Bermuda Triangle, I don't think knowing my coordinates is going to be that
(34:03):
important to me.
Probably not, but maybe it would.
You don't know.
You're in the Bermuda Triangle.
Weird things happen.
Anyway, I don't know how to pull that back to the main thread of discussion.
I don't know.
I hate you just not.
Nope.
Not gonna.
Wasn't gonna try.
I just snipped that thread and left it there.
(34:30):
That's another thing the fates do.
That's also a Percy Jackson tie in.
Babe, I know I was referencing it.
Good.
I remember that.
Greek mythology.
I do know.
Greek mythology.
Yeah.
Not just.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's a shame.
Why?
Because real ones learned Greek mythology from Percy Jackson.
(34:51):
No, real ones learned Greek mythology from that very large yellow book.
Well, I also had that book.
It was very large.
I think I have it somewhere, but it was too large to store here.
Real ones have to keep talking about this book, which doesn't entice me.
I don't really have anything else to say.
Read a lesson.
Parts of it were silly, goofy time.
(35:12):
The plot was fun.
The romance was not.
What's your lesson?
Yeah.
I incest is the real villain.
That's all I got.
It wasn't even incest.
I don't know.
I don't have a lesson.
Okay, great.
Because I do.
There are two rules that I think are important.
The first one is from Rizzo the Rat, just in life, not in this book.
(35:32):
The first rule of my life that I think is important to follow.
The first one is from Rizzo from the Muppets Christmas Carol.
He says, Mother always told me never eat singing food.
I found that that holds up.
Words to live by.
The second one I think does apply to this book here.
What?
I'm just giving you life lessons.
(35:52):
Number one, never eat singing food.
It's just an important thing to keep in mind in your life.
Number two, what are you confused about?
This is a critical life lesson that I'm delivering.
Were you just watching the Muppets?
No, I was just thinking about like what are important life lessons that I strive to live
by.
One, I got from Rizzo from the Muppets, never eat singing food.
(36:14):
Two, I think applies to this book.
And that is never trust strange men claiming betrothals after your trauma induced amnesia.
Yeah, that tracks.
They're always lying.
If I had a nickel for every time I read a romance novel with a heroine who woke up from
trauma induced amnesia and a man she didn't know was claiming they were engaged only for
(36:36):
her to wake up from said amnesia to find her, you know, getting her memory to find herself
married to a guy she didn't want to be married to.
I'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.
That's Sky on the alley.
No, that happened in two.
No, that happened in Sky on Mallee.
Well, which one was where the one had amnesia?
(36:57):
Midsummer Moon by Laura Kinzale.
Oh, well, there was one that we read in this journey of ours that had amnesia.
And I think that was Sky on Mallee, right?
When she like had amnesia and went to the.
Well, she does, but he doesn't take advantage of the amnesia.
I mean, he does, but it's not like it was that you don't remember me.
I blacked out most of that book.
No, it's just that she woke up on the island and didn't know who she was.
(37:19):
And he was like, well, here you are.
And then eventually they got married.
Midsummer Moon.
He's been trying to get her to marry him the whole book for romance reasons, and she won't.
And then she suffers a head wound and then she wakes up with amnesia.
And he's like, oh, that's so crazy because we were engaged and we were supposed to get
(37:40):
married.
And she's like, well, I mean, I guess if we were going to get married, we should get married.
And then if I'm remembering correctly, they do get married.
And I think the day of at her wedding reception, her memory returns and she's like, and then
she just goes along with it.
Right.
I think you've told.
I thought you was very mad at him.
But does she still get married?
She's already married.
Are they already married?
Oh, I think that's what I was thinking.
(38:02):
I don't know.
I remember you were calling him correctly, but I really do feel like it was after the
wedding.
She was like, what?
Why would you do this?
Yeah, it was fun for me.
It was good, but sometimes it's not.
Oh, no, that was a great time for me personally.
Yeah.
Was it a problem for him?
(38:24):
Yes.
Did I devour it?
Yes, I did.
Unlike this one.
I don't know.
It was only like three hundred and sixty six pages, but it felt like it took.
Really?
The audio book was like 13 hours.
I know.
But on the or the Kindle book said it was three hundred and sixty six.
So I was like listening to like the audible Kindle because it was like in KU and that
(38:45):
they you can like listen for free in KU.
I just thank the Lord.
Because I definitely just paid for the audible book.
I would return it.
I wonder if I can.
I already listened to the whole thing.
I think you can.
Anyway, these are on Lala's Times.
But yeah, I'm happy I discovered it because I was like, where is this audio book?
(39:11):
And then I was like, oh, it's in KU, the e-book.
I was like, OK, I'll just go read it there.
And then it was like, reader listen for free.
And I was like, oh, I will.
So that happened.
And it was a good audio book.
I enjoyed the narrator.
She was good.
I didn't have anything to say about that.
So that was nice.
I did finish it on three point five speed, though, which was insane because I just started
(39:35):
reading it today because I didn't have time and or I was sick yesterday.
So I couldn't focus on anything.
And how do you get to the thing where you can listen to it?
It just doesn't write in Kindle.
Oh, well, no, I had to like go to the cover page and then I had to like tap on things.
If you go, I mean, I figured it out.
(39:57):
Yeah, I know.
I think to see if it's like available before you like get the book.
Well, normally, like if you look at if you look up a book in Kindle in the Kindle app
and click on it, it would say like read and listen for free.
But it's not doing it for me because I already have in my library.
But I do always check now since Audible does some of them are like Audible exclusive and
(40:24):
then some of them are with that feature.
So I try like every option before I have to pay for something because I tried Scribd.
I didn't have it.
Library didn't have it.
But it's not like an Audible original, I don't think.
No.
So I was kind of like, why?
Gosh, I can't find.
What are you looking for?
(40:44):
What?
I'm just trying to find some quotes from the book, but I simply cannot.
Do you know, I like tried to review it several times how the sister Kate got stabbed in the
face or like slashed in the face?
Like what happened?
Was it from the people bursting in the room?
Was it shot?
(41:05):
I thought it was the knife.
That makes more sense.
No, it was a bullet.
Gosh, I was like, what?
I think it, you know, they mentioned a bullet wound.
It said the bullet had sliced a muscle in her face.
So she was grimacing.
Because I was like, what the hell?
I was like, they burst into the room.
And then I knew she was holding the knife and I was like, I thought.
(41:25):
Okay, no, because it mentions like a sound.
Like there was a roar of thunder, which is how she usually describes gunshots.
And then everyone burst into the room.
And then there's like the, oh my god, blood dripping down her face.
And then it mentions the bullet had severed a muscle and it was like making her grimace
wildly or something.
Yeah.
Do I recommend paying for this audio book and our book?
(41:48):
No.
I mean, it wasn't like, I don't know if it's a first edition, but that old cover and I
do really like it.
Yeah, I got it in like a, it was like a set of three Laurie McBain.
But it wasn't, it's not the Dominic Trill or like series.
It's just three Laurie McBain books that were in a thrift store.
(42:10):
And I love those old school covers.
I think I also just had higher expectations because like most of the reviews on Good to
Read were like very positive.
And I was expecting something different than the book we got.
So that's what it was.
(42:30):
Yeah.
I mean, I would read other Laurie McBain.
I like the writing.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I agree there.
But yeah, I just did not care for the romance itself.
What a turd burglar he was.
Dislike.
(42:52):
Yeah, I feel like just more of like a cinnamon roll, like simp hero would have been fun who
just was kind of like okay with her doing crazy shit.
I mean, I don't, I disagree there.
I don't think she would have responded well to anybody that wasn't very or equally strong
(43:15):
willed.
But particularly because we're not supposed to like the Highwayman thing because she doesn't
like the Highwayman thing.
She resorted to it to pay her creditors and like feed her family.
It wasn't like for the joy of it.
She's trying to give it up.
Yeah.
Which I guess that also is just something I didn't like.
I just want to like the Highwayman stuff.
(43:35):
Yeah, but it like wasn't good.
It was like criminal activity.
No, this book is riddled with criminal activity.
Yeah, but and that was the most fun one.
It's bad.
But it was fun.
Yeah, it's fun for us.
Piracy isn't great, but it's so fun.
What's not great?
(43:55):
What?
Piracy.
Oh, like piracy is-
I thought you said Percy and I was like, well, Percy is a villain.
I forgot that was even his name.
Yeah, no, Percy's bad.
Percy, not good.
But I'm saying from the perspective of the characters, we're not supposed to be like
tee-hee, robbery-
Which I understand that.
