S02.32: Season Two Superlatives: The Two Wolves Inside You Edition

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome ho ho ho's.

(00:06):
We need like, what would Sabrina Carpenter say?
What would her nonsense Christmas version intro for this be for our throbbing members?
Oh my god, that's a lot to ask.
I know.
Oh my.
Let's just pretend that she's here.
Just pretend that you got a Sabrina Carpenter level intro instead of just me very sleepily

(00:29):
welcoming the ho ho ho's.
She's so funny.
I want to be her friend.
She just seems like she gets it.
So true.
So true.
She does.
Now I have nonsense and or the Christmas version of nonsense stuck in my head.

(00:50):
I think I prefer the Christmas version.
I do too.
I do in this moment.
Just because like the nonsense, it fits so well for Christmas.
It's true.
And like the fact that she could write nonsense but then write the Christmas version.
Like, I need your Charles Dickens.
I think I was I was just thinking about that line.
I need that Charles Dickens is the funniest line in the entire song.

(01:15):
I just her mind is so powerful.
That's so true.
You know who else's mind is powerful?
Who's?
The people who submitted superlatives.
So true.
I don't know why it's like pulling teeth.
I don't I don't know.
Not all y'all wanted to see things from us, I guess.
But those of you who did you came through.

(01:36):
And I appreciate it because I sure couldn't think of very many.
No, no, I needed y'all to do that for me.
Well, it's just more fun when people come up with them because like naturally they're
just more creative and funny than we could ever be.
True, true.
Well, welcome to the final show.

(01:59):
You've made it.
Final episode.
All right.
We were singing different things there.
That's OK.
Together again.
Two sides of the same coin.
I'm the two wolves.
Once again, that's the theme of this whole season.

(02:20):
Yeah, just two wolves.
Oh, the sleepiest house.
I know.
It's it's a romance.
Your TBR is twenty twenty three season two superlatives.
The two wolves edition to the two wolves inside of you edition.
That's probably true.

(02:41):
I mean, we can't say for certain until we go through these picks, because obviously
in true us fashion, we have not shared the books that we chose before this.
But I'm intrigued.
I'm intrigued, too.
We've got 20 superlatives to get through, I believe, if I counted correctly.
So I didn't count.

(03:02):
So I'm going to trust you.
Well, look, it's it's the when you're listening to this, the Friday before Christmas.
So the brain cells, very few, very few, and they are not working very hard.
They said it's time to sip some hot cocoa.
Correct.
I know I realize I have to get the Christmas episode or whatever our holiday episode ended

(03:26):
up being.
I'll just release that on Christmas Eve morning.
Oh, my God.
Have a wonderful Sunday morning with us.
Yeah.
Maybe your loved ones, but really just us.
So are we not their loved ones?
Exactly.
So like we take precedence, I think.
I agree.
Yeah.
Speaking of us being loved ones and taking precedence.

(03:47):
Before we get into the superlatives, we decided to take on a project we didn't need to take
on and do it anyway, which is sending anybody who wants one some friendship bracelets.
I was like, what are you doing?
I know I'm watching your eyes dart around the room.
I was like, what have I agreed?

(04:08):
Did we really agree on this?
We briefly discussed it.
I agree.
I was like, I was like, did I?
Is there homework?
So what was I supposed to do?
It was a math test today?
I still have nightmares.
I live in a college town, so I see college kids walking around with their backpacks and
I get flashbacks and I'm just like, I can't look at you right now.

(04:33):
I mean, I graduated high school in 2017 and college in 2021.
Yes, that's math.
And I still have nightmares about either performing in a show without having done any rehearsals
or doing a scene in my acting classes without having prepped the scene and you just have

(04:54):
to go.
Which are actually way more stressful than any dreams I could ever have about a test
because I was always a good test taker even if I didn't know what I was doing.
But you can't just make up lines in a performance.
I mean, unless it's improv, but it's not, it's scripted and it was a nightmare.
And literally, they were all nightmares.

(05:16):
I still have them.
It's bad.
Classic.
We're not here to stress you out.
The friendship bracelets, that's where we were going.
I'm going to go ahead and say this is going to be open to our US listeners only.
I'm so sorry if you're not in the US, but shipping.
Yeah.
I mean, if you really want them, Venmo is shipping and we can...

(05:40):
Yeah, we'll make it work for you.
I think unless you really desperately want it, we're going to go US only.
Basically we're going to make you three handful of friendship bracelets.
I've got so many beads and we've got upcoming days off of work.
Beads and a dream.
Beads and a dream.

(06:01):
So I'm going to put up a Google form, you can find it at the link in our various bios
slash in the show notes.
And you can fill it out and tell us your address.
We promise we won't share your address with anyone.
And in fact, we'll delete it after we've sent everything out because data security.

(06:22):
I don't know, that freaks me out.
I just really don't want to be responsible for somebody's address.
No.
Leaking, I don't know why it would, anyway, tell us your address.
We'll have some questions about your favorite books and tropes or if there's anything specific
you want from us.
Will you all get a throbbing member bracelet?
Probably.
Absolutely.

(06:43):
And you'll get sometime in the new year, probably, a little package of friendship bracelets from
one of us.
Yeah.
And if for some reason you want to send us friendship bracelets, we sure can give you
our addresses.
There'll be like a box that you can check and then we can email it to you or something.
True, true.
I just want to have matching, well, not matching, but coordinating friendship bracelets.

(07:07):
Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah.
With all the throbbing members, all four of you.
Just kidding.
We were like 30 people's top podcast.
Yeah, we have at least 32 throbbing members.
That's true.
I have decided that Kylie is our velvet wrap steel member.
This is the impetus for the podcast.

(07:27):
Yes.
Kylie, you get the honor of being our velvet wrap steel member.
The highest honor.
Yeah, you'll get a very special bracelet.
Hopefully you sign up.
If you don't, I'll just somehow find out your address and drive to you because she's in
Minnesota too.

(07:48):
Yeah.
Just something.
We'll stop you.
It's fine.
I had to recently find some information online for a friend because she got some weird mail
in her teaching mailbox and the high that I got from properly finding this information
was very great.
I pride myself on it.

(08:09):
I have a friend who also is very good at this, but I will take it a step further than she
will sometimes.
Anytime there's a hot guy on the dating app that we have met, if we have a very small
amount of information, because dating apps, you don't get last names.
I'm going to go ahead and assume that this guy, he'd probably recognize himself if he

(08:32):
heard me telling this story, but I'm going to go ahead and assume that he would never,
ever listen to this podcast.
I think I'm safe.
If you do realize this, don't tell me.
Just keep that to yourself because I am actually crazy for this.
We were talking and I knew his major, we had gone to the same college although we didn't

(08:53):
know each other.
I knew his major and I knew the year that he graduated and I knew the specific program
within his major.
I was trying to find his last name so that I could look up more about him.
I ended up finding the graduation recording from his school.
We've all been there.

(09:15):
The thing is there's hundreds of students.
I had to go find when his specific focus was mentioned and then I just kind of sped watched
it until he walked the stage.
The thing is he had kind of an odd last name so the person mispronounced his name, which
I didn't realize at the time.

(09:36):
I couldn't figure out how to spell it.
I was trying a million different spellings until eventually I was like, you know what,
I can't find him.
Instead, I looked up another girl who had also graduated and had an easy to spell name
and I found her on Facebook and she happened to be friends with him.
I was able to do a lot of internet stalking from there because I had his full name.

(10:02):
It was like a two hour video and so my friends had found it and they were like, but we're
not going to watch that whole thing.
That'd be crazy.
I was like, well, I didn't watch the whole thing but I did spend a while fast forwarding
to the part where he was.
You can never be too safe.
So true.
I wish it was out of a sense of safety.
It wasn't.

(10:23):
It was a sense of nosiness.
I'm so good and I was so proud of myself too.
I was like, guys, I found him.
They were like, how?
I was like, don't ask.
She's got a certain set of skills.
I do have a certain set of skills.
Boy, can I track down some information on men?
And boy, can you read historical romance?

(10:44):
Boy, can we?
Both of us.
And we can talk about it.
We sure can.
We sure can.
Look at us.
Hey.
Wow.
Look at us.
Look at us.
All right.
Story about me being kind of a stalker over onto the historical romance superlatives of

(11:04):
2023.
The perfect transition, might I add.
Yeah.
What a flawless segue.
Never been better, really.
I agree.
We're saving the best for last.
For context, these are just historical romances that we read in the year 2023.

(11:25):
Some of them are specific to the year, but we will specify.
Most of them are just because we read them this year and not all of them were spoken
about on the podcast.
So I agree.
Let's jump in, shall we?
We shall.
Starting off, this was a listener prompt.