(44:18):
I just wish it would have been written differently to where we could have been tee-hee.
Like when I hear like-
Okay, we're in Cat Sebastian.
That's what you're asking for.
Yeah, like I just when I heard the premise of like female Highwaymen, I got excited and
I guess it just did not deliver on that.
Which I guess isn't the fault of the book.
It's just a book that I didn't like.
(44:41):
But I mean, what kind of- I mean, I guess still like a dominating hero, but even then
I'm like, I don't know.
I guess he could have just not been bad.
I mean, I think this was the right hero for her.
I just wanted him to suffer and grovel more.
I needed him brought to his knees by the end of it.
(45:04):
And instead it was just like, and then it's fine.
I think it lost me too.
Like I think he lost me too soon.
He also slapped her.
We didn't even talk about that.
She slapped him.
But like, he was like, what the?
And I was like, not great.
After he'd already had her-
I mean, no, but at this point, we're talking about the Georgian era.
(45:27):
And I just have to assume the vibes are different.
And it also was like a- he had just gotten slapped.
Yeah.
Like it seemed like kind of a knee jerk.
You slapped the person who just slapped you and then he's like, oh shit, sorry.
That's not what I meant.
It was not the same to me as the slapping and unwilling bride.
(45:48):
That was like, he was mad at her and he just backhanded her.
This one I was like, is it good?
No.
Is he a Georgian era Duke?
Yes.
I just think she suffered enough.
She was whipped.
She was punched in the face by like other bad people.
I was like, girl, you're not a high woman anymore, but you're getting beat up.
(46:10):
When was she punched in the face?
When they-
You're asking so much of me.
You're saying things that I don't remember.
I believe you.
I just have no memory of it.
Yeah, no, she was-
Oh, are you talking about when the twins sent the three guys to go pretend to be the highwaymen?
(46:32):
I don't really remember anything happening to her.
I don't think it was that.
Geez.
I genuinely have no memory of whatever you're talking about.
I don't know a word I would search.
I don't know.
It happened, but I don't know.
(46:53):
I can't-
Like the only thing I can-
I mean, he stabs her very early on.
Yeah, I was fine with that.
Okay, so you're fine with her getting stabbed through the shoulder.
He didn't know that she was her.
That honestly could have led to some fun times, and it kind of did.
(47:15):
I was okay with that.
I was like, if anything like that, I can support that in this book.
What I don't remember was when the other shit happened.
Maybe-
The only time I can think that she ever has violence enacted upon her is when the dad
goes at her.
(47:37):
When he first traps her and doesn't know that she's her and stabs her.
And when the three hired guys take them down.
Because those were the- were they bad hired guys or were those the good ones?
(47:59):
Bad like bad at their job or bad like morally bad.
So was that different than the two or the ones like Will and what's his name, John attacking
Lucien?
So that's different?
No, it's when the twins hired those three guys to pretend to be Bonnie Charlie and kill
(48:20):
her and Lucien.
And then Will and what's his name come and save them.
Maybe that is it.
I don't- I mean, I don't remember a ton of details about that scene.
I don't remember there being a ton of violence other than like them knocking those guys out.
Yeah, so he heard Sabrina's cry as the man holding her twisted her arm behind her back
(48:43):
and struck her across the face several times.
So I can remember that.
But I can't remember like main names, large plot details, character arcs.
I can remember one sentence.
(49:04):
That's what it's like to be me.
I mean, they were like there to kill them.
So I don't know.
Yeah, I mean, they were.
But like, I just did not.
I don't like violence against the heroine like that.
So it always sticks in my mind.
And so that's why it's stuck there, but with no details surrounding it.
(49:26):
I mean, she was pretending to be a highwayman for a chunk of this book.
So I don't know how you thought you would get out of it with her unscathed.
It'd be different if she was like willingly like going in to like do things like when
she was stabbed.
I was fine with that.
To me, that was like different.
I mean, but these are bad guys who get.
(49:47):
But like, I just don't like it.
So that's why I remembered it.
It's just something I don't like.
So I was like, she suffered a lot.
And she was also kissed by that grody Duke and he he was never punched.
He did push him from his horse or something.
I was going to say she knocked him into like a thorn bush.
(50:11):
I was worried that was going to come up at the end.
It's going to be like the last like that.
Like somehow he'd find out that she was like kissing him.
I was like, please don't.
I've been scarred by like Whitney, my love.
And these books.
I'm like, don't.
I was surprised that he was just left to lie there and like be gone.
I was like, OK.
I was scared immediately after that, that he was going to blame her for that, too.
(50:35):
I was like, no, please don't.
But he didn't even know.
It's true.
Because she saw him with Lady Sarah, who literally had never been mentioned before.
And I was like, and was never mentioned again.
No, I was like, who are you?
I searched the name and I was like, who is this?
(50:57):
I'm like, why did she assume she was his mistress?
I'm like, was that like a what?
Like who was she?
She was just a scandalous lady.
Who you assume is the mistress because she sure was getting chummy with your husband.
I don't know.
I know.
I was like, who is she?
(51:19):
Because stuff like that makes me feel even crazier than I am.
So I'm like, oh, I don't remember that.
And the reason why I don't remember, she was never mentioned.
You can't remember something that was never remembered in the first place.
That's so true.
And I don't want to member any of this book.
(51:45):
Well, the beauty of that, though, is that since I did listen to it by the end at 3.5,
I will remember none of this.
Like, I'm so happy about that.
Because I started to and then I was able to work myself up.
And it really she the narrator was actually like she was very like she enunciated very
well.
I understand it.
But yeah, so that happened.
(52:07):
That whole book thing that we talked about.
So true.
So true.
Who are the other books about?
The next one is their daughter.
Oh, so it's one of those.
I don't know about the I think there's a third and I don't know what that's about, but it
(52:29):
has to follow their family.
It's a pirate.
The Dominic trilogy.
It's a pirate book.
Well, there you have it.
Oh, my God.
There's a huge dragon on the cover.
I mean, sailing before the sea dragons, towering masks, he plundered hearts and cargos from
(52:50):
the Carolinas to Trinidad's turquoise lagoons.
Don't love that.
Those are dangerous.
Could be a problem.
(53:12):
Yep.
Yep.
Okay, no, I don't.
The third one, he's also a smuggler and a oh, no, that's the same one.
What are you?
Why do you a privateer?
Yeah.
Oh, is it the same one?
But it's before the rising sun.
Oh, yeah.
What the fuck?
And in Dante.
So I don't understand.
I think it's a continuation.
Oh, it's newlywed.
(53:33):
They must return to England.
Oh, so that was written in 88 and the second one is written in 80.
Wait, what?
So he leaves behind his life as smuggler and privateer.
Oh, wait, never mind.
I thought he left her to go be another privateer and smuggler again.
(53:54):
I was like, so you're telling me I read a whole ass romance book and he leaves her that
way?
Oh my God.
And as if this man is not causing enough issues, the third book, so the second book in Raya
and Dante's story is all about them trying to win over the Duke because he rejects the
marriage.
Huh.
Well, I like Dominic even more than maybe Dante.
(54:15):
Not Dominic.
I was gonna say.
You know, the times have been hard.
The times have been trying.
I mean, I will say this book could have felt a lot more 1970s than it did.
I was thinking that.
There were moments where I was like, oof, 1970s, but a lot of it I think felt very modern,
(54:43):
I guess is maybe not the exact right word, but more modern than some others.
It could have been written in like 2000 and felt along with those contemporaries.
It definitely didn't feel like 77 to me.
I mean, I don't have much, like I don't really know what we haven't read.
(55:04):
Have we read a lot?
I don't really know the dates of the books you've read, but.
No, we've done more like 90s.
So that was the only I'm trying to remember.
I know the Kathleen Woodowis is like what?
79?
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I think that's probably the closest.
I think that sounds right.
(55:26):
So while I didn't enjoy it, I think it could have been a lot worse than it was, I guess.
A redeeming quality.
Yeah.
I mean, I don't think it's a bodice ripper.
No, no.
So.
Well, there you have it.
We've accomplished the unaccomplishable.
(55:48):
Ending this episode.
I didn't realize that was unaccomplishable, but.
After the minutes of silence of me trying to scroll through the book.
Our next one looks like in our old school schedule is Morning Glory by Laverle Spencer.
(56:15):
And I have no preconceived notions about that book.
So it should be interesting.
I don't know.
I don't remember what the plot summary was, but it's a different time period.