(11:47):
Most likely to take a walk in the moors looking moody.
I love this one.
I do too.
There were a few that could have worked.
I ended up going with, I sure can't remember the character's name, but the hero from Never
Cross a Highlander by Lisa Reign.
I did that too.
Did you really?
I love how we start this off saying we're the two wolves and then we're the same wolf.

(12:08):
Yeah, we're actually the same wolf.
Damn.
You had to.
It was obvious.
It's angsty and moody and also set in Scotland.
But also it makes you want to punch the air and jump around a little bit.
So there's room in the moors to do that when it gets to that time.
It's true.
You got some battles.

(12:28):
You've got some angst.
You had to do something Scottish for the moors, I felt like.
Yeah.
You needed that angst.
And I just feel like he, I don't remember if he actually did walk around moodily, but
if he didn't, he could have.
You're right.
Yeah.
He probably did.
Probably.
I feel like it has to.
They banged by a waterfall, right?

(12:49):
They sure did.
They might as well walk around in the moors while they're at it.
Delicious.
Delicious indeed.
We are sure going to do an episode on that book in season three.
We will.
Lisa Reign, we already spoke to her, but if you're listening, we still want you on the
podcast.
It's still happening.
I want you so bad.
It will happen.
I'm so excited for that one.

(13:10):
Wow.
Look at us go having the same one.
I thought I was being so sneaky with that one.
No.
I love that.
Okay.
The next one was the...
It doesn't matter.
We don't have an order.
We're just going.
No, I just didn't know if this was a listener submitted one, but most likely to reread.

(13:33):
I think it was.
I did one that I just listened to recently, which was Duke's Preferred Blondes by Loretta
Chase.
It was so good.
I just know I didn't take it all in when I listened to it.
I was playing around with doing ones I've already listened to or reread because I'm

(13:54):
like, I do that, but I was like, no, this is one that I have to reread in 2024, most
likely.
They just had such great banter and the way that they acted together and the things that
they did, it was just perfect.
I just need to reread it to take it all in again because it was so good.

(14:20):
I just don't think I got the proper amount of time of me talking about it because I just
read it and we had one episode after that.
I think it even got cut.
I think I cut it out because I'm heartless.
It's the Time to Shine for Duke's Preferred Blondes by Loretta Chase.
So true.
Mine, standard disclaimer, this is a forever book.

(14:41):
I work for forever, blah, blah, blah.
My Rogue to Ruin by Erika Ridley.
Specifically, I think because I would love to do a Winchester series reread anyway, but
this may be my favorite of the series.
It's hard to say.
I say that about every Winchester book that comes out.
So I need to do a reread of all of them anyway, but also I read it as an arc and now I would

(15:04):
love to listen to the audiobook.
The audiobook is really good.
That's how I listen to it.
I have no doubt.
And also Tickle Tums is there.
Tickle Tums is the homing hedgehog in training and I just love him and I love Marjorie.
The romance was so fun.
But that one, it felt so different.
It felt very campy, but a good screwball heist plot, how they get themselves into this situation.

(15:29):
I really feel like each of the Winchesters, the style is kind of similar, but each of
them really has its own feel.
Each sibling really gets their own moment to shine.
I just love that series.
The locked in a room forging things, but also secretly being double agents of it all.

(15:50):
The heists, the homing hedgehog in training, I will never recover.
I'm very excited to reread that one.
And the way that they were both lonely as well.
Don't talk.
I know.
Because she's got a huge family, but also she had her own things.

(16:10):
But yeah, okay.
So good.
Also bonus, disabled heroin.
She is partially deaf and I really enjoyed reading that element of it.
All right, next one, which I believe was also user, I think the first chunk are all user

(16:31):
submitted.
A book I wish I'd never read.
Listen, this was hard.
This is actually hard.
Usually, there are very few times I wish I hadn't read a book, even if I didn't like
it.
But I could have done without Texas Destiny.
I'm so sorry, Lorraine Heath.
I've enjoyed the other books of your, I think I've only ever read the one other Lorraine

(16:54):
Heath actually.
But I loved that one.
Crazy statement.
I know.
You need to read more.
I know.
I know.
It's just that I read The Earl Takes All and it was so good.
And then we read Texas Destiny and it's one of the very few books of this year that I'm
like, I could have not read that.
Listen, I have another one from that series on this list.

(17:15):
Because sweet baby Jesus.
She did things in that series that should never be done again or before.
Crimes were committed.
Crimes were committed.
I just, like, it's not a book that I really feel like, you know, I didn't enjoy, but at
least I like learned something or like took something away.
I just really could have not read it and my life would be the same.

(17:41):
And I wouldn't have had to read that book.
So we talked more about it in the episode on it and also in the last episode.
So I'll just leave that there.
Yeah.
And I didn't choose, I don't think I chose any of the ones we did for our old school
school just because I wanted to talk about more books and I feel like I had like a good

(18:05):
amount, but I kind of cheated because this is not Whitney My Love, but it is Until You
End Miracles by Judith MacNaught.
And the thing about that is I it's so hard to say that I wish I'd never read it, but
like the disappointment that I felt after reading it made me wish that I had just never

(18:27):
read it or the two because it was Nikki's book was the Miracles novella and she somehow
ruined him too.
That's like, yeah.
And like people commented on my review being like, yeah, what happened?
It was 80 pages.
How could it go so wrong?
I don't know.
But seriously, every turn that a hero could take wrong, they did.

(18:48):
It was a labyrinth of wrongs.
I didn't have FOMO.
I had WOMO.
Wish I'd missed out.
Like WIMO.
WIMO.
What fear?
So fear of want of missing out.
Want of missing out.
Okay.
Yeah.
Because I just I love Stephen so much in Whitney, My Love, and I ranked until you less than

(19:17):
Whitney, My Love, because it was like everything about that book was fantastic besides Stephen,
but he was in it so much because unfortunately he was the hero.
Like I just he made so many like horrendously terrible decisions and the heroine was so
good and the story was so well written.

(19:39):
But man, WOMO.
WOMO.
WOMO.
So that one hurt.
It hurt so bad.
Next one was also listener submitted and that is Class Clown, aka the funniest.
This was hard.
It was hard.
I've read some funny books.

(20:01):
I chose Gentle Rogue by Joanne Lindsay.
I thought about Gentle Rogue.
I considered it because it just it was so good and it just I did not anticipate like
even you telling me because you had read it before I did you telling me that it was funny
and absurd and like not what we had been expecting.

(20:22):
The scene of them having a serious conversation while he physically fights his way through
all of those guys.
Yeah.
Like lives in my head rent free.
And just like the he like the comedy of him knowing that she's this cabin boy and her
thinking that she's pulling it off and just oh my god it was it was great.

(20:45):
Her thinking that she's nauseous around him and him being like oh she's horny.
Peak comedy.
I just and the way the narrator narrated it.
Yeah.
He kind of sounded like a little rat.
Yeah.
And then I just read The Present which is like a novella in the series.

(21:06):
It's like a Christmas novella that kind of combines the Andersons and the Mallories the
two separate families there and just the little bits you got of them and that I was because
I was attached to like every this is the only one I've read in that series Gentle Rogue
and I guess The Present but like I was just so attached to everyone but then they would
talk about her brothers and like what happened in Gentle Rogue and it just because then they

(21:31):
were angry they were mad at each other.
She was mad at him in The Present so then it was perfect because I always want her to
be mad at him.
So good.
I this was tricky.
I ended up going with Get The Off My Lawn by Dario Vernon which is crazy because that's
the first book I read this year.

(21:53):
I think I was gonna I was seeing if I could choose that one.
I read it in 2022.
So I couldn't I couldn't quite choose it.
I read it it was I think it was literally my first book of January 2023.
So I think I had read it and then we were like we need to do an episode on it because
that was one of our first episodes this season.
Yep very first book.

(22:13):
It just it just cracked me.
It's called first of all Get The Off My Lawn.
What's the tagline?
A Regency romcom with a swan problem.
So already the premise of her having to go get her swan back off the neighbor's yard
only for it to not even be her swan Gerald.
The existence of Gerald the swan.

(22:36):
The whole her screaming.
I'm not even going to elaborate because it's a spoiler but the moment where she screams
I think is so which like I don't normally remember tiny details like that I mean not
tiny but smaller details especially from the first book I read in January.
But oh my god.
I just.
I know Daria Vernon has done like other things I need her to do just another like just regular

(23:04):
like historical romance shenanigans filled campy.
Yeah I just love the shenanigans.
There were so many.
I'm trying to look camp straight in the eye and write something more because it was so
good because there was like the secondary romance in there.
It just it just cracked me up.
It was so I just highlighted so much from it also I remember.

(23:28):
Yeah there we go.
Next up we have the most painful third act breakup which could be interpreted I thought
a couple of ways because you can either go like painful like you hated it or painful
like this was just emotionally difficult to read.
I had a runner up that I just hated it but then when I chose I wanted to just like choose

(23:49):
one that was both painful for me and for the characters.
Yeah in different ways.
I ended up going kind of the latter.
I said marry me by midnight by Felicia Grossman.
I was looking through and like there aren't a lot of books that I really remember the
third act breakup.
Did you choose that one for say don't go?
Yes.
Yeah.
Okay that that tracks.
Yeah.

(24:10):
Yeah it just and I had reread it recently so I was also thinking about it and like it's
just that he's just so sweet and I just wanted the best for him at all times and then he's
like no I'm leaving like you can tell me that you love me or I'm gonna leave essentially
and she can't and he's so upset and hurt and he tries to leave and then there's like the

(24:32):
drama of the third act and like the Cinderella of it all and I listen I he's just so good.
I just love him.
Also this is a forever book.
Did I say that?
I'm just gonna throw that in there every time just in case just in case y'all didn't know
that also that I just love that book and also that he deserved the whole world and he fed

(24:56):
family little mice and birds and he was so lovely and all he wanted was to like provide
for a family of his own.
That gets me.
Like it's just not a historical romance hero thing.
Usually they're avoiding marriage.
I know I would I would love to be able to pull some up but like the ones where the hero
just desperately wants a family kind of take me out because we've talked about before when

(25:19):
they or if they haven't wanted a family and then they like fall in love and they're like
wow I want kids with like the heroines eyes or hair and then oh my god it takes me out.
I just it was just so like and he like genuinely just wanted to like be a provider because
it was something he couldn't do like that he just wanted a family and to be loved and
I was like shut up what if I cry what then?

(25:41):
Anyway there you go.
The one I chose was An Island Princess Starts a Scandal by Adriana Herrera because Cora
was in pain.
That's so true.
But it and for me I was in pain in a good way because like I just thought that and I

(26:04):
think Cora thought too that her like running in to the wedding and attacking this man so
sexily and causing him bodily harm and then being like I love you like let's be together
and then Manuela was just like no too late.
That hurt because I did not expect I thought I was like well you just had like a crazy

(26:24):
like interrupted wedding scene and then it's and then you go into the breakup I was like
oh my god and then Cora was just down for the count.
She was like laying in the bedsheets that like smelled like Manuela like everyone in
her life was like are you like what you're not you're not well.

(26:45):
Another was Manuela but it was like a different because like she was like I'm because she
got out of the marriage because of Cora but then it just hurt but it was a good kind of
hurt.
I will say my backup my runner-up if you will was It Happened One Fight by Maureen Lee Lanker.

(27:06):
That one was painful because I loved the book and up until the third act and then the third
act just like did it make sense for the book.
Yes.
Was I happy about it.
No.
And you could just see it coming from a mile away because the villain she was like a reporter
because this was a 1920s or 30s.

(27:27):
They're both like movie stars and it's kind of it was fun to see like the old black and
white movie stars like influence in it and I really enjoyed the book a lot until the
third act because you knew it was happening and he was so sweet and earnest and then the
way she had to ruin his life and like shit on him publicly was quite literally a crime

(27:53):
against me.
So that hurt that hurt a lot.
I mean my runner-up was Whitney My Love just because I was so mad about his conclusion
in a few ways.
Yeah.
I get that.
Yeah.
I didn't want to choose anything else by Judith Macnaght but that one could have been for anything
I'd rewrite or like painful because that man.

(28:13):
Yeah.
Way to ruin a good thing.
Next one is Most Heartwarming Epilogue and I had two.
I had one and then I was looking through my reads again and I was like oh my god how did
I forget and this is A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall.
It's a forever book but I don't work there.
You don't work there.

(28:34):
I don't work there.
I just know Caroline supports the book as well.
I just think of Jack Scallion on a day-to-day basis.
That scene lives in my mind because the book was just so tender and you hurt so bad for

(28:56):
them and for yourself and then you get to the end and they're just so happy with their
children and it really did a number on me.
But yeah, Jack Scallion, I just think about it all the time.
Yeah I was scrolling through going surely I mean epilogues.
Why can't I think of any good and then I got to it and I was like oh my god but of course

(29:21):
the Secret Service of Tea and Dream.
That was my runner up.
I was like okay I think Caroline's going to choose that.
And I did.
And I did.
And the way that you murdered my piece.
The way that you were like what if I took all three of the couples and then gave them
to you with all of their little children and the women are like all friends and they have

(29:42):
bonded and they're dancing in the moonlight in the air magically and all of the men are
looking after the children and being so proud of them and they're all just like so close
and so happy and all of those characters started out the series so like kind of unhappy and
now they're all just like they have their own little mini found family and also I just

(30:04):
loved all those books and all of those characters and it just was like what if I smacked you
across the face with your own feelings and I think that that was rude.
It was and I'll yeah it because those two those two like our epilogues like I viscerally
remember because like I read a few Lorraine Heath this year because she's always an epilogue

(30:27):
queen for me but I read most of them during the HarperCollins strike and I was in my reviews
was like I'll write a review once the strikes over and I never did because I'm me and so
like I don't remember the ones there and then these two are just so vivid.
I'll also add a gentleman's gambit or the gentleman's gambit by Evie Dunmore.

(30:51):
You haven't read it yet but the epilogue in that the book wasn't my favorite but the epilogue
of all of them coming together for like the same reasons of like the Secret Service of
Tea and Treason and seeing like all those different couples and knowing what they all
went through and there's a lot with the what's the but I'm not why am I thinking suffrage

(31:14):
women suffrage I was thinking surrogacy as not not the word it's really poignant and
like where the epilogue ends and women's suffrage it just it was a lot to handle and I didn't
handle it well so there's that as well.

(31:35):
So true.
Best grovel.
I feel like we may have chosen the same unless you purposely chose something else.
Yeah okay but what kind of well I sure did go a rogue's rules for seduction by evil.
I was hoping and I knew you would choose it okay good but there was one that I thought
a little bit above just wow I know but I also was confident in choosing that one because

(32:01):
I knew that you were gonna choose a road like it would have been a lot harder.
So I chose a 3D chest over here yeah 3D chest listen that man bloodied his knees yeah yeah
it I feel like I don't need to allow I mean just the whole book was a grovel and I respect
that but specifically he bloodied his knees and the the one I chose I really wanted like

(32:31):
for me a grovel like this person's got to be like down and like destroyed and hurt and
obviously Dom was so he fits this perfectly but the one I choose chose was Daring in the
Duke by Sarah MacLaine which is the yellow one in that series the brand of bare knuckle
bastards and that one also was kind of like a whole book like half of it's kind of a grovel

(32:59):
the other half is him just being like terribly depressed and like emaciated and unwell for
his entire life because he just he was so unhinged that whole series yeah like he was
like nuts and berries he was going wild Duke's gone wild and by that book I was just so I

(33:27):
was unprepared is the word and yeah just like seeing him in that much pain healed me so
that's so real yep yep that's so real what if I that could also be most likely to reread

(33:50):
because I will reread it and I'm so excited the next one so we had to kind of adapt this
one because we just could not think of anything accurate the initial question was worst clit
reference which in that mind I'll just direct you to our interview with Elizabeth Everett

(34:12):
yeah we have a whole clit conversation nubs buttons bundles of nerves all of that we adjusted
that to worst sex words just for ease and do I think worst is bad in this case no because

(34:33):
it makes Grace Calloway Grace Calloway but I did choose the Duke identity and that's
specifically for the phrases diddling her petals that word diddling was in that book
so much so much and it just the book itself he is like an undercover like investigator

(34:54):
or something and she is the daughter of like a crime boss and then basically he like gets
into a circumstance where he has to be her bodyguard and her father like is very invested
in this because he hires him it's a whole thing it's a very good book but diddling diddling

(35:15):
a diddling I just diddling her petals like Grace Calloway has given me veiny meat man
me like veiny stock all of that but diddling her petals for some reason did a number on
me I went back because I was like I feel like there's one that I took notes on that I surely

(35:37):
and there was there was I would like to redirect us to Sky O'Malley yeah by Bertree Small where
the following notes live in my I couldn't remember I knew they existed yeah the following
notes live in my my notes app creamy juices monster sex as in his monster sex as in the

(36:00):
sex was so large she referred to it in her head as a monster sex honey oven came up a
lot honey oven and I remember that one being a recurring one her her honey oven make me
hungry for like a really succulent don't baked good don't honey I've heard I've read honey