I think it's American too.
I think it's like 19 something.
They call her the crazy widow Dinsmore.
(56:38):
That sounds fun.
Oh, it's a classified ad.
Wanted.
A husband.
1941.
Oh my.
Yeah.
That's going to be weird.
I've heard lots of good things about Laverle Spencer.
Yeah, I'm seeing a lot of five star reviews for this book.
I think it'll feel very different though, so I'm interested.
(57:00):
Well, boy howdy.
Oh my, 480 pages though.
That's alarming.
It is a chunker.
The audiobook is like 16 hours or something.
But at least there's an audiobook.
True.
That's good to know.
It is in fact 16 and a half hours.
Buckle in folks.
(57:22):
Preparing them.
The next one is Julie Garwood, The Bride, which I read.
Diana Quincy had recommended it as one of her favorite foundational romances.
She was one of the first authors I followed on Instagram.
And so I read that.
I read The Pearl by Mary Balog.
And I think those were the two that she recommended.
(57:42):
And I liked it back then.
It was fun.
Lots of banging by a fire.
Like a campfire.
I remember that.
They were like, his friend was nearby.
It was a whole thing.
Very From Blood and Ash.
Why is that also what I was about to reference?
(58:08):
History repeats itself.
I do have so many issues with From Blood and Ash, but boy did that scene work for me.
Compelled me.
And then we're done with the year.
Yay!
That was crazy.
So there you go.
Cool.
Well, have a Marvelous Friday and come back for our 1989 episode.
(58:28):
It's also going to be a chunky one.
Yeah, it will.
Oof.
Lots of songs.
Only 21.
22 if you count Sweet or Dicton.
Oh yeah.
I was like, I thought you were going to count the Bad Blood remix.
I was like, now we're going to put the same book twice.
(58:49):
I forgot I wanted Sweet or Dicton.
And I guess we could.
If we do count Sweet or Dicton, it would be even for the graphics.
So I guess we have to now.
Yeah, but just for your mental stability.
I mean, honestly, would I rather have an uneven graphic or have to find another book?
(59:10):
Sweet or Dicton is...
Yeah, it's a very sweet...
Do I have a book in mind?
No, but I'm sure there is one.
I always thought it was...
I don't know what that sentence means.
Wider than distance?
Yeah, what is the lyric?
I think just like very innocent and wide-eyed and like...
(59:32):
But wider than distance?
Hear me out.
I thought it was wider than Pistons for a good portion.
That makes less sense.
Right, wider than distance also doesn't make sense.
What distance?
I don't.
Just distance.
Just like distance, like endless distance.
You can't be wider than distance.
You can be wider than four feet.
(59:53):
You can be wider than 12 miles.
Your eyes wider than four feet.
I'm just saying the line wider than distance doesn't make any sense.
That's not one of my favorite songs of hers.
Yeah, you're hotter than temperature.
What?
That doesn't mean anything.
You're taller than height.
(01:00:15):
That's what that is equivalent to.
It doesn't make sense and it makes me mad.
But I do really like this song, it's a bop.
So this is my cross to bury.
I mean to bury, to bear.
It's your hatchet to bury, it's your cross to bear.
My hatchet to bury and to keep the map.
Maps of where you put them?
Yeah.
(01:00:35):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Cross to bury.
It's giving call a press meeting.
Call a press meeting.
Which like isn't wrong, it's just not quite right.
Yeah.
Well that's when I was very confused about like what a housekeeper was, but it was just
a housekeeper.
Not like a main maid.
(01:00:57):
Someday our brains will function on one of these episodes.
But today is not that day, friends.
And enemies.
It'll be longer than distance.
Or that happens.
The fire is burning in my eyes.
You're just like bopping, kind of like a sim character.
I'm swinging my legs and it makes my whole body move.
If anything it would be longer than time.
(01:01:20):
Ooh.
You're very good at this.
Maybe you do like the lyric.
No I'm just really good at analogies.
It's my claim to fame from like elementary school English sections, lessons, whatever.
I could really kill an analogy.
And you're on LinkedIn guys.
(01:01:40):
Adding it to my skills.
And with that, bye!
That's it, that's all I've got.
I just need us to stop recording now.
Well, hello.
(00:01):
Well, hold on.
I thought you weren't going to say anything.
What if I just sat in silence?
You're like, we're trying to record a podcast.
I thought you looked up and looked down, and you're like eh.
And I was like yeah.
Ignored.
I did sign on, but I am only here to ignore you actually.
I was like honestly, it fits the vibes.
(00:26):
Does it?
I don't think that's my vibe.
Not your vibe.
Just the vibe of my week.
Oh.
I mean, I guess that's fair.
I guess.
I don't know anything about your week, so I assume you're not lying.
I'm a lying liar who lies.
No, I got my COVID booster on Monday, and then I thought it was fine, and then I died
(00:48):
a little bit yesterday.
So that wasn't fun.
And then today is just a Wednesday.
I mean, it wasn't like that bad.
But I mean, it could have been Friday, and it wasn't, so like.
That's so true.
It's really Wednesday's fault.
Coulda shoulda woulda.
Coulda, coulda, coulda, woulda.
Woulda comes first.
Woulda coulda shoulda.
(01:08):
Yeah.
You got it.
I got it.
I got there eventually.
It's Wednesday.
It is.
Wednesday.
It is.
My brain has just actually ceased, but I was messaging somebody at work, and I made a joke
about like, I was, the words that I intended to message were like, call a press conference,
(01:32):
jokingly.
But the words that I typed were call a press meeting, and then I sent it, and then I sat
there and I stared at that message for like minutes, because I was like, something about
this isn't right.
And so like several minutes later, I followed that up and was like, conference, press conference.
(01:55):
I need coffee so badly.
Like, it was bad.
It's fine.
I know words sometimes.
I didn't have coffee today either, so like, that's also part of the vibe.
That was never part of my vibe, if I can possibly avoid it.
I know.
It's unfortunate for me.
It is.
(02:16):
Well, I don't have much to think the masses on.
Well we just spoke so recently about Halloween.
Yeah, it was very recent.
And we bantered ourselves out.
We're all bantered out, guys.
Call a press meeting.
(02:39):
Call a press meeting.
We're all bantered out.
We have no updates, except I assume our next episode will be 1989 pairings.
Yes.
Yeah, that's the 10th.
I haven't started on, but you know what?
It'll be, it'll happen.
I, it's going, I like had some already and I've been like trying to work at it.
(03:04):
But it's just so many second chance romances, but like, not all of them fit.
It's very hard.
This is a hard, this is I think the hardest it's been.
We've only had two, but.
Well, I mean, I've done more album pairings, but those aren't, song pairings are harder
to me than just like the vibes of an album or the general themes.
(03:27):
Cause like 1989, I wouldn't like, I think red is more second chance to me than 1989
is, but there are so many songs, especially now with the vault tracks that you have to
use a second chance for cause they're like breakup songs.
Yeah.
See, like I just know, cause basically like the whole album was like Harry Styles and
I know that they like got back together like a few times.
(03:49):
And so like that's what I like, cause I was like deeply into that lore.
Like I spent hours researching it when I was younger, when I was a wee lad.
And so yeah, and it's not like particularly my favorite trope.
So I'm like having to comb through all the ones I've read and liked, but then it's like
(04:12):
those ones don't quite fit the vibe.
And then I'm like, what do I do?
And then there are some where I'm like, that's perfect, but that doesn't happen a lot.
So it'll happen.
We'll have to do it.
So it has to, says us.
We decided.
(04:32):
Yup.
We're like, well, I can't believe they, that nebulous, they are forcing us to take on this
task.
It's the man.
It is every time.
Speaking of the man, that's how we're bantering our way into this.
(04:55):
We're talking about Moonstruck Madness by Lori McBain.
Welcome to romance your TBR.
We are silly gooses who know very little, but have a lot of opinions.
And that's so true.
Yeah.
I stand by that.
That's it.
That's all the end of episode.
(05:18):
That's all I've got.
What was your segue?
What was your banter into it?
The man.
The man?
Just this man?
Because if not for that man, this would have been a fantastic book.
Oh yeah, no, the man sucked.
For me.
Yeah, I hated him.
I was so frustrated because the plot was so fun.
The plot was fun.
(05:39):
Yeah, I agree.
The romance gave me nothing.
I was like, but if we could have had it all, it started so strong.
I was even down with him being unlikable at the beginning.
I was kind of a dick at the beginning, but I was like, it'll be fine.
It wasn't.
Yeah, it wasn't fine.
I got to, so I was having a time, I guess.
(05:59):
It wasn't the best thing I'd ever read, but I wasn't hating it.
I got to 50% and I think I made an update in Goodreads.
I was like, I mean, it's fine.
It is what it is, but it's just not my cup of tea as it was.
He just, again, like you said, gave nothing.
Go king, give us nothing.
And then it was like 2% after that.
(06:20):
And I was like, oh, actually, no, I actively despise this.
Because he just got worse and worse.
And he just never got better.
No, he just...
And I just...
I have two hands and they could fit around his neck so nicely.
You know I'm normally much more forgiving than you.
(06:41):
I thought you would have liked it.
I don't mind an unlikable character.
Guys, this has turned the tide of my Wednesday.
Guys, you were preparing to fight me because you almost always have to fight me.
I was like, god damn.
I was thinking of...
Because it's a great Wednesday.
It's a Friday.
And I was like, meh.
(07:02):
I was like, surely there's something redeemable about this.
But actually...
The more you thought?
Yeah, the more I thought, the more mad I was because again, the premise was so fun.
I think if we had gotten them being kind of forced into marriage much sooner in the book
and then spent more time together and had them at odds for less of it and more of them
(07:27):
actually getting to know each other.
And also I needed to one, see him suffer because we kind of alluded to the fact that he was
suffering but we didn't see it.
And I was like, but I want to know what that suffering entailed.
And two, he needed to come to appreciate the error of his ways and grovel.
And he didn't.
And I was like, where was it?
(07:48):
The only thing I saw was his hair was like frazzled when he showed up and his hair was
frazzled.
Well, there was a mention that he was looking rough.
He was rough and they were like, oh, what a troubled man.
Or something.
And I was like, valid.
But see, the thing is, I would rather have hung out with him and watched him suffer.
So badly.
He could have like suffer, suffer, suffer, suffer.
(08:12):
Because I think I would have forgiven a lot if he had like really suffered and been like,
oh my God, like, I can't believe I did this.
And now I've come to love her and she'll never want me to get like if we really got to see
that agony and him like trying to get her back.
I think I would have forgiven him.
Yeah, the thing that really for me was just like, I really just cannot believe the audacity
(08:33):
of this man was when he was like, yeah, I fell in love with her when she didn't have
any memories of like any of her trauma or any of the past.
And like that's when I really loved her.
Like she was like good to me then.
And I'm like, but sir, you fell in love with her when she wasn't herself.
Like that's you didn't fall in love with who she is.
You fell in love with a woman who wasn't flagged by any memories of any of her life.
(08:55):
And I was like, he literally said that.
I was like, my dude, she is you are that is not her.
Yeah, even our sister was like, oh, she's reverted to like childlike innocence.
It didn't help that he kept calling her little one also.
And I was like, why are we all like, I know she's like 17, but why are we consistently
(09:17):
referring to this pregnant woman as a child?
You know, you know, we've read a lot of old school romances.
And you're like, yeah, she's 17.
She's she's not a child.
I just feel like if she's pregnant, we we need unless she's like actually a child.
And this is like an oh, no, this person has been assaulted type of situation.
(09:41):
If she's like pregnant of her own volition type of stuff, I'm like, we got to you, the
man who impregnated her have got to stop referring to her as a child.
Yeah, I know this was written in 1977.
Yeah.
The other dude was like 10 years older than her sister.
And he managed to have a mostly normal, not super infantilizing relationship with the
(10:03):
exception of a couple of times.
Yeah, I did find it funny that him and his army did slaughter her grandfather and she
kind of just like got over it.
And I'm like, I mean, good for you.
But also, that's a pretty big hurdle.
I also thought I also thought the soldier was this guy, like the hero, whatever his
(10:27):
name was, Lucien.
No, at the beginning, I thought that when they like she had they had like seen each
other and I was like, oh, so that's going to be the hero.
And then he like showed up with a scar like, oh, he must have just gotten scarred in battle.
And then when I realized it wasn't him, I was like, oh, well, that happened.
I was like, oh, that's not him.
(10:47):
No, I didn't.
Admittedly, I did not like what's his name, the soldier most of the time.
By the end, I was like, I was rooting more on I was rooting more for him and Mary than
anything really else in the book.
He just like I had vibes for the as soon as he started being like, obviously, I'm not
going to turn your sister in.
I'm just trying to stop her from being a highwayman.
(11:11):
I was like, OK, I can work with this.
It was it helped a little bit that I had just watched Practical Magic and their relationship
in Practical Magic kind of gave me those vibes because he was, you know, see, he was giving
me Colonel Brandon this whole time.
(11:31):
So that's unfortunate.
Why is that unfortunate?
You didn't like him.
But I like Colonel Brandon.
Well, I guess that's good.
He was helping.
It was the age gap.
It was the like, oh, my sweet summer child.
Your whole family needs me to just like take you under my manly, manly wings and solve
(11:52):
your problems.
And I was like, slay.
Yeah, I could have done without the like, you need to be spanked.
And also the man needs to come in and but to be fair, she was doing some very illegal
things.
Do I support the soldier guy?
Oh, I thought you were talking about him marrying to be spanked.
(12:12):
I was like, what?
No, no, no.
He said that to Sabrina.
Yeah, I was like doing all the illegal things.
Yeah.
Do I support her in those illegal things?
Yes.
Yes.
Do I think he had a point?
Perhaps also, yes.
I know I wanted the highwayman stuff to be like more at the forefront and to last longer
(12:33):
and to like be more of like a bit and like campier, I think.
Like, it could have just been a lot more fun.
I don't know, like it could have been like a woman in pants situation.
It could have been like, I don't know, she like accidentally kidnapped him or something.
Like I there just I liked that.
(12:55):
And I agree that if they would have gotten together earlier with less between them, because
it was really only in the last like page or two that he ever admitted like his feelings
to her.
And I was like, oh, yeah, it was like at the very, very end.
She was like, I know you probably hate me, but I want to be with you anyway.
And I was like, Sabrina.
I know.
(13:15):
And she had blamed herself.
She was pregnant and alone.
And she was like, oh, I kind of blame myself for all this.
I'm like, no, I think we need to not have that thought.
It's fine.
I mean, it's not, but it's fine.
I did.
I did really appreciate the very beginning.
I liked when we got to see her as the highwayman.
(13:37):
Yes.
I liked her showing up in the very beginning and just being like, he hello, gentlemen,
give me your stuff.
So I was like, yeah.
I'll admit I was also confused when she robbed the was it the com tests and the Marquis
(13:57):
Marquis.
And I was like, is that like Sabrina and Mary and like, cause I was like, what is happening?
So I did not put into the guy.
I was like, well, the guy has like violet eyes and I'm like, well, that means that there's
some connection.
I didn't even put two and do together that that would be her father.
And then I was like, oh, that could have been fun, but it wasn't because he was horrible
(14:19):
and he got paid off and he just got to leave after beating her or whipping her.
And I was like, don't support bad, bad man.
I was happy he was gone, but he just got money.
Very generous, a very generous amount.
(14:40):
And he just got to leave with his com tests, who is also kind of a twat.
I thought she was funny.
I liked her until she was like, yeah, I'm ready to blackmail her to get my money.
And I was like, well, you have now fallen several degrees from my heart.
(15:01):
So money, money, money must be funny in a rich man's world.
She needed.
She had to get that bread somehow.
I just think I was not happy.
It was more on happiness at the Markzwa's guy.
(15:23):
And then I fully forgot about him.
He left and I was like, and you have now exited my brain forever.
Well, I was just keeping tally of all the injustices happening throughout this book,
because I want to do that.
And for one, Lucien had just ruined her and wasn't going to do anything about it.
(15:44):
And then she got whipped because of that.
Obviously, he was like, I didn't know she would get whipped.
But he ruined her entire reputation for shits and giggles and then teetheed all the way
home.
And then she literally got whipped and was like, curled on the floor bleeding.
And then he like storms in as the savior and like, I didn't mean it.
(16:06):
And then pays off the Markzwa's right after that and strikes a deal with him.
And I'm like, well, to marry her.
Yeah, I think he could have blackmailed him if that guy needed money.
Like I think there could have been other things to happen.
But he needed a wife.
So that's all another thing.
But he was like, oh, yeah, I actually fell in love with her.
(16:27):
I'm not just marrying her to get my inheritance.
So I'm like, I trust that in no way, shape or form.
Well, that was after he had married her.