(36:26):
pot before I've read honey yeah well actually I had one of those like American Girl like
health books oh dear the doctor gives you through like puberty or something and for
some reason I decided to like tell you all of the different euphemisms for women's anatomy
and one it was like boxed honey pot and I was like what I was like I didn't I didn't

(36:51):
I could have lived my whole life nope without knowing that well 12 Bertree said honey oven
man root also did come up a few times that one man roots a good one and I would like
to note that my last note was I don't know why breastfeeding would surprise me now I
have no memory of what the breastfeeding context was I think he he suckled her oh I'm sure

(37:11):
there's another one we read that was that was Lisa Claybrook I think dreaming of you
ends with breastfeeding but this one I don't remember the specific context just I don't
either there was breastfeeding which isn't a bad sex word but does feel important to
mention in the context of man root monster sex honey oven and creamy juices which isn't
that bad but is not a phrase that I enjoy yeah also I should note that she watched the

(37:36):
horses breeding and was fantasizing about things so a lot of things were happening there
yeah that's a book that was written I'd also like to submit Eloisa James just for her continuous
use of tool sure sure as a euphemism because it's the worst I Bob the Builder I don't

(37:59):
need him I'm so sorry what about handyman II well that's a different story but like
tool is just horrible and I did read I think like one or two like Eloisa James's this year
and she's still uses tool she's gotten better of like getting us like a thesaurus it's no

(38:21):
hairy sack of prunes I mean yeah hairy sack of prunes that sure was Elizabeth Hoyt is
also up there I'm using some I just couldn't I just did not read that one that would have
been I think my winner if I had to read that in 2023 I read a lot of other in the maiden
lane series things were said things I just can't remember them but I loved I loved the

(38:44):
experience of wondering what Elizabeth Hoyt was going to give me next but yeah nothing
topped a hairy sack of prunes yeah and just a completely unremarkable book otherwise but
like I'll forever remember it yeah because of that which I mean iconic really next up

(39:09):
we've got this one wasn't user submitted it was just one that we did last year that I
really like and that's a new auto read author I said Jeannie Lynn I read several Jeannie
Lynn books this year there's lots of backlist to go back and read there aren't a ton of
audiobooks and that kind of gets in my way but she is one that I do intend to work my

(39:31):
way through and if and when she writes more things and you guys didn't see Caroline reading
Jeannie Lynn's tiny little miniature novella that was a mini book size something yeah we
got it at steamy lit and it was so cute and she was just laying on the bed like reading
this tiny little book yeah because it was like sure but it was also like a tiny book

(39:53):
yeah it was like a few inches tall yeah it's the cutest thing authors like if you're looking
for things to like hand out at like book cons and stuff yeah I love a tiny printed novella
I'm amazing I also love coasters I always need a coaster just saying but tiny little
novellas that was unique and fantastic true true my author was Liana De La Rosa one because

(40:19):
I'm just so excited for Isabelle and the Rogue like so excited and I have the arc but I've
been edging it because I don't want it to be over and I did just read yesterday the
captain's midwinter bride I think is what it is it was like a Christmas novella I'm
suddenly feeling Christmasy so suddenly I got all these Christmas novellas to get through

(40:42):
you got four days yeah yeah and I support you listen Christmas starts on the 25th to
be clear true so true yeah I've read a I actually DNF'd two novellas Christmas novellas yesterday
because I was not having it so I felt confident picking up Liana's and it was a confident

(41:05):
and a good choice and there's a second one in that series which is great because this
one was like a hundred and like fourteen pages the next one is like a hundred and twenty
pages and like I just love the security of a novella knowing that they're only like they're
only gonna be short because the two like the captain's midwinter bride was like a perfect

(41:28):
second chance like it was great and I would fully read a full book of it but like it did
what I need to do in the novella the next one in the series I'm a little apprehensive
just because the trope isn't necessarily my favorite but also it's only a hundred and
twenty pages and it's Liana De La Rosa so I think she's I think I'm fairly secure in

(41:49):
like reading it and knowing I'll enjoy it so I'm very excited for that but yeah I will
automatically read everything she's published from Berk or she publishes from Berkeley and
if she whatever she decides to do going forward and then I also have to get through her backlist
as well but yeah I just love her writing and the my wifeness of it all she does that very

(42:17):
well so I love that for her scene you'd rewrite better now this one this was a this was one
of the last ones that I chose and I had to go all the way back to January of 2023 and
the book itself is called save a horse ride a bike out by Valerie Bowman and you think

(42:43):
getting that title that you would have a very explicit riding scene sure it was closed door
oh no and it was very vague and the most disappointing thing it was a very good novella or book
I don't know how long it was I think it was a full book I had to talk a star because she

(43:03):
didn't ride him in a manner that I saw dirty and filthy so if I would rewrite it I would
just make it the like dirtiest filthiest riding scene ever because we all deserve it for a
title like that true I just don't know how that happens because like it was one of the

(43:26):
later books I think it's I don't know if it's indie published but it was one of the later
books in the series and the series progressively got less steamy but I was like surely surely
with that title you're gonna you're gonna give it to us right now no and don't call
me surely there's we have a bunch of VHS's at our cabin and that scene from airplane

(43:50):
is on a bunch of like previews for all the old movies never seen the movie but I have
a preview good I mean it's bad but it's good listen I think if I'm correct this is the
last of the old school references I must make there are two options here yeah one option

(44:16):
is we get to the end of prisoner of my desire and they're fighting on the rooftop and either
because I think it's important that we get the fact that he has no longer that urge to
like pay people back ten times for whatever they do to him but I think it's important
for him because he's like ruined his life with this like mantra could have just ruined

(44:36):
one more life and then so either here is how my two options for how I rewrite the finale
either he isn't going to kill the guy and she steps in and does it for him or he's like
I like it's not mine and like gives her the sword and she gets like ahead the guy actually
there's three options that's number one number two choose your own adventure yeah they're

(45:00):
battle I would have to debate they're battling on this rooftop and there's like that door
in the rooftop that goes down do you know what I'm talking about yeah yeah it was very
vivid scene right there's like there's like a door in the lake to the you know like to
get up onto the rooftop and it's open and I was confused because I thought he was gonna
be like okay I forgive you and then the bad guy would like trip and fall and like he would

(45:24):
end up dead that way so we still got the comeuppance but he he wasn't necessarily responsible that's
door number two door number three is he says I could forgive you for what you did to me
but not for what you did to my wife and then he beheads him wow those are my three options

(45:47):
for how to rewrite the end of prisoner of my desire wow and had any one of them taken
place that book would have gotten bumped up a star I agree wow so that that's those are
my rewrites wow that's living with me right now yeah yeah especially that last one I just
love like I could have forgiven you but for what you did to her like because then you

(46:13):
still get like his like he doesn't need the vengeance for himself he's living on a higher
plane but you don't fuck with his wife anyway so I agree I as a runner-up I will say I'm
going to be rereading the Lisa Claypiss wallflower Christmas I think we both can agree that we
would rewrite that novella to include not a Chekhov's saddle strap and I want Marcus

(46:38):
using the saddle strap as promised yes so that would be in our rewrite I think just
and nobody's here and my horses don't gossip yeah that's so true um next up we have a book
that you hated but that lives in your mind rent-free this was a little tricky um I didn't

(47:02):
like this or really hate this book I just didn't like it I didn't think it was good
and the book is uh taken by the Earl by Carol Mortimer I think I don't know if it's a novella
or just like kind of a shorter book it's somewhere in there um it's an erotic probably novella
the reason that it lives in my head rent-free is because they do have sex on a horse they

(47:28):
he's doing it to punish her and basically like overstimulates her by making her like
sit on his dick while they're riding a horse and she just like comes repeatedly until eventually
they're having a conversation with this couple that has written up and she like passes out
and he's like oh shit my bad because he just made her come on him while riding a horse

(47:49):
so many times and like was it good no um I don't think that that's even a little bit
realistic but I did respect the commitment to the bit and it it did imprint itself on
me even though the book wasn't good so I I support that um for me we know this I have
a thing where I just forget things and so like if I didn't like a book normally it doesn't

(48:15):
live rent-free because I just have blocked it out um but I would I did want to choose
I mean any of those old-school-school ones that like I didn't like are all runners up
um really so say the incest the incest does live in it does live in my so I that would
have been my one if I was including um the old-school-school um this one was also I guess

(48:38):
an old-school-school era of time just we didn't choose it was Texas Splendor by Lorraine
Heath it was the third one in that series and it was quite impressive how each book
just got worse and worse than that one um like she just committed to the bit and was
like I'm just gonna give you the worst fucking book you've ever read um because one for spoilers