Yeah, no, I yeah, that's after.
But I still that whole inheritance thing was also annoying.
I was like, I he has not proved one bit that he loved her before that.
So I was like, I don't.
Well, I don't think he did.
He said he claimed he did, though.
(16:49):
I thought he said he came to love her after they had married.
It was something in gardens.
I don't know when they were laughing in gardens.
I mean, that could have been after they married.
But he said, I loved you when you first laughed in the Vacker something gardens.
I highlighted it because I was like, bitch, I don't believe you.
(17:10):
I just don't remember when they were.
I'm trying to think back to I know.
I don't remember the gardens at all.
I just assumed it was like at the beginning of the relationship because that's what always
happens.
Like, I've loved you forever.
Oh, wasn't it?
Was that where her father found them the first time and was like, pull your shit together
before you ruin your reputation?
And then later is when he actually ruined her reputation.
(17:34):
Yeah, let me see.
Yeah.
So they were in the gardens.
And then her father found him.
I don't even remember what that word is.
Vacker?
I don't know.
And that's not the word at all.
I have no idea.
But he said he loved her with like some gardens.
And I was like, well, you loved her when she had amnesia and she didn't know we work.
(17:57):
You the queen of amnesia.
Yeah, it works when he's not gaslighting her to that extent.
Like I get amnesia tropes are always like some form or another of gaslighting.
And I was trying to think I was like, why does it not work here?
And I was like, well, one, he's a dick.
And like, I just don't like him.
So like, I can put up a lot with amnesia if I like the hero didn't happen here.
(18:22):
Two, when he was like, I like most of the amnesia books I like, the hero doesn't fall
in love with her because she is like an innocent, like unplagued by years of trauma and like
having to survive and then realizes that she is actually very innocent and like lovely
(18:44):
to him.
Like that normally doesn't happen.
And I was like, well, and then he was like, yeah, we don't need to tell her because I
think she maybe just hate me.
And I was like, well, I mean, that's a normal thing of amnesia that happens.
But she was fully pregnant.
And he was like, I'm just going to say that she was happy.
(19:06):
We're gonna have this baby and it's all gonna be fun.
I was like, sir, you're so stupid, but not acute stupid.
You're just stupid.
And then she got her memory back.
And I was like, I knew she wasn't gonna rail at him as hard as she needed to.
And it was still a disappointment.
(19:26):
I mean, she she was kind of like, I'm going to fuck up your life and just spend all your
money.
I'm going to be so real with you.
If I found myself married to a Duke that I hadn't wanted to be married to, but oh, well,
now I'm having a baby with him and we're already here.
I feel like my best recourse also would be like, you know what?
Get every dressmaker you know.
(19:48):
Tell her I'm buying the most expensive things.
Get all those annoying ass ladies in this room right now.
We are going to spend so much of this man's money.
And hopefully you wouldn't blame yourself for the entire thing.
I don't remember her really blaming herself so much as just being like, I have a weird
I don't have a lot highlighted, but maybe I took a picture of it.
(20:10):
No, that was just from the amnesia part.
I know the same needs. It just felt very.
Iggy.
And maybe it makes me a hypocrite and I'll probably wear that, but I simply did not like
it.
It was not fun.
Also they bang so early in this.
(20:31):
I was like.
What?
So that was unexpected.
I didn't hate it.
I was just like, whoa.
He's fully been penetrated.
Not a good enough reason to use the word penetrate.
I have to say on a romance podcast, I feel like when is a good reason?
(20:58):
Almost never.
I feel that way about ejaculate.
He ejaculated into the conversation.
I love ejaculate as the way it actually is intended.
There are multiple definitions, but in the verbal sense, it makes me laugh every time.
(21:19):
So funny.
Oh yeah, and then Blanche just got straight up, I think her name was Blanche, murdered.
Yeah, I mean she was annoying.
Yeah, I didn't like her.
And then she was just dead.
And I was like, well, I don't like that on principle.
It was more so that I didn't really care that she herself Blanche was dead.
(21:41):
I was just like, say what now?
And then I did you get the vibe that the siblings were incestuous?
Yeah, I don't think they actually were.
I wrote down very few things, both of them related to the twins.
The first one is it's not an exact quote.
(22:03):
I was listening to the audiobook, but it was some quote along the lines of the Brett Percy
saying, try to plan a simple murder and you have busy bodies hanging all over you, like
complaining about all the people he was having to deal with while planning his murders.
And I was like, slay Percy, but don't actually because I would prefer that you didn't actually
(22:26):
successfully murder someone.
Well, he did.
He did slay.
And I was like, that's hilarious.
The other thing I wrote down was why are the twins giving Team Rocket energy?
Because similar to how I felt as a child watching Team Rocket on the Pokemon show shows, I also
(22:46):
was wondering if they were siblings or lovers.
They would be like, oh, my darling brother.
And I would be like, Team Rocket is blasting off.
Like why?
Why was it giving Jessie and James?
I will agree now that you say it.
That's all I could think of.
(23:09):
Did I love disfigurement as the punishment, implying that beauty is virtue and the lack
thereof indicates a lack of virtue?
No.
No.
And I also didn't like that that was the extent of their punishment.
Yeah.
Because they were straight up murderers.
(23:30):
And he was just depressed that she was ugly.
That was his thing.
That was his punishment.
Yeah.
They were like, oh, well, he takes pride in her beauty also.
And I was like, do I want to read more of their silly little, oh, my dear brother, when
are you going to kill him?
Teehee.
Yes, I do.
Because I think they're hilarious.
(23:50):
Did I also want them to be arrested?
Yes.
Yeah.
Yeah, I wanted them not to end the book alive.
But that's asking a lot, I guess.
But I mean, I guess.
That sure happens to murderers.
And I was just like, no one is getting the comeuppance they need.
(24:12):
It just happened over and over again.
I was just like, can't take any more of it.
And then there was a treasure hunt?
Not true.
That Scottish ghost guy.
Yeah, okay.
That Scottish ghost guy who honestly was just doing his best.
He was just deeply mentally unwell.
(24:33):
And then he gets murdered.
And then they're like, yeah, he's out of misery.
He's more at peace now.
And I'm like, well.
I mean, he was like living in a cave waiting for his ghost clan leader to come back to
life.
Also, he had killed people.
He had.
He's not perfect, but he was not incestuous.
(24:57):
Or had incestuous.
We don't know that the twins were incestuous.
I'm happy we didn't see anything on the page.
I'm so happy.
So thankful.
Because I didn't want to see that.
Sky O'Malley did a number on us.
Yeah, yeah, it did.
Good old incest.
(25:19):
They did have weird vibes.
The vibes were despicable.
I wanted to read more of them, though.
I can't say that for the hero.
I just thought they were so absurd.
Yeah.
I guess they gave the vibes that needed to happen in an over the top campy book.
(25:40):
It's true.
I needed everybody else to match their supervillain energy.
And she kind of did when she was the highwayman, and then that just fell off.
You know who did match their energy?
The little brother.
Yeah.
I loved him.
He said, bang bang, get out of my sister's bed.
(26:04):
I thought he was super cute with the glasses.
He needed them.
I was a little like, son, why are you telling this creepy man about this treasure?
And I was like, I know.
But I was just like, she's suspicious of him.
I'm like, why are you guys doing this?
But when your older trusted sister is like, oh, I know this guy.
(26:28):
He knew our grandfather.
We can trust him.
Why don't you ask him?
I don't know why she thought that they could trust him when she was getting the creepy
vibes from the start.
Because she knew him.
Because she was also not fully trusting him.
She was sleeping with him.
Yeah.
But I just don't think if I don't 100% trust someone, I'm not going to go up to them and
(26:50):
be like, I have this treasure map.
Let's go get this treasure together.
I mean, they needed to find the cave.
What else were they going to do?
Use the map.
They had.
They didn't know how to find it.
Well, then get better.
And they were like, well, this is a guy that we know and that knows the land.
He would be able to help.
(27:11):
I mean, I just did not enjoy this book past 50%.
So I truly found no joy in anything.
So there's that.
I don't know.
I stand by it.
I like the plot.
Did we need a treasure hunt?
Not particularly.
(27:31):
But I was like, all right.
Sure.
Let's head to Scotland.
Let's tie up some loose ends that I didn't remember were loose.
They were like, oh, yes, of course.
What grandfather said is he was dying.
And I was like, I had forgotten he said anything.
Yeah, I didn't even really know why we needed that whole plot of her being Scottish and
(27:55):
him die.
I didn't know what was going on.
No.
Yeah, more highwayman shenanigans were needed.
I liked her fellow highwayman henchmen guys when they like...
(28:16):
They were giving Nick and Nack, but if Nick and Nack were actually good.
Yeah.
I don't know what they were doing.
Didn't they try?
Was it them trying to stop the Duke or something?
And then they were like, oh, we didn't succeed.
We shouldn't tell her about that.
What was it?
Do you remember that?
Yeah.
What were they doing?
Because that was fun.
They were doing something.
(28:37):
It's while she was hiding in the marsh and they went to...
I think they were trying to threaten him to get him to leave.
They were like, yeah, we're bringing a message.
Oh, yeah.
We've got to get out of here.
And the Duke was like, I'm actually going to pummel you.
Yeah, they're like, oh, that didn't work.
Should we tell her?
(28:58):
No.
I don't think we should.
I was like, I probably wouldn't either.
Will it come back to haunt you?
Yeah.
It's because the Duke was like, you can tell her that she actually just made this worse
for herself.
And they were like, hmm.
Yes.
Yes.
We'll not be informing her of that.
We're going to keep that one just between us.
(29:22):
Just between us.
Relatable kings.
Fair.
Mame you too.
Yeah.
So I liked them.
They were people I liked.
And I liked Sabrina for a majority-ish of it.
Would I have preferred not to have been reading a book about her?
(29:46):
Yeah.
But I didn't like hate her.
Mary...
She was like, pretty OK until she was like, yeah, amnesia did her good.
I was like, well, Mary...
Look, she was doing her best.
She was like, well, before my sister was kind of crazy.
She was good-hearted.
(30:07):
She at least had intent to do that.
In her defense pre the amnesia, Sabrina was her own worst enemy.
She was causing problems that didn't need to be caused.
And Mary was like, what if you just chilled out for a second?
And Sabrina was like, no, I'm going to run away and hide in the woods.
(30:28):
And also risk death on a regular basis to get a bunch of money instead of just marrying
a guy that I've already banged once.
And Mary was like, I'm not loving this vibe.
Generally.
There would have been more highwayman shenanigans.
Yeah.
But every time she did highwayman shenanigans, she was putting her literal neck on the line.
So not great from your siblings POV, if you will.
(30:53):
I mean, true.
And then after the amnesia, she was happy.
And Mary's like, you know what?
Honestly, I get it.
Fair enough.
And that's all valid.
But she's still...
I mean, she was still like, this is not going to be good.
And it wasn't.
And she also had like random visions.
(31:14):
She was just clairvoyant.
That's so Mary.
Like what?
It's like, well, that's random.
I didn't think it was random.
I did not even question it, if I'm being honest.
I was just like, is there going to be any more paranormal element type stuff?
No.
She has the sight.
It's like that contemporary series with the one cousin that has the sight.
(31:37):
She never leaves her room.
The Rajes.
I don't think I've heard that.
The Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors.
Oh, no.
Oh, okay.
Well, there's one cousin in the family who has like a severe nerve condition type of
thing.
She basically just lives in her room and they try to be like very careful with her because
she has like seizures and things.
But also, she has visions of the future.
(32:01):
And other than that, it's just like a normal contemporary series, but she has visions.
And just kind of says ominous things a lot.
She's the chorus of a Greek play.
Pretty much.
I wish I could just say ominous things that came true.
(32:24):
That's my dream.
Just say weird shit and have people have to listen to me because it's going to come back
to haunt them.
I wonder how I can make that happen for myself.
Laurie McBain wrote Weird Shit and made me read it.
So just be an author.
It's not the same.
I want to say something that sounds weird, but then later you're like, oh, I get that.
(32:53):
Just walk up to someone say 3031 7512.
Do you?
Nope.
You lost me.
Percy Jackson coordinates the Bermuda Triangle.
3031 7512.
Percy Jackson.
Why would I know?
You not remember that?
No.
The gray sisters when they're in the taxi, they're like 3031 7512.
(33:19):
And it's the coordinates of the Bermuda Triangle and the Sea of Monsters.
I read the Percy Jackson series once.
It was a good five years ago.
I read them several times.
I do not remember one moment from one book where they say a series of numbers.
It's so visceral to me.
(33:39):
But I've read them several times.
And I had the audiobook, so their delivery lives with me too.
So if you ever end up in the Bermuda Triangle, you can go, oh, because you'll know the coordinates.
If I'm in the Bermuda Triangle, I don't think knowing my coordinates is going to be that
(34:03):
important to me.
Probably not, but maybe it would.
You don't know.
You're in the Bermuda Triangle.
Weird things happen.
Anyway, I don't know how to pull that back to the main thread of discussion.
I don't know.
I hate you just not.
Nope.
Not gonna.
Wasn't gonna try.
I just snipped that thread and left it there.
(34:30):
That's another thing the fates do.
That's also a Percy Jackson tie in.
Babe, I know I was referencing it.
Good.
I remember that.
Greek mythology.
I do know.
Greek mythology.
Yeah.
Not just.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's a shame.
Why?
Because real ones learned Greek mythology from Percy Jackson.
(34:51):
No, real ones learned Greek mythology from that very large yellow book.
Well, I also had that book.
It was very large.
I think I have it somewhere, but it was too large to store here.
Real ones have to keep talking about this book, which doesn't entice me.
I don't really have anything else to say.
Read a lesson.
Parts of it were silly, goofy time.
(35:12):
The plot was fun.
The romance was not.
What's your lesson?
Yeah.
I incest is the real villain.
That's all I got.
It wasn't even incest.
I don't know.
I don't have a lesson.
Okay, great.
Because I do.
There are two rules that I think are important.
The first one is from Rizzo the Rat, just in life, not in this book.
(35:32):
The first rule of my life that I think is important to follow.
The first one is from Rizzo from the Muppets Christmas Carol.
He says, Mother always told me never eat singing food.
I found that that holds up.
Words to live by.
The second one I think does apply to this book here.
What?
I'm just giving you life lessons.
(35:52):
Number one, never eat singing food.
It's just an important thing to keep in mind in your life.
Number two, what are you confused about?
This is a critical life lesson that I'm delivering.
Were you just watching the Muppets?
No, I was just thinking about like what are important life lessons that I strive to live
by.
One, I got from Rizzo from the Muppets, never eat singing food.
(36:14):
Two, I think applies to this book.
And that is never trust strange men claiming betrothals after your trauma induced amnesia.
Yeah, that tracks.
They're always lying.
If I had a nickel for every time I read a romance novel with a heroine who woke up from
trauma induced amnesia and a man she didn't know was claiming they were engaged only for
(36:36):
her to wake up from said amnesia to find her, you know, getting her memory to find herself
married to a guy she didn't want to be married to.
I'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.
That's Sky on the alley.
No, that happened in two.
No, that happened in Sky on Mallee.
Well, which one was where the one had amnesia?
(36:57):
Midsummer Moon by Laura Kinzale.
Oh, well, there was one that we read in this journey of ours that had amnesia.
And I think that was Sky on Mallee, right?
When she like had amnesia and went to the.
Well, she does, but he doesn't take advantage of the amnesia.
I mean, he does, but it's not like it was that you don't remember me.
I blacked out most of that book.
No, it's just that she woke up on the island and didn't know who she was.
(37:19):
And he was like, well, here you are.
And then eventually they got married.
Midsummer Moon.
He's been trying to get her to marry him the whole book for romance reasons, and she won't.
And then she suffers a head wound and then she wakes up with amnesia.
And he's like, oh, that's so crazy because we were engaged and we were supposed to get
(37:40):
married.
And she's like, well, I mean, I guess if we were going to get married, we should get married.
And then if I'm remembering correctly, they do get married.
And I think the day of at her wedding reception, her memory returns and she's like, and then
she just goes along with it.
Right.
I think you've told.
I thought you was very mad at him.
But does she still get married?
She's already married.
Are they already married?
Oh, I think that's what I was thinking.
(38:02):
I don't know.
I remember you were calling him correctly, but I really do feel like it was after the
wedding.
She was like, what?
Why would you do this?
Yeah, it was fun for me.
It was good, but sometimes it's not.
Oh, no, that was a great time for me personally.
Yeah.
Was it a problem for him?
(38:24):
Yes.
Did I devour it?
Yes, I did.
Unlike this one.
I don't know.
It was only like three hundred and sixty six pages, but it felt like it took.
Really?
The audio book was like 13 hours.
I know.
But on the or the Kindle book said it was three hundred and sixty six.