(48:58):
if I you shouldn't read it really but if you do there are spoilers um jump to the next
timestamp um her dog got killed by a bobcat on page um she was a traumatized woman who
witnessed her entire family brutally murdered in front of her like explicit detail we got
about what happened to her family she then after that is traumatized and living in like

(49:23):
a tiny house on this like route or whatever um and she has a dog that she loves and what
happens to the dog yeah it gets killed got killed by a bobcat so first of all what the
fuck I mean what I just what and then the hero not a hero the man who happens to be

(49:44):
next to her throughout this book um stumbles upon her and basically like they bang very
early on um before 29 percent and he literally moans the name of his first love instead of
her name because he probably doesn't remember her name because it's so early on and she's

(50:05):
traumatized and like horrible things have happened to her and he's just the worst because
you see him throughout the books I think I don't know if he's the brother who she the
heroine marries in book one or if he I think he's the oh you know he's that guy's book
is the second one not a great book either that was two stars um this one is he was another

(50:28):
reason it's coming back is because in Texas Destiny and the second one they had a super
cute younger brother who was very innocent and then he just fucking goes to jail because
he thinks that he's like saving the love of his life because she committed a crime and
he doesn't want her um to pay for it so he goes to jail and just gets absolutely wrecked

(50:49):
in prison and he was the most sweetest innocent test little boy and then he turns into just
this terrible man and it angered me so much that she would do that to everyone in this
series um but mostly me because it it hurt me um but yeah then we just like recounted

(51:12):
the murder of her family including her very young brother and it was horrible and I'm
like Lorraine why did you want to write a horror novel like nothing about this was was
enjoyable and then she threw an incest so what what possessed Lorraine to write to write
this book I want to know I want to know Phil Collins tell me because it was egregious and

(51:40):
I unfortunately remember too much of it so yeah apparently I it I just thought that one
book in that series because I liked the beginning of book one I just thought and I was so wrong
that's okay it's fine I'm fine uh on a happier note um the next one is most bonkers in parentheses

(52:04):
fun um bonkers in this way yes uh I had to choose Lady Pirate by Lindsay Sands um I got
a lot of pirate content on the second half because I had a really good pirate reading
streak there everyone was like five stars I was in it to win it um and both characters

(52:26):
in this book were in it to win it it was campy it was great um I mean it does start out with
her brother getting viciously murdered um by another pirate and she has to she has to
take the helm now um because he like told her um to do that and then uh oh they're
also um titled so he was he was actually like a titled person and so she now has to like

(52:51):
go live in society and just to get a husband and so it's like all of her crew are like
her like fake family and like butlers like they're her fake staff too so they're like
pirates who look like pirates and talk like pirates and act like pirates and everyone's
just kind of like what why is your staff so weird and it's great and then she meets um

(53:14):
I don't know if he's an earl or whatever he is um and their relationship is super cute
um until she finds out that that he is like in in charge of like investigating and like
telling the queen of pirates who like don't pay their like taxes or whatever and so she
thinks that he's gonna like turn her in so the point where like they're both in love

(53:37):
with each other she's just like I have to kill you and he's kind of just like well that's
cute like that's funny you would say that and like it gets to a point where she is like
seconds away from killing him which this happened in another book that I have on this list but
like he is kind of upset at this point he's like wow you're just gonna kill me that shouldn't

(54:02):
happen um and then she has a moment of um I can't kill him I love him and so she's like
I'm just gonna get him like uproaringly drunk like he is going to be so drunk and then we're
gonna get married because he can't incriminate his wife um and so they get the they get the

(54:23):
like they get married he doesn't remember any of it they wake up on a deserted island
they have purposely been shipped like deserted on this island so that she could consummate
the marriage um because she's not taking any chances that he could turn in her and her
crew um and it's a little bit like non-con but also he's like so into it but like the

(54:45):
way that it happens he's like tied up because she doesn't trust his strength so she like
ties him up like on the sand and it's I it's a fantastic scene and that's not even that's
like 60% so there's so much of the book happening after that and like fantastic bonkers crazy

(55:05):
Lindsey Sands wow so good loved it I'm going for the queen of bonkers here Dara Joy wrote
a book Dara Joy wrote quite a few books Dara Joy wrote a book that I read this year though
called Réjard and this is it's the second book in a series have I read their other books

(55:27):
no but this one is technically historical the other ones are like one is in a different
like alien universe and one of them is in kind of like contemporary I think settings
um but this one is Regency England um and there's this species yeah there is why am

(55:48):
I blanking on what they're called um well they're cat people sure well they're cat shifters
cat shifters yeah it's important that you yeah I read like the first hundred pages of
another book in this series yes for some reason I was going through all my books I was like
why don't I just read this that one was mine description on Goodreads is like two sentences
and it doesn't do it justice um so basically he's this alien this alien cat shifter from

(56:19):
a different universe um and he I just want them to tell me what these things are called
um because they have a funny oh they're they're familiars duh familiars are cat shifter alien
guys who are renowned for being good at sex like that's a part of their species they're

(56:45):
good at sex they love sex they have a lot of sex they just love women um just generally
and also sex and he ends up because of reasons for plot reasons for the paranormal side of
this that is happening in this series he like falls through an all like a door in like an
alternate reality type of situation anyway he ends up in regency london but in cat form

(57:12):
great and so he ends up getting taken in by this sort of spinster whose aunt really wants
her to get married or relative I don't know what she is um so he gets taken in as a cat
he becomes obsessed with her he then takes so during the day he's or he kind of goes
back and forth sometimes during the day he's living as a cat as her pet cat and sometimes

(57:37):
he then shifts into his human form and he has like waist length hair and has to learn
how to adapt to like regency customs and he's pretending to be a russian prince so he's
like living this debauched russian prince life and courting her while also being her
pet cat and then at night he shifts into himself and wakes her up and like seduces her but

(57:58):
she thinks she's just having sexy dreams like she doesn't realize that he's that this is
happening in real life um and this is the premise and then it it goes from there and
I had such a good time because what do you what do you mean he's like an alien cat shifter

(58:22):
who's her her pet cat but also a russian prince or pretending to be a russian prince and he
like doesn't understand that people aren't just having sex all the time because that's
what familiars do so he doesn't get that she's like a virgin it's a whole thing so what a
truly wild time.

(58:43):
Good art. Excellent. Next up we have our favorite 2023 release which is really hard because
there were a lot of really good releases. I ended up picking an island princess starts
a scandal. That was up there for me. Adriana Herrera. I just think it was a I mean I read
quite a few really good releases this year but this I I've got nothing I just thought

(59:07):
it was a great book. Thoroughly enjoyed. So good. The one I chose is just like the most
me like me in a book and I just didn't think I'd be lucky enough to like get this book
like have it exist and that's an Earl to Remember by Stacey Reed. It's my historical romance
overboard. I mean I've read several other overboard historical romance ones once more

(59:30):
My Darling Rogue by Lorraine Heath is a favorite it's my favorite book by her but like the
Stacey Reed one was just perfect like it's everything I wanted. I just didn't think I
was going to get it and then I was reading it and I was like surely this can't be that
good like something's going to go wrong and then it just never did and it was great and
fantastic and hot and I loved the kids in it because she was like their guardian and

(59:53):
it just he it was just perfect. And yeah I just will read. I mean Stacey Reed is also
an auto read author but she wasn't one that I had read for the first time this year but
she literally can do no wrong. You know in my book. Fantastic. Oh thinking about that

(01:00:19):
book now. Most cinematic in parentheses want to see adapted into a movie if you so choose
and the one that I did so choose was one that is kind of another like movie retelling because
I just want this movie and it's Don't Want You Like a Best Friend by Emma Albin and it's

(01:00:43):
like a historical sapphic parent trap which was so good. Like it was just so fun and obviously
they're not related like in the parent trap because this is a romance but it was just
perfect. I loved the secondary romance which was the romance of their parents. It was angsty.