So I was like listening to like the audible Kindle because it was like in KU and that
(38:45):
they you can like listen for free in KU.
I just thank the Lord.
Because I definitely just paid for the audible book.
I would return it.
I wonder if I can.
I already listened to the whole thing.
I think you can.
Anyway, these are on Lala's Times.
But yeah, I'm happy I discovered it because I was like, where is this audio book?
(39:11):
And then I was like, oh, it's in KU, the e-book.
I was like, OK, I'll just go read it there.
And then it was like, reader listen for free.
And I was like, oh, I will.
So that happened.
And it was a good audio book.
I enjoyed the narrator.
She was good.
I didn't have anything to say about that.
So that was nice.
I did finish it on three point five speed, though, which was insane because I just started
(39:35):
reading it today because I didn't have time and or I was sick yesterday.
So I couldn't focus on anything.
And how do you get to the thing where you can listen to it?
It just doesn't write in Kindle.
Oh, well, no, I had to like go to the cover page and then I had to like tap on things.
If you go, I mean, I figured it out.
(39:57):
Yeah, I know.
I think to see if it's like available before you like get the book.
Well, normally, like if you look at if you look up a book in Kindle in the Kindle app
and click on it, it would say like read and listen for free.
But it's not doing it for me because I already have in my library.
But I do always check now since Audible does some of them are like Audible exclusive and
(40:24):
then some of them are with that feature.
So I try like every option before I have to pay for something because I tried Scribd.
I didn't have it.
Library didn't have it.
But it's not like an Audible original, I don't think.
No.
So I was kind of like, why?
Gosh, I can't find.
What are you looking for?
(40:44):
What?
I'm just trying to find some quotes from the book, but I simply cannot.
Do you know, I like tried to review it several times how the sister Kate got stabbed in the
face or like slashed in the face?
Like what happened?
Was it from the people bursting in the room?
Was it shot?
(41:05):
I thought it was the knife.
That makes more sense.
No, it was a bullet.
Gosh, I was like, what?
I think it, you know, they mentioned a bullet wound.
It said the bullet had sliced a muscle in her face.
So she was grimacing.
Because I was like, what the hell?
I was like, they burst into the room.
And then I knew she was holding the knife and I was like, I thought.
(41:25):
Okay, no, because it mentions like a sound.
Like there was a roar of thunder, which is how she usually describes gunshots.
And then everyone burst into the room.
And then there's like the, oh my god, blood dripping down her face.
And then it mentions the bullet had severed a muscle and it was like making her grimace
wildly or something.
Yeah.
Do I recommend paying for this audio book and our book?
(41:48):
No.
I mean, it wasn't like, I don't know if it's a first edition, but that old cover and I
do really like it.
Yeah, I got it in like a, it was like a set of three Laurie McBain.
But it wasn't, it's not the Dominic Trill or like series.
It's just three Laurie McBain books that were in a thrift store.
(42:10):
And I love those old school covers.
I think I also just had higher expectations because like most of the reviews on Good to
Read were like very positive.
And I was expecting something different than the book we got.
So that's what it was.
(42:30):
Yeah.
I mean, I would read other Laurie McBain.
I like the writing.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I agree there.
But yeah, I just did not care for the romance itself.
What a turd burglar he was.
Dislike.
(42:52):
Yeah, I feel like just more of like a cinnamon roll, like simp hero would have been fun who
just was kind of like okay with her doing crazy shit.
I mean, I don't, I disagree there.
I don't think she would have responded well to anybody that wasn't very or equally strong
(43:15):
willed.
But particularly because we're not supposed to like the Highwayman thing because she doesn't
like the Highwayman thing.
She resorted to it to pay her creditors and like feed her family.
It wasn't like for the joy of it.
She's trying to give it up.
Yeah.
Which I guess that also is just something I didn't like.
I just want to like the Highwayman stuff.
(43:35):
Yeah, but it like wasn't good.
It was like criminal activity.
No, this book is riddled with criminal activity.
Yeah, but and that was the most fun one.
It's bad.
But it was fun.
Yeah, it's fun for us.
Piracy isn't great, but it's so fun.
What's not great?
(43:55):
What?
Piracy.
Oh, like piracy is-
I thought you said Percy and I was like, well, Percy is a villain.
I forgot that was even his name.
Yeah, no, Percy's bad.
Percy, not good.
But I'm saying from the perspective of the characters, we're not supposed to be like
tee-hee, robbery-
Which I understand that.
(44:18):
I just wish it would have been written differently to where we could have been tee-hee.
Like when I hear like-
Okay, we're in Cat Sebastian.
That's what you're asking for.
Yeah, like I just when I heard the premise of like female Highwaymen, I got excited and
I guess it just did not deliver on that.
Which I guess isn't the fault of the book.
It's just a book that I didn't like.
(44:41):
But I mean, what kind of- I mean, I guess still like a dominating hero, but even then
I'm like, I don't know.
I guess he could have just not been bad.
I mean, I think this was the right hero for her.
I just wanted him to suffer and grovel more.
I needed him brought to his knees by the end of it.
(45:04):
And instead it was just like, and then it's fine.
I think it lost me too.
Like I think he lost me too soon.
He also slapped her.
We didn't even talk about that.
She slapped him.
But like, he was like, what the?
And I was like, not great.
After he'd already had her-
I mean, no, but at this point, we're talking about the Georgian era.
(45:27):
And I just have to assume the vibes are different.
And it also was like a- he had just gotten slapped.
Yeah.
Like it seemed like kind of a knee jerk.
You slapped the person who just slapped you and then he's like, oh shit, sorry.
That's not what I meant.
It was not the same to me as the slapping and unwilling bride.
(45:48):
That was like, he was mad at her and he just backhanded her.
This one I was like, is it good?
No.
Is he a Georgian era Duke?
Yes.
I just think she suffered enough.
She was whipped.
She was punched in the face by like other bad people.
I was like, girl, you're not a high woman anymore, but you're getting beat up.
(46:10):
When was she punched in the face?
When they-
You're asking so much of me.
You're saying things that I don't remember.
I believe you.
I just have no memory of it.
Yeah, no, she was-
Oh, are you talking about when the twins sent the three guys to go pretend to be the highwaymen?
(46:32):
I don't really remember anything happening to her.
I don't think it was that.
Geez.
I genuinely have no memory of whatever you're talking about.
I don't know a word I would search.
I don't know.
It happened, but I don't know.
(46:53):
I can't-
Like the only thing I can-
I mean, he stabs her very early on.
Yeah, I was fine with that.
Okay, so you're fine with her getting stabbed through the shoulder.
He didn't know that she was her.
That honestly could have led to some fun times, and it kind of did.
(47:15):
I was okay with that.
I was like, if anything like that, I can support that in this book.
What I don't remember was when the other shit happened.
Maybe-
The only time I can think that she ever has violence enacted upon her is when the dad
goes at her.
(47:37):
When he first traps her and doesn't know that she's her and stabs her.
And when the three hired guys take them down.
Because those were the- were they bad hired guys or were those the good ones?
(47:59):
Bad like bad at their job or bad like morally bad.
So was that different than the two or the ones like Will and what's his name, John attacking
Lucien?
So that's different?
No, it's when the twins hired those three guys to pretend to be Bonnie Charlie and kill
(48:20):
her and Lucien.
And then Will and what's his name come and save them.
Maybe that is it.
I don't- I mean, I don't remember a ton of details about that scene.
I don't remember there being a ton of violence other than like them knocking those guys out.
Yeah, so he heard Sabrina's cry as the man holding her twisted her arm behind her back
(48:43):
and struck her across the face several times.
So I can remember that.
But I can't remember like main names, large plot details, character arcs.
I can remember one sentence.
(49:04):
That's what it's like to be me.
I mean, they were like there to kill them.
So I don't know.
Yeah, I mean, they were.
But like, I just did not.
I don't like violence against the heroine like that.
So it always sticks in my mind.
And so that's why it's stuck there, but with no details surrounding it.
(49:26):
I mean, she was pretending to be a highwayman for a chunk of this book.
So I don't know how you thought you would get out of it with her unscathed.
It'd be different if she was like willingly like going in to like do things like when
she was stabbed.
I was fine with that.
To me, that was like different.
I mean, but these are bad guys who get.
(49:47):
But like, I just don't like it.
So that's why I remembered it.
It's just something I don't like.
So I was like, she suffered a lot.
And she was also kissed by that grody Duke and he he was never punched.
He did push him from his horse or something.
I was going to say she knocked him into like a thorn bush.
(50:11):
I was worried that was going to come up at the end.
It's going to be like the last like that.
Like somehow he'd find out that she was like kissing him.
I was like, please don't.
I've been scarred by like Whitney, my love.
And these books.
I'm like, don't.
I was surprised that he was just left to lie there and like be gone.
I was like, OK.
I was scared immediately after that, that he was going to blame her for that, too.
(50:35):
I was like, no, please don't.
But he didn't even know.
It's true.
Because she saw him with Lady Sarah, who literally had never been mentioned before.
And I was like, and was never mentioned again.
No, I was like, who are you?
I searched the name and I was like, who is this?
(50:57):
I'm like, why did she assume she was his mistress?
I'm like, was that like a what?
Like who was she?
She was just a scandalous lady.
Who you assume is the mistress because she sure was getting chummy with your husband.
I don't know.
I know.
I was like, who is she?
(51:19):
Because stuff like that makes me feel even crazier than I am.
So I'm like, oh, I don't remember that.
And the reason why I don't remember, she was never mentioned.
You can't remember something that was never remembered in the first place.
That's so true.
And I don't want to member any of this book.
(51:45):
Well, the beauty of that, though, is that since I did listen to it by the end at 3.5,
I will remember none of this.
Like, I'm so happy about that.
Because I started to and then I was able to work myself up.
And it really she the narrator was actually like she was very like she enunciated very
well.
I understand it.
But yeah, so that happened.
(52:07):
That whole book thing that we talked about.
So true.
So true.
Who are the other books about?
The next one is their daughter.
Oh, so it's one of those.
I don't know about the I think there's a third and I don't know what that's about, but it
(52:29):
has to follow their family.
It's a pirate.
The Dominic trilogy.
It's a pirate book.
Well, there you have it.
Oh, my God.
There's a huge dragon on the cover.
I mean, sailing before the sea dragons, towering masks, he plundered hearts and cargos from
(52:50):
the Carolinas to Trinidad's turquoise lagoons.
Don't love that.
Those are dangerous.
Could be a problem.
(53:12):
Yep.
Yep.
Okay, no, I don't.
The third one, he's also a smuggler and a oh, no, that's the same one.
What are you?
Why do you a privateer?
Yeah.
Oh, is it the same one?
But it's before the rising sun.
Oh, yeah.
What the fuck?
And in Dante.
So I don't understand.
I think it's a continuation.
Oh, it's newlywed.
(53:33):
They must return to England.
Oh, so that was written in 88 and the second one is written in 80.
Wait, what?
So he leaves behind his life as smuggler and privateer.
Oh, wait, never mind.
I thought he left her to go be another privateer and smuggler again.
(53:54):
I was like, so you're telling me I read a whole ass romance book and he leaves her that
way?
Oh my God.
And as if this man is not causing enough issues, the third book, so the second book in Raya
and Dante's story is all about them trying to win over the Duke because he rejects the
marriage.
Huh.
Well, I like Dominic even more than maybe Dante.
(54:15):
Not Dominic.
I was gonna say.
You know, the times have been hard.
The times have been trying.
I mean, I will say this book could have felt a lot more 1970s than it did.
I was thinking that.
There were moments where I was like, oof, 1970s, but a lot of it I think felt very modern,
(54:43):
I guess is maybe not the exact right word, but more modern than some others.
It could have been written in like 2000 and felt along with those contemporaries.
It definitely didn't feel like 77 to me.
I mean, I don't have much, like I don't really know what we haven't read.
(55:04):
Have we read a lot?
I don't really know the dates of the books you've read, but.
No, we've done more like 90s.
So that was the only I'm trying to remember.
I know the Kathleen Woodowis is like what?
79?
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I think that's probably the closest.
I think that sounds right.
(55:26):
So while I didn't enjoy it, I think it could have been a lot worse than it was, I guess.
A redeeming quality.
Yeah.
I mean, I don't think it's a bodice ripper.
No, no.
So.
Well, there you have it.
We've accomplished the unaccomplishable.
(55:48):
Ending this episode.
I didn't realize that was unaccomplishable, but.
After the minutes of silence of me trying to scroll through the book.
Our next one looks like in our old school schedule is Morning Glory by Laverle Spencer.
(56:15):
And I have no preconceived notions about that book.
So it should be interesting.
I don't know.
I don't remember what the plot summary was, but it's a different time period.
I think it's American too.
I think it's like 19 something.
They call her the crazy widow Dinsmore.
(56:38):
That sounds fun.
Oh, it's a classified ad.
Wanted.
A husband.
1941.
Oh my.
Yeah.
That's going to be weird.
I've heard lots of good things about Laverle Spencer.
Yeah, I'm seeing a lot of five star reviews for this book.
I think it'll feel very different though, so I'm interested.
(57:00):
Well, boy howdy.
Oh my, 480 pages though.
That's alarming.
It is a chunker.
The audiobook is like 16 hours or something.
But at least there's an audiobook.
True.
That's good to know.
It is in fact 16 and a half hours.
Buckle in folks.
(57:22):
Preparing them.
The next one is Julie Garwood, The Bride, which I read.
Diana Quincy had recommended it as one of her favorite foundational romances.
She was one of the first authors I followed on Instagram.
And so I read that.
I read The Pearl by Mary Balog.
And I think those were the two that she recommended.
(57:42):
And I liked it back then.
It was fun.
Lots of banging by a fire.
Like a campfire.
I remember that.
They were like, his friend was nearby.
It was a whole thing.
Very From Blood and Ash.
Why is that also what I was about to reference?
(58:08):
History repeats itself.
I do have so many issues with From Blood and Ash, but boy did that scene work for me.
Compelled me.
And then we're done with the year.
Yay!
That was crazy.
So there you go.
Cool.
Well, have a Marvelous Friday and come back for our 1989 episode.
(58:28):
It's also going to be a chunky one.
Yeah, it will.
Oof.
Lots of songs.
Only 21.
22 if you count Sweet or Dicton.
Oh yeah.
I was like, I thought you were going to count the Bad Blood remix.
I was like, now we're going to put the same book twice.
(58:49):
I forgot I wanted Sweet or Dicton.
And I guess we could.
If we do count Sweet or Dicton, it would be even for the graphics.
So I guess we have to now.
Yeah, but just for your mental stability.
I mean, honestly, would I rather have an uneven graphic or have to find another book?
(59:10):
Sweet or Dicton is...
Yeah, it's a very sweet...
Do I have a book in mind?
No, but I'm sure there is one.
I always thought it was...
I don't know what that sentence means.
Wider than distance?
Yeah, what is the lyric?
I think just like very innocent and wide-eyed and like...
(59:32):
But wider than distance?
Hear me out.
I thought it was wider than Pistons for a good portion.
That makes less sense.
Right, wider than distance also doesn't make sense.
What distance?
I don't.
Just distance.
Just like distance, like endless distance.
You can't be wider than distance.
You can be wider than four feet.
(59:53):
You can be wider than 12 miles.
Your eyes wider than four feet.
I'm just saying the line wider than distance doesn't make any sense.
That's not one of my favorite songs of hers.
Yeah, you're hotter than temperature.
What?
That doesn't mean anything.
You're taller than height.
(01:00:15):
That's what that is equivalent to.
It doesn't make sense and it makes me mad.
But I do really like this song, it's a bop.
So this is my cross to bury.
I mean to bury, to bear.
It's your hatchet to bury, it's your cross to bear.
My hatchet to bury and to keep the map.
Maps of where you put them?
Yeah.
(01:00:35):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Cross to bury.
It's giving call a press meeting.
Call a press meeting.
Which like isn't wrong, it's just not quite right.
Yeah.
Well that's when I was very confused about like what a housekeeper was, but it was just
a housekeeper.
Not like a main maid.
(01:00:57):
Someday our brains will function on one of these episodes.
But today is not that day, friends.
And enemies.
It'll be longer than distance.
Or that happens.
The fire is burning in my eyes.
You're just like bopping, kind of like a sim character.
I'm swinging my legs and it makes my whole body move.
If anything it would be longer than time.
(01:01:20):
Ooh.
You're very good at this.
Maybe you do like the lyric.
No I'm just really good at analogies.
It's my claim to fame from like elementary school English sections, lessons, whatever.
I could really kill an analogy.
And you're on LinkedIn guys.
(01:01:40):
Adding it to my skills.
And with that, bye!
That's it, that's all I've got.
I just need us to stop recording now.
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