(01:01:08):
It was just so sweet and it's not I thought it was like a young adult historical romance.
It's not like it's adult. They're like in their early 20s I think and they're just having
their come out so they're debuting together and the setup that it has for the next book
I think I've requested it on neck Alex. I'm super excited. The one downfall of the book

(01:01:30):
was that it was written in third person present which is just a POV tense I despise. So if
it was a movie that wouldn't be a problem. But I basically when I was reading the book
shifted the tense the entire time in my head and it worked because I'm Delulu and I could
girl boss my way into reading that book in third person past tense. So I did. But that

(01:01:59):
was it was a fantastic book and I think would make a great movie. I think it would be a
perfect like comedy romance historical dare I say fans of Bridgerton. Like I think it
could be really really good. So there's that. This one I almost chose for my most likely

(01:02:21):
to reread just because it's it's already it's happening. I don't know when yet but it's
happening. Bewitching. Yeah. The author I'm blanking on but bewitching. Jill Barnett.
Thank you. Jill Barnett. It was just already very cinematic in the I just feel like I could
see it all playing out with the like campy magical elements and rose petals appearing

(01:02:49):
in the air and statues coming to life and dancing around like it was just a very vivid.
It's very vivid. There's there are a lot of internal things but not like there are some
books that are so internal I don't think they would work adapted to screen this one I think
you could do it. I it just was already very cinematic I think it would translate really

(01:03:12):
well as a magical elements. It's very funny. Emotional. Yeah. No I just I could see the
whole thing and I would like to see it for real. Me too. I think we also need to just
add we need a Beverly Jenkins cinematic universe. Well that's true. There's so many Beverly
Jenkins Sarah McClain Lisa Klepitz cinematic universes I'm requesting formally. Whoever

(01:03:41):
wants to do that. Wow. My favorite novella in which Winnie Halifax is utterly ruined
by Alexandra Vaste. I think she was she might have been my auto read author of last year
I don't remember. Yeah. But if not she was one of them. Yeah. I think she was either

(01:04:02):
for both of us or right up there. Yeah. There is nothing she could write that I wouldn't
read. I know and for some reason she like I had no clue she was doing a new newsletter
novella. I had no clue like when she first. Well I've seen it now for like a month or
so like I think when she was talking about the cover when she had users vote but I was

(01:04:24):
like I did not know there was a new one coming before that. I was like what. I was like I
voted in the initial things so I've been. Oh maybe that was. I don't know. I was very
tickled to learn that we were getting. Oh. More Alexandra Vaste. Well Winnie Halifax
8. Devoured. We read it sitting by a pool. We did. In California. So. That one was my

(01:04:50):
like in my top two and I picked another one that I read. I started it. I think I maybe
I finished it in the airport on the way home. It was after you left. And that was Prisoner
of Love by Beverly Jenkins. It was just a perfect super hot like novella. It was great.

(01:05:11):
She her husband like left her for another woman. So she was just like living alone.
And then this guy was basically just got out of prison and she needed protection and he
needed somewhere to live. So it's kind of like convenience marriage of convenience.

(01:05:32):
And then I just viscerally remember her husband her other husband coming back and the hero
was just like like give me the word and I will take him out back and just fuck him up.
And normally we're conditioned to think the heroines are going to be like no violence
is bad. Don't do that. And she's just like yeah. Go do it. I don't I just love that mentality.

(01:05:59):
Just like yeah he's a horrible go go fuck him up. I don't think you've got like anything
crazy because I think the guy is just scared just like ran off. But the husband just assumed
she would be like no you don't do that. And yeah it was it was so good. And it's a very
quick read. And it really is just like everything good about Beverly Jenkins just like a bite

(01:06:22):
size package. The next one is favorite paranormal fantasy historical romance. I had to add the
fantasy in there because I don't know if these are considered paranormal fantasy. I don't
know. But this is a two for one because it's just a duology basically. It's the Breath

(01:06:43):
of Magic and Touch of Enchantment by Teresa Medeiros. That's in the Lennox Family Magic
series. But yeah it's just the two books. And Teresa Medeiros is another one that would
be an auto read author. I don't know if I'd read her in 2022. Yeah. But after yeah. Oh
yeah yeah. So that's so I didn't choose her but automatically I've read several for Brooks

(01:07:08):
now this year and they're all fantastic. She is a phenomenal writer especially the ones
that just get a little bit kooky a little bit paranormal because after midnight the
vampire who loved me this series she's the the pirate one we read is up there. Like she's
just a phenomenal author. But this Breath of Magic and Touch of Enchantment were the

(01:07:28):
time travel ones and nothing made me more happy than those two books. She was like a
Puritan witch and he was a 90s billionaire. How does it work? I don't know. Breath of
Magic had the singular hottest bath scene I've ever read. Like she just whipped it out

(01:07:48):
at the end of that book and I was like what are you doing? This Puritan witch is getting
absolutely blown away in a bathtub. One of them blew the other one away. Not only is
there running water but there's a hot naked billionaire bathing her. It was a great scene.

(01:08:08):
The book was just I mean that can make a movie too because what the hell. I mean these books
could also be in the bonkers because so much happened. I just it was phenomenal. And then
the second one so the period so the Puritan witch travels forward and then in the second
one their daughter that they have so this is like 20 years later or something like that.

(01:08:33):
So now we're in the 2000s and the daughter accidentally travels back to medieval times
and she pops out the portal and stumbles upon this injured knight upon a horse who's like
go away I'm being chased and she's like no. And then he just like falls off his horse

(01:08:55):
because he's injured. So then she has to like save him and he is so good. Like it just is
perfect. He thinks he has to kill her because she's a witch at one point. So then you get
that very emotional scene of like I have to kill you but I love you. And he also gets
very close and just burning her like a witch. Obviously he didn't. There's a dragon in this

(01:09:20):
one. It was just both of them were so different but so good and I sobbed at the end of this
one the second one I think just oh my god. Yeah everyone should go read those. They're
so good and I need more time travel because it just was so delicious and the fish out

(01:09:41):
of water element of it. Love. My favorite paranormal fantasy whatever you want to call
it if you don't like it or you read it and you're like that wasn't for me that's actually
okay because the target audience was just me. That's yeah and the target audience was

(01:10:07):
so satisfied and that is Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall. Very rarely do I read a book
that I'm like yeah that was actually only written for me. It got published so the rest
of you have been blessed. That's an Earl's Remember for me. It's like a sapphic sort

(01:10:30):
of magical historical romance but there are like gods at work but also sort of like the
Shakespearean version of gods because the whole thing is narrated by Puck slash Robin
Goodfellow. So the story is told from their perspective and it just was so good. I can't

(01:11:01):
explain it. It just was like what if Robin Goodfellow told you a sapphic historical romance
in which one of them is maybe cursed. She's actively cursed. Like there are attempts being
made on her life but through magical forces. Actively cursed. And the other one is she's

(01:11:21):
a duke or for reasons or like that's what she's called and people think she maybe killed
her entire family. What's going on? I don't know. I just know that it was perfect and
the audiobook was good and I read it and I was like it doesn't matter if no one else
likes it because it was for me. I love when that happens. It was for me specifically. And

(01:11:46):
it's just so funny. I love that the narrator is not one of the main characters but it's
still a very voicey narrator because you get so much kind of dry humor and wit. So there
you go. Mortal Follies. Go read it. Next up we have my personal favorite category. The
most egregiously horny. And for a second I was like I don't know I've read a lot of horny

(01:12:11):
books and then I remembered there is one that stands out as the most egregiously horny thing
I have ever read and that is The Luckiest Lady in London. I had that one if for some
reason you like fell and bumped your head and didn't choose it. I mean if Caroline was
like body snatched by some alien species and they hadn't read that book. Well I forgot

(01:12:31):
about it initially. I thought about private arrangements. I thought about some other ones.
So I was holding out hope. Then I was like oh my god The Luckiest Lady in London. Because
I knew there was one that I had posted about on my story and been like this is the horniest
book I've ever read. And it was this one. And I agree. Within chapters they're telling
each other about their exhibitionist fantasies of each other. They're just so horny. That

(01:12:58):
book was also I kept wanting to say most likely to reread. I've already reread it. So that's
why I didn't choose it. And also I was saving it just in case I needed to come in and save
everyone with this one. Sure. It's egregiously horny. I always want to read this book. There's
always, there's like a 1% part of me every day that's like what do I read. And there's

(01:13:18):
always that small part that's like but what if I just reread The Luckiest Lady in London.
They're like two unhinged people who are just so horny. And just the way that the third
act and just everything plays out and it's so character driven is just fantastic. I just
feel like if you needed a book that was like horny on main personified. These two people

(01:13:40):
are horny on main. They are. For everyone around them too. Beautiful. So I had that
one. But I also had The Duke Gets Desperate by Diana Quincy. That was one that I considered
also. So good. Because I will never forget basically like in Princess Diaries 2 which
is like the horniest movie. The fountain scene. The fountain scene. Like I loathe you, I loathe

(01:14:04):
you more. Like falling into the pond. The Duke Gets Desperate. Literally the way that
they hate and are mean to each other but also are like seconds away from kissing each other.
And they're like I never want to do this again. I hate you so much. And then it's like smooch

(01:14:25):
smooch smooch. It's perfect. I love it. I recently reread it and it was better the second
time. The ending is a sleeper. I don't expect it to get as emotional for me and I guess
for the character. But the way the hero kind of like turns around. Because he was definitely
a little bit dickish at the beginning because I mean rightfully so. He thought he was getting

(01:14:45):
this property. It was given to her and all that. But by the end he was just so down.
And I think he was like crying. Like I was also crying. Like great book but also egregiously
horny. They're just so horny for each other. Like it was so good. There's a blur post that

(01:15:05):
I quote often that I used in one of my like I used for this book in one of my like historical
romances as Tumblr posts because it's all I can think about when I think about this
book. And the Tumblr post is an anonymous message saying you should be addicted to shutting
the fuck up. And the person responding with you want to fuck me so bad it makes you look
stupid. And I quote that a lot. You want to fuck me so bad it makes you look stupid. A

(01:15:30):
lot. But that is you should be addicted to shutting the fuck up. You want to fuck me
so bad it makes you look stupid is actually the exact dynamic of the characters in The
Duke that gets desperate.
I also want to just add if you need something similar like that it had to be a Duke by Vivienne
Lorette distinctly less horny I would say. But still Princess Diaries 2 vibes. Like there's

(01:15:53):
also a pond or like a fountain. Like there's some body of water that they fall into because
they're fighting. And there's the same like they I mean he truly did not like her. He
was very angry with her. But in a hot way. So that one also it sticks out to me for just
having a very good dynamic in the relationship that leads to aggressive kissing. A personal

(01:16:19):
favorite type of kissing. Aggressive.
The next one is favorite newly released book in a series. So we took this one to mean a
series that already existed and then a new book was added to it in 2023. And that's the
favorite one. I could have chosen a lot for this one. Same. The Evil A one. But I ended

(01:16:46):
up going with A Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel by KJ Charles. Is that one out?
Yeah. Oh. Yeah. It's the second one in the whatever the Marsh. Yeah. One. That one just
surprised me so much on how much I loved it more than the first one. And I already loved
the first one. It was just so different. The characters. This one would also make a fantastic

(01:17:11):
movie. He's got an extended family who doesn't want him to be whatever. I think he's an Earl.
They don't like they want the title and he has to live in the house with them and he's
so good. And then you've got the nephew from book one who's all grown up now and he's got

(01:17:33):
to deal with a lot of shit. And that one could also have fit in the most painful breakup
because it hurt so good. It was perfect. It needed to happen. But it happened in such
a different way than I expected. And it was just so lovely. The relationship in this one
was so sweet. It's so hot. And I think about this book a lot. I think I've read it twice

(01:17:57):
already this year. And it just was astonishing just how good it was because you're like,
where can you go from the something something guide something book one. Apparently you can
go far and high and shoot for the stars because it was fantastic.

(01:18:19):
Yeah I went with the Marquis who mustn't by Courtney Milan. I don't know that I prefer
they're just two different books. That's on this one. Yeah, very different. Not that it
necessarily surpassed. But I think just because the Duke who didn't is so good and is such
historical romance perfection to me. I didn't know how she was going to equal or top it.

(01:18:46):
And it first because they are kind of a different feel. It's less like overtly quirky. It's
less kind of laugh out loud funny so much as kind of dryly humorous. I was I was a little
I was hesitant at first. I was a little I like the setup but it's not as funny. It's
I don't know that it's going to live up to the Duke who didn't. I thought maybe she might

(01:19:08):
do a regular third act conflict. And then I kept reading and Courtney Milan. I'm sorry
I ever doubted you. I'm sorry. Again it was different. Although no third act. I mean there's
a not going to spoil it. There's there's a third act thing. There's a moment but it doesn't

(01:19:32):
go as far as I think it could have before it gets resolved. And you're like oh wow.
And there are directions that you think it's going to go that it doesn't. So that's fun.
But it just it's like a fake engagement that's not actually fake because they were betrothed
as children but only one of them knows that. And he's like the son of somebody who was

(01:19:56):
a fraud and like frauded is that a word? The entire village? De-frauded. There we go. He
defrauded the entire village when the father did when he was a young boy and now he's back
and he's here to commit the perfect fraud. But of course he's like a good person. So
the perfect fraud is actually like paying everybody back. But he's not going to tell

(01:20:18):
anyone that because he's convinced that he's a bad person. And the heroine thinks that
she's like ugly and clumsy and unlovable because of reasons. And she's signing up for ambulance
classes and basically pretends that he's her fiance to let them so that she'll let her
sign up thinking that he doesn't speak English. But it turns out he sure does speak English

(01:20:39):
and he just goes with it. And then they have to continue to pretend to be engaged. And
also he's a potter. Like he's making pottery. Wow. Which is hot. And she thirsts after him
as she's watching him do this and is so confused as to why this man in his shirt sleeves throwing
pottery is so hot. But we all know why. We have a category for hottest hobby. That's

(01:21:02):
true. Also like Kit McBride. True. True. I also just like neither of them are stereotypically
attractive. Like she's described as being very plain and he's described as like craggy.
Like hardened. He's so described as craggy. Well, it makes sense though when you hear

(01:21:22):
it. You're like, yeah, like a craggy. Like he's not like a mountain face, I think is
how she talks about him. Okay. Yeah. Like. It's still craggy. Yeah, that's the word that
stuck with me. But yeah, like neither of them are conventionally attractive, but they find
each other so attractive. And also she has this fantastic relationship with her mother

(01:21:42):
that I'm just obsessed with. Well, it's like not good when it starts. Her number one goal
in life is to not turn into her mother essentially, but it turns out she has a lot of misconceptions
about her mother and they address it. And it's so good. And I was so emotional and Courtney,
I can't. So if you haven't read The Duke Who Didn't already, you should and then you should
read this book. That's another one I need to reread. So true. A 2024 release we read

(01:22:08):
that we are excited about. I it's a forever book. Disclaimer. Read Lady Charlotte Always
Gets Her Man by Violet Marsh. And I just thought it was such a silly, goofy time. There are
heists. There's a murderous villain that she's supposedly engaged to. There's a brother's

(01:22:29):
best friend who's like a hot buff scholar, doctor guy who loves studying animals, but
is also a vigilante. There's a parrot who falls in love with a monkey. Like, it's just
so silly. Secondary romance we all need. It really was the secondary romance we all needed.

(01:22:54):
It was insane. I just there's a scene at the end that made me think like, wow, historical
Scooby Doo, like, this is what I needed. And I just thought it was so it was just so unserious
in the best way. I love that. Well, I interpreted this one as 2024 release I'm most excited

(01:23:14):
for. But I do also have one that I read or I have a few but I'll pick the one that I
read. That's a 2024 release and talk about that first. Okay. That one was In Wanted by
I Count by Lorraine Heath. It was so good. I had been a little bit disappointed by the
book before that. But this one was like fully perfect. He gives her a foot massage in the

(01:23:37):
middle of a ballroom because she like wants to get out of his presence. So she's like,
I have a pebble in my shoe. He's like, no worries, I'll follow you and take it out.
So he's like, sit down. And then she obviously knows there's no pebble. He knows there's
no pebble. So he just gives her like a very sexually charged like foot massage in the
middle of a ballroom. It was so good. And it just I can't talk much about it because

(01:24:03):
there are a lot of spoilers. But some things happens that were made for me. And I appreciated
that. Yeah, I it starts with her wanting or like her going to a what? Bordello or whatever.

(01:24:25):
I don't know. No, a gaming hell, I think. A pleasure club, maybe. We'll say pleasure
club. One of the heroes in another Lorraine Heath book owns it. He's the bastard brother
of the hero in this one. And they had a good they didn't have a good relationship. And
then they rekindled their like brotherly relationship in the past book. So now they're friends.

(01:24:51):
And the hero is at this pleasure club, just kind of talking to the his brother. And his
brother's like, Hey, I actually got this like, woman who wants a kiss, like she's never been
kissed. And like, one of our male, like, workers, he's he had to leave. So like, we don't have

(01:25:11):
anyone to kiss her. Can you do it? And the guys and this is like the heroes like the
sexually repressed, like he represses his urges because his father was so unrepressed
and a menace on society. And so the hero is kind of like, I prefer not to but like, I
mean, I guess I can. And so then she I just love the like, she thinks he's a prostitute,

(01:25:35):
but he's not I just love that trope. Like Suddenly You by Lisa Clay, Lisa Claypiss,
Seducing a Stranger by Carrie Kinburn, like it's a beautiful trope. And so he walks into
that room, she is drunk, she's because she was nervous. And he's like, what? But she's
like, I still want this kiss. And so he kisses her. And she's like, that's fantastic. And

(01:25:56):
then she falls asleep. Because I don't think he realizes that she was drunk. So like, he
she falls asleep. And he's kind of like, what the hell? Like, I thought that was pretty
good. Because he hadn't like kissed anyone in a while. So he was like, well, that's interesting.
And so he tucked her in and left her because he knew he knew she was safe because it's
his brother's place. And then turns out she was in from America trying to get him and

(01:26:23):
his friends to invest in something. So then they meet each other a little bit later. And
it's great. And I had a lot of fun. And it just started off so fun. And it kept the momentum,
which I think is something that some books this year haven't done. And so we're keeping
that keeping that urge for 2024. We're going to keep the momentum. A 2024 book that I'm

(01:26:49):
excited for that I have in my possession, but I haven't read yet because I don't want
it to be over is The Love Remedy by Elizabeth Everett. I just am so excited. Also, Isabel
on the Rogue by Leanna. I was gonna say mine, I think was Be Isabel on the Rogue. Like those
two books I'm so ready for. But also, I don't want them to be over because then we have

(01:27:12):
to wait to get the next book. So I do need to read those probably during winter break.
I'm so excited. And our final last but certainly not least superlative is Favorite Pirate Booty.

(01:27:34):
We read so many pirate books, talked about a lot of them. Again, a lot of books we read,
they weren't necessarily pirates, but they were boats. And that's the category that mine
falls into because I just really wanted to talk about them. And they were boats. And
they would have been pirates in a past life. You know, like if they could have been pirates,

(01:27:57):
they would have but unfortunately, circumstances like laws, maritime laws and all that jazz
existed for them. And this is The Captain of All Pleasures and The Price of Pleasure
by Crestly Cole. A series that never got its third book. I still mourn. But this series

(01:28:18):
was so good. Like the first one, it's kind of like the greatest game or that's a Charlotte
Buff Gold movie, I think. The amazing race. The amazing race. Yes. Think of the Crestly
Cole one. I mean, Crestly Cole does love the amazing race. She does. Because there's an
Immorals After Dark one. And then there's this one. And basically, there are two ship

(01:28:42):
owners, basically, they're freight ships, basically. So they like ship things back and
forth. And her family doesn't like him. He doesn't like her father. So then she's bumped
into that. And then they like me and she doesn't know who he is. And then he's like super hot.
And she's like very attracted to him. And then she realizes and all that. And things

(01:29:05):
happen when they get out on the old open water. And it just it was so good. The things that
happen at sea, at their different ports, all of that. There's kind of a third act that's
a little bit crazy. Like out of the blue. But honestly, I didn't hate it. I was like,

(01:29:26):
you know what, give it to me. And it was perfect. And then the second one is her family got
shipwrecked on this island 10 years ago. And the grandfather has been looking for them
for 10 years, basically like running his estate into the ground and like having no money and
all that. And so the hero is the latest one to take up the grandfather's offer of go set

(01:29:52):
sail and find my family for and then because he wants a title or at least the lands or
something. So like the grandfather promised him the the lands that he has, like if he
finds the family. And then you end up you're like, obviously, he's going to find them because
the heroine is the one who was stranded like 10 years ago. So she's been like living on

(01:30:13):
the the land, this deserted island for 10 years with one other person because I think
her mother and father both died. So she's a little bit feral, but it's great. And he's
like super reserved, super like repressed and doesn't show much emotion. And she obviously
brings it all out of him, which is a crested thing to do kiss of a demon king. We love

(01:30:33):
to see it like he just goes crazy when they get back to London. And it was great and fantastic.
And I definitely need to reread both of them. They don't have audiobooks, so it's a little
bit harder. But they were so good. And Cressley just needs to write more historical because
what the hell? I think that was like her first published book. And wow. And she also has

(01:31:00):
another historical series that I've also edging because I don't want to like finish it and
have it not exist anymore. I think that's like the some Merrick Brothers or something.
It's like three books. So I will be reading that probably in 2024 because I'm just in
love with Cressley Cole. My favorite Pyrrhaboody, they actually were well, one of them was a

(01:31:25):
pirate. But that is Any Duke in a Storm by Omelie Howard, which doesn't actually come
out till next year. But part of a series, you don't have to read the series, but you
can because why not? She's a spy for I think she's actually a spy for the American government,

(01:31:46):
but she's a British countess, I want to say. But she's undercover as a very fearsome lady
pirate. She should be something Bess, which I'm now blanking on whatever her her title
is bad. Something Bess. Yeah, I'm sure it's alliterative. Bad bitch Bess. The count Bonnie

(01:32:09):
Bess. Bonnie Bess. Bonnie Bess is trying to infiltrate a smuggling ring in the West Indies.
She ends up she's got this ship and they hire a I can't remember what his job is. Whatever
it is he's in charge of what is that called? Where you're the director, you know, in charge

(01:32:33):
of directions on the boat. I keep wanting to say quartermaster, but it's not that I
don't know both titles. Whatever he is, he gets hired like as a last minute. They need
to get going and he a navigator. Yeah, sure. He shows up and he's trying to escape because
he's just got out of prison because his relative is like a pirate king, bad guy who is in charge

(01:32:56):
of the smuggling ring that unbeknownst to him, Bonnie Bess is trying to infiltrate. But he's
like a hot, roguish pirate prince. And also like a disgraced French Duke or like his dad
was disgraced. But also he's from the West Indies too. So he's not white and that's a

(01:33:17):
whole thing. And he's hot and he's got piercings and he's a pirate, but he's kind of lying
about who he is so that he can work on this boat. And they're really into each other.
And so there's spies and they're pirates. I'm so excited. And they're sailing and they
get really turned on when they fight together. And also if you're like I want like campy

(01:33:40):
pirates it's good because there's like a young girl also in it. Yeah, because you said like
learns how to talk like a pirate. Yeah. And she just uses the most unhinged pirate language
the whole time. And I respect that. So Amelie you got me. You got me with any Duke in a
storm. I that one I did a poll when I only had a few arcs to read and then I have since

(01:34:06):
requested more about which book I should or which arc I should do next. And that was the
winner. So I will be reading that probably again during winter break. Because I just
need the time to do it. But wow. That was so many books. And we've both read so many

(01:34:28):
books. And we talked about so many books. And wow. Reading. Reading. Well, we did it.
Wow. It was quite a 2024. What? Sorry, 2023. We're going into the time. The only person
ever to confuse the future year rather than the past year. Look, I don't. The thing is

(01:34:56):
when you work in publishing, you're working like a year or two in advance. Yeah. So I've
been working on 2024 titles for months. What is time? I don't know. 2023. So long. Farewell.
I read a lot of books. So many. So many. And many, many good ones. I know because you were

(01:35:25):
like, we're not doing contemporary, right? I would have a mental breakdown if we were
including contemporary and other romances. So there you go. Those are our superlatives,
our little wrap up. You can check out our old school superlatives in last week's episode
if you haven't already. Plans for next season are not completely set in stone yet. So you'll

(01:35:51):
hear about them soonish at some point it'll happen. Yeah, I think our first episode would
probably be the fifth of January, maybe. Oh, we need a break. Oh yeah, you're moving. Right
around then. So the 12th. We need a longer break than that. I think it's going to be

(01:36:13):
in February. Okay, so January is not. We'll keep you posted. Yeah. We haven't decided
yet. But we have some plans in the works. And in the meantime, you can go back and listen
to episodes you've missed. It'll be fine. It'll be great. And also you can sign up to

(01:36:35):
get a friendship bracelet. Sign up for that and sign up for our newsletter. Because there's
that like weird F1. Like we talked about other things. It's like a half hour that we cut
off of an episode. Oh my god. I'm going to turn our after hours bonus podcast into an
F1 podcast. Just gonna keep bringing it up. And every time I bring it up, you're gonna

(01:36:58):
be like, I'll cut this out and put it in the newsletter one. So that will happen sometime
during this break of ours. Yeah. Because I have to find what episode that was and then
get the cut portion and figure that out. So that will be coming to you. Maybe a newsletter
or something at some point. We'll do the Christmas slash holiday slash chaos episode. Try to

(01:37:25):
get that out Christmas Eve morning. So you can spend the holidays with us. I don't know
why you would be listening to us on Christmas Eve morning. I don't either. But there's no
time left. Because I realized that Tuesday would have been the day to do it and I did
not do it. So it's fine. Nothing matters. Merry Christmas. You filthy animals.

(01:37:45):
And a happy new year. Yeah. Holiday, Christmas, so much stuff. Reading, happening, brain,
fry. So true. So true and so relatable. Well, we love you. It feels underwhelming. But that's

(01:38:07):
it. We've wrapped it up. We've talked a lot. Happy holidays and happy new year. We will
see you in 2024. And thank you so much for being one of our throbbing members. We love
our throbbing members. We so do.

All Episodes

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

Dateline NBC

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}S02.32: Season Two Superlatives: The Two Wolves Inside You Edition

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

Dateline NBC

All Episodes

S02.32: Season Two Superlatives: The Two Wolves Inside You Edition

NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal