June 9, 2025 • 35 mins
Stef launched Leather and Lace Books back in June 2023, and it’s become a total go-to for romance readers across Canada. It’s online-only and it’s curated exclusively for romance fans. We asked Stef all about the business, the vision, and—most importantly—how she resists reading every book that shows up at her house.
Les and Rhi kick off Not That Kind of Book Club—a bookish podcast where #wereaditsoyoudonthaveto.
This isn’t your average book deep dive nor typical book club. We talk about everything from the ridiculous to the relatable, the dramatic to the delightfully unhinged corners of the book world. Whether it’s behind-the-scenes of our book clubs, meet-and-greets with bookish humans, or the absurd moments that make us laugh out loud—this is your invitation to a podcast where anything bookish goes. We’re just two girls who love to read, and we can’t wait to share this journey with you.
Follow us on Instagram @notthatkindofbookclub
Not That Kind of Book Club is presented by the Dufferin Ave Media Network.
No matter who you are we guarantee you will find a show (or multiple) for yourself on the Dufferin Ave Media Network! If you can't find one, start your own! We can help you with that. We're a community of passionate hosts, audio engineers, avid listeners, and day dreamers on a mission to shape the future of on-demand content.
Follow us on social media:
X (twitter): https://twitter.com/DufferinAveNet
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dufferinavemedia/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Dufferin-Ave-Media-Network/61557492890012/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@duffavemedia
Les and Rhi kick off Not That Kind of Book Club—a bookish podcast where #wereaditsoyoudonthaveto.
This isn’t your average book deep dive nor typical book club. We talk about everything from the ridiculous to the relatable, the dramatic to the delightfully unhinged corners of the book world. Whether it’s behind-the-scenes of our book clubs, meet-and-greets with bookish humans, or the absurd moments that make us laugh out loud—this is your invitation to a podcast where anything bookish goes. We’re just two girls who love to read, and we can’t wait to share this journey with you.
Follow us on Instagram @notthatkindofbookclub
Not That Kind of Book Club is presented by the Dufferin Ave Media Network.
No matter who you are we guarantee you will find a show (or multiple) for yourself on the Dufferin Ave Media Network! If you can't find one, start your own! We can help you with that. We're a community of passionate hosts, audio engineers, avid listeners, and day dreamers on a mission to shape the future of on-demand content.
Follow us on social media:
X (twitter): https://twitter.com/DufferinAveNet
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dufferinavemedia/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Dufferin-Ave-Media-Network/61557492890012/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@duffavemedia
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hey, I'm less and I'm read. This is not that
kind of book club.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
A bookish podcast for we read it, so you don't
have to.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Hey book friends, Hey less Ari, how are you?
Speaker 2 (00:25):
I mean, that's like a double ended question. I'm good
for the most part.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Okay, okay, what's not so good?
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Man? I'm just really tired. I had a tournament this weekend.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Oh okay.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
At least I don't have to play soccer. I only
have to be there to coach kids. But like, man,
kids are a lot of work.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Sometimes, as somebody who does not have children and is
a cool auntie, yes, I can agree, kids are a lot.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
I mean I don't have kids either, but a soccer
team is like essentially having eighteen children that are ridiculous
and say the most absurd things, especially boys. Oh yes,
I have never had so many boys talk back to
me then that I did this weekend.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Oh my goodness.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
They were just so tired because our game was at
seven am and they had to be there at six fifteen,
and it was against one of the hardest teams in
the league, and oh my goodness, they were just pissed.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Yeah, no doubt, that's such an early morning.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Yeah, and then they started losing because we ended up
going from eleven B eleven fields to seven B seven fields.
So if you know anything about soccer, that goes from
having a massive field to a quarter of.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
That field, Holy smokes. They were so mad, no doubt.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
But I mean I could also probably go on about
soccer all day, so.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Most likely, but we're here to talk about books.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
I mean books.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
As much as the soccer team is your kids, businesses
can be your kids. And we have Steph from Leather
and Lace on today.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Steph is all her business is the first romance only
bookstore in Saskatoon. And the really cool thing about it
is it's all online.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
All online is nice and simple. It just fits right
in your phone exactly.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
So Steph right now doesn't have an actual location. She's
working outside of her house, but her house is a
dream zone and it attracts a lot of money out
of your pocket, just suctions it out. But I love it.
It's the best place to be. So we're super excited
to be able to talk to Steph on the podcast today.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Hey Stan, howhi to you?
Speaker 3 (02:37):
Good yourself?
Speaker 1 (02:38):
I'm doing pretty well, Thank you, thanks so much for
coming on the show today.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
Yeah, no, problem.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Good. We're excited to have you. I'm really glad that
you agreed. I know you're a busy gal, so we are. Yeah,
we're pumped to talk to you. We'll kind of just
dive in. We have a bunch of questions for you,
and we'll kind of just build off that, go with
the flow.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Yeah, and I mean, I think before we start into
stuff about your store, let's dive into your personal reads
right now. So tell us what book you just finished,
what book you're currently reading, and what book is up
next on your TBR personally.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Mm, well, I just finished the Unhinged series or like
the Dance with a Devil series by Stefan Mack. The
audiobook just came out this week. I powered through it,
had to finish the series that you know, with the
books that have been about Honestly, I haven't started a
new book yet, and I don't know which one because
(03:38):
there's so many books that cannot came out that I'm
interested in reading.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Mm hmm, that's understandable. I feel like there were a
lot of release dates in the last couple of weeks
for really solid books for the summer.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
Yeah, well, every Tuesday, there's like releases for books, and
there's usually about ten or so that I'm always kind
of wanting to read. So I guess I've pick out
of a hat and see which one comes up.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Nice. I think that's a really good way to do
it when you just can't decide between which ones you're
going to read, just draw names out of a hat.
Nice and simple.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
I feel like I've seen so many times too where
they'll wrap their entire shelts and like wrap them in
brown paper, put a number on them, and then put
the little papers in a jar and pull it out
and then whatever the book is that they unwrapped, they
have to read. It's one way to do it. I mean,
it makes it easy to choose.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
Yeah, that does, well, looks like it wrapped a CBR though,
like your whole shelf would be wrapped. So, I mean,
it's just so much I don't know money and time
to just get that just to unwrap it.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
So I don't know, no for sure. So shall we
dive into it.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Let's dive in.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Let's dive in. So tell us a bit more about
yourself and what kind of led you to opening a bookstore.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
Well, first and foremost, I'm a wife, mama, two, I
got off for a baby as well, and then I'm
a full time healthcare worker, so that's me outside of
the book world. And then in terms of inspiring, I
don't know. It was kind of a joke. At first.
I was reading a lot, and then my husband Matt
just kind of was like, well, if you're reading so much,
you should maybe do something with it business wise and
(05:18):
actually make some money out of it. And I turned
that joke into reality. I guess, little does he know
we actually spend more money now, but whatever.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
That's hilarious. I to build off that. What made you
decide you wanted to do an online versus an in
person bookstore.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Well, with the way the things have been going, like
economy wise, it just seemed smarter to do everything online
and a lot of people now just kind of especially
since Covid has done a lot of online shopping as
opposed to going in. So that's why I did that.
Plus the cost is cheaper because there's no overhead really
because I do everything essentially out of my home, So
it just seemed easier for that, especially with Romance, because
(06:00):
I feel like there was such a stigma back then
that's kind of eased up now about just being embarrassed
about certain romance books, especially since Indigo has it placed
like right next to the kids section.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
So that's true, I actually do. I actually never thought
of it like that they do. It's right beside the
kid and like the baby clothes.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
I never thought about that and put it together before.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Well, I mean it I in a way it kind
of makes sense because like romance books, you know, sometimes
lead the babies, and now the baby stuff is op
beside them. I don't know, could be, could be on show.
Oh my gosh, my brain it just started.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Like did you just.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
It's a brain fart, guys.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
That's totally okay. I mean I really like the idea
of your online bookstore because we're seeing so many break
and mortars in the last five years shut down change.
So the fact that you're online it almost gives you
a little bit more of a sense of permanent stuff.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Yeah, And I mean there's so many brick and mortars,
like you said, that shut down because they kind of
like overdo I don't want to say overdue, but it's like,
you have such big ideas, and those ideas are phenomenal,
but you have to start small and a lot of
people just dive into something without thinking about that, and
I think that that is also what makes having the
online bookstore very unique and very cost effective in a
(07:26):
way too. I mean, other than probably you are tempted
by books twenty four to seven because they are in
your home, but I feel like it is like a
pretty good way to do it, right. So when did
you originally open, Like what was kind of your open date?
Speaker 3 (07:46):
So I opened in June of twenty twenty three, so
at the time we were the first romance store in Saskatoon,
and then there was another one that opened up and
Fall of that same year.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
Amazing, So I mean you are the first romance bookstore. Yes,
I am amazing. So in terms of romance, like, do
you kind of carry an array of romance or is
there a certain area that you kind of lean towards
or gravitate towards.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
Honestly, it's all customer based for the most part. Like
I try and carry as much of a variety as
I can, but because it's out of my house, I've
got limited space. So a lot of people now are
reading a lot of like fantasy romance as well as
like sports, so I tend to bring in more of those,
and now like cowboy romance and all that stuff is
coming in more so. But I do carry in a
(08:36):
array of everything, and then I special order everything else
that I don't carry.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
It's gonna say, I feel like we talked about this
on our first podcast, where it's there's a lot of
sports romance and a lot of cowboy romance.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
I haven't dived into cowboy romance yet, but that sounds
kind of fun.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
M m. Yeah, it's pretty cool, very fun. I mean,
I'm dating not a cowboy. I guess I'm dating the farm.
It's the same thing, right with cowboy. He's not a cowboy,
but like he works with cows, so he technically is
a cowboy.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Just really loosely relating there. I like it. You know,
it's a stretch, but I'll take it.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
You know what, it works. So, how did you come
up with the name leather and lace?
Speaker 3 (09:21):
Honestly, it was hard to figure out, Like it wasn't
my first choice. But my original choice was actually kind
of like co owned by Playboy. So I didn't go
with that because I didn't want to work or be
related to that. Yeah, So then I came up with
leather and lace because I carry a lot of dark romance,
so I wanted something that appealed to like the more
(09:41):
dainty side of romance as well as like the not
so dainty side of romance. So I've got a little
bit of let leather, sorry, and I got a little
bit of lace.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
I actually love that. Can we just go back for
one second. Was it co created or co owned by Playboy?
Speaker 3 (09:59):
Yeah? So, so, like the name was trademarked and it
actually was owned by Playboy, And I didn't want to
be affiliated or work with because I mean it could
have come and bit me like in the ask a
little bit about that, so I changed it. But yeah,
it wasn't originally my first choice.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
But you know what, leather and lace rolls off the
tongue really well. I really do love it. Yeah, yeah, amazing.
Let me turn to my nifty list of questions because
my brain would never remember these things. So, like you
kind of alluded to this. If somebody's looking for a
title that you don't carry, are they able to request
(10:37):
it or have you look and see if you can
order it.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
In Yeah, so a lot of them, Like they can
just message me either on Instagram or send me an
email through the website and then I will see if
I can find it from one of my distributors, and
then I bring that in. If it's something that's been
a special order to requested a couple of times, I'll
try and bring in more than one copy just to
have it on hand. But a lot of the special
order requests or more for dark romance that's Indie published,
(11:02):
so something that's not easily attainable for stock amazing.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
In terms of ordering custom books, how has it kind
of changed now that like the tariffs and changes in
pricing with the US, are you looking at trying to
carry more Canadian authors or are you still trying to
find ways to kind of get those books in without
increasing your costs dramatically.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
Yeah, I carry a lot of like Canadian authors now.
The problem is that I don't want to like kind
of discriminate or I don't know, punish I guess the
authors that aren't Canadian by not carrying their books, So
I take a little bit more for them to come in,
but I try and keep them as cost effective as possible. Yeah,
(11:47):
I mean, unfortunately that's something that's out of my hands,
but I work with it.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
But you know what, that's a very Canadian response of
you that you don't want to discriminate against the US.
But I'm not going to discriminate against the US, but
I do want to pose the how many Canadian authors
does the US cover or bring in. I mean, I
know that uh Bailey Hannah had a book kind of
(12:13):
just come out and she had changed the covers and
looking for the original covers because of course my first
two books are original cover and I don't want to
have to replace them. But I actually had to order
it from the UK, which is wild that the UK
covers has Canadian literature and Canadian books, but a lot
(12:36):
of the US just doesn't not as much.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
I mean, well, and it's like happens when they republished.
So when it like an author gets like bought out
by a publisher, like a lot of times it's in
their contract that they have to change it. So that's why,
like indie covers are very hard to find, especially when
they get bought out. So that's why we see a
lot of like different copies for the same book.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
Amazing, that actually made a lot of sense.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
I yeah, I didn't know that, So I just learned
something new today.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
Well, and I feel like even if you think about it, like,
if you are bought out and you have to re
release a book, it makes sense that you would have
to go back and kind of republish them all so
that they are cohesive against or across the board. But
I mean, as somebody who buys books and a reader,
it can come across as sucking because I don't want
(13:26):
the new covers. I want to keep my covers.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
I want the old ones.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
But then also it ends up kind of being crappy
because you'll have the old covers and then what if
you got them signed? Then what I'm gonna have three
copies of the same book.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Let me just pause here and remind all of our
listeners that Alesia has OCD, so that plays a little
bit into her need and desire to have matching sets.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
Okay, but you can't lie and tell me that it
wouldn't bother you if you had two of one kind
and one of another.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Yeah, it does, probably not as much as you.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
How about you, Steph, Yeah, oh no, I have I'm
the same. They have to be like the same, Like
if there's like a different heights of a spine or
anything like that, it just it bothers me. So then
what I'll do is I'll buy the whole series in
the new covers as well, so I end up having
like three or more of the same title.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
See two again. Once you are wrong, I am wrong.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Even producer LB is on your side.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
See, Like, I was so angry. There was one series, Steph.
You might know what series it was. But I got
the first book and I got the second, and like
they were the same covers. Don't get me wrong, but
one was literally taller than the other. And I don't
understand how this happened. I think it was love unwritten.
(14:59):
Correct me if i I'm wrong, But like, no, it
wasn't that one it was. I don't know. I'll have
to show you guys a picture of it. But I
ended up getting rid of them because I couldn't stand
looking at them because they had a height difference.
Speaker 3 (15:11):
Oh, I was gonna say that series by Liz tom forty,
like The Windy City, that one has a slightly higher
like book. I think it's right, move that's slightly higher.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Yeah. Also, do you guys want to hear a funny story?
Speaker 1 (15:25):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (15:26):
So I have Alive in Wells by Bailey Hannah and
I went to the bookstore because in my brain. The
one that I had was always Seeing Red. I never
had a Live in Wells. And I went to the
thrift store one day and they had Alive in Wells
and I was like, oh my god, score, I've been
looking for this. So I brought it and I would
(15:49):
keep looking on my bookshelf. I'm like, where is where
Seeing Read? I can't find it, like this is ridiculous.
And somebody actually donated a box of books the one
day and I I open it and there's a copy
of Alive in Wells. And I was like, oh my gosh,
this is the one I'm missing, and this one was
actually signed by the author. And so I just kept
putting them on my bookshelf, and at one point I
(16:11):
looked and I was like, okay, how do I have
four copies of Alive and Wells? And I don't have
Sea and Read at this point. So yeah, I dazzled
one of them and then one is signed, and then
the one is the book that I bought brand new,
so it's like perfect, and I was like, yess, I'm
gonna keep three copies of this book.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
So yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Fun fact.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Speaking of copies, Steph in your whole like your for
your business, how many books do you keep in stock?
Speaker 3 (16:45):
Ooh, oh god, I don't even know, Like I don't
know about one hundred two hundred maybe.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Oh that's not bad.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
No, No, like those are like titles.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (16:59):
I haven't even care how many books I have. I
tend to like overbuy because I try and get as
many books in as possible. But the problem is I
have no room for them. So yeah, so a lot
of them are still sitting in boxes. I'm prepping for
a show at the end of the month, so I'm
not unpacking them, so I don't know.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
I'd have to do account No, I guess the real
question is so your store, what about your personal library?
How many books do you have in there?
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Probably close to one thousand. Like we built our house
in like twenty twenty one, and my husband had to
extend our library like three or four times since then.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Did you know, I believe it's over a thousand. If
you have over a thousand books, you're actually considered to
be a library. So like, technically my home is a library,
but that also means that yours is a library too. Stuff.
Speaker 3 (17:55):
Yep, So like you come up my stairs and I
have my personal library, and then I have like my
store in like the other room.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
So you know what, I should just start making little
library cards and be like, here, friends, you want to
borrow a book, you better use your library card.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
I just have a note on my phone and I
write who has what book? And if I've gotten it
back or not.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
See it that. I also don't do that because then
the ADHD kicks in and I forget and my friend
would be like, hey, I have all your books. I'm like,
what books? Like, which ones do you even have? And
I forgot that I owned them. Let's we really probably
have a second copy, so most likely two three copies,
so I guess. Because we're talking about like books and
(18:38):
shelves and your personal library, how do you keep yourself
from buying every book that kind of comes in? Like
how do you unpack boxes and not be like, oh
my gosh, I need this or I gotta buy this one.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
The problem is I have no self control, so I
end up you buying them unfortunately, like I put myself on,
I would call myself like a bookstore owner book band
of sorts, So I only buy the copies that have
like limited edition, like sprayed edges, or something that I
really want a first edition for, and then the rest
I'll leave for now until it's something that I'm currently
(19:14):
reading or wanting to read, and then I'll buy it.
But I think every week I'll buy maybe like three
four books a week. I think at most I've.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Spent like.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
Good puns.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
Like all of the books, I have to buy them,
so it's no choice.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
It's necessary. I mean read what what did you say
in our first one about buying books and owning books
and reading books.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
They're all three separate hobbies.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
Exactly, so no problems here. Okay, what is the spiciest
book you've ever stoked in your li in your library,
in your store.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
Honestly, I have no idea, Like I haven't read Pucking
Around by Emily Rath yet. I heard that one's really spicy.
But a lot of the dark romance stuff that I like,
I have read and it's pretty good. Like the Lord
series by Shintel Tessier that I would say is probably
one of the spiciest ones that I'd carried, but it's
also dark romance. But for the most part, everything I
(20:24):
carry is spice in some way.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
Honestly, I can kind of support the Lord series. I
did read that entire series, and as I've told you before, stuff,
but there was only one book in that series that
I could not read, and I got it as an arc,
and it was so hard for me to read it
that I ended up dnffing it at seventy percent, which
(20:49):
hurts me because seventy percent is a long way into
a book that you've already committed to. But I literally
just couldn't do it.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
DNF also stands for did not finish.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
For for our newbies.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
For anybody who's new, or maybe LB producer LB who
might not have known that. Oh it's a gamer term.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Oh, did not finish is a gamer term I don't understand. Nope,
did not finish the game?
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Oh okay, did not finish the game? Oh gotcha?
Speaker 2 (21:25):
How do you DNF racing?
Speaker 1 (21:27):
You just crash pretty easily. I guess your DNF a race?
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Okay, I got it now. So Steph, have you ever
read what is it? The Sick Boys Evil Boys trilogy?
It's not a trilogy anymore?
Speaker 3 (21:46):
Yeah, I've well, i've read the first two, and I
mean unpopular opinion. I did not like it. I mean
the fine, but I felt like it was the same
book every single time with different characters, Like, the plot
was the same, so I just.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
Got bored again. I can second that because the first
book had like three guys and a girl, and then
the second book had the same three guys and a
girl kind of in the background, and then new three
guys and a girl, and then the last one, yeah,
we added another three guys and a girl. There are
nine men in here that I can't remember who the
heck is who, and then there's three females and I'm
(22:22):
sitting here and I'm like, I don't understand what's going on.
But Steph, you are entirely right. It's the exact same
plot line. It's just different different sections of the school.
They're all they're like clubs or they're different clicks. Yeah,
and they all hate each other, but then at the
end they're all like best friends somehow. I don't know, guys,
I it was a book. Clearly it was a book.
(22:43):
It was a book. It was just one of those
books that you're you finish and you're like, Okay, well
I don't need to read these again. I don't. I
probably don't even need to have them on my bookshelf.
M Mmm, No, offense to Clarissa Wilde, You're still a
great author. Okay, let's go back to the what is
your personal ick you know, romance trope or your least
(23:05):
favorite romance trope.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
To be honest, I don't know, Like I'm not a
huge fan of like third act breakups. I find that
they're really predictable. But I don't know if there's like
one specific one that I'm not a fan of. Like
usually I can kind of get by it. There's very
few that I'm just I can't do and then I
won't read it.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
M h, that's fair. I'm a what's your three?
Speaker 1 (23:30):
Oh, that's tough. I don't know if it's anything in
particular per se, but just if the writing's really bad
and it feels rushed.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
Okay, to build off what you just said, do you
ever feel like you read an author and you are like,
oh my god, this author is so amazing, And then
you read another author and you're like, no, this author
is so amazing, and then it just kind of keeps going,
and then you go back to that first author and
you read it and you're like, wow, your grammar sucks,
Like yes, like I can't read certain books anymore. And
(23:58):
I probably will never read that author again. How about
you stuff, Do you feel that too?
Speaker 3 (24:03):
Yeah, especially ones that write in third person. I hate
when books are written in third person.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
So those are.
Speaker 3 (24:10):
Usually ones that get like left for me to read
and whenever I'm board.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
I was gonna say, I actually fully agree with that. Yeah, okay,
I'll say, what is your biggest ick? Honestly, I think
I don't know if it's an ick per se, but
it's one of those things that kind of will determine
if I'm going to read a book or not. And
this is only because, like, I'm personally triggered by certain things,
and usually in the like trigger section, I can usually
(24:38):
determine if it's going to be in there or not.
But I'm not a huge person when it comes to
dealing with suicide in books because it's super triggering. And
I know in a lot of dark romance, there's a
lot of dark themes, but typically, like, I can read anything,
but also, okay, don't ever include a spider. Okay, I
(24:59):
read a book where the spider was crawling all over
this person and I literally could not read it. So
no spider's place? Does that count as an eck? In
a romancetro yep. Cool. Okay, uh, I don't know what
I was going to say, but Steph, if Leather and
Lace had a theme song, what would it be?
Speaker 3 (25:22):
Honestly, I don't know, but to be honest, like one
of like the ones that I think of the most
is Pony by genuine.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
Ooo that or when I think of Leather and Lace,
you know how they have the Beyonce crazy in love
but it's like the slow down kind of version that.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
I mean, like from the Shades of Gray like the movies.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Yes, wow, I mean, do you guys want to hear
what comes to mind for me? And maybe this is
just like I don't know, but the first thing that
came to mind is S and M by Rihanna.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
It fits in really well.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
Sorry, like that's just what kind of came immediately m hm,
or like you could go for like I don't know,
I'm clearly thinking of the dirty side of books apparently. Okay,
I have two questions left for you, Steph, and then
I will let you get back to your very very
important healthcare job. And that just seemed like I was
(26:17):
being very snarky and what's the word, Like I wasn't
meaning to sound bad, but I know that, like, you
have a busy day, so we don't want to don't
attend too much of your time. But which book boyfriend
would be the worst roommate?
Speaker 3 (26:36):
I wouldn't call him necessarily a book boyfriend, but one
of the guys that I've read the most about would
have been like Diesel from Denna Viper's because I feel
like things would get really messy, or Melichai from Little Strangers, because,
like you had mentioned with the spider, he has an
inability to keep it in the tank.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
So I mean Eric, So, to be honest, that was
gonna be mine because again I just mentioned the spiders,
so I agree with that. He can never be my roommate.
And god, he's fictional. If anybody was like, hey, let's
buy a spider, be like, hey, you're kicked out, goodbye.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
Ye you're breaching the contract.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Yeah, I mean, what was it? Was it? In? It
was in Friends when Phoebe wanted to get Joey to
stop playing the drums, didn't she buy it like a
I don't want to say a tank but like a
little last thing and have a spider in it and
like put the drumsticks in it. And he's terrified of spiders,
so he was like, hey, yeah, I'm done drumming. Yeah yeah,
(27:33):
So like that's where I'm at. That's that's what I
think of spiders. Okay, Last, but not least, have you
ever accidentally kept a book for yourself and pretended it
was damaged inventory?
Speaker 3 (27:49):
Honestly No, that's like I'm particularly with like my books.
So if it's like an author like or a book
that I absolutely want, it has to be pristine like,
so typically I'll like donate them to people, or I'll
do like a draw and be like there you go.
That's kind of your book. But very rarely would I
actually keep.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
It for myself. Okay, that's fair, that's very honest of you,
very very much appreciated.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
You're a good person in case no one's told you
the day.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
Yeah, I know it's my That kind of bothers me
with those books.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
That's fair. I mean, I get it. At the same time,
I feel like I would probably be like, oh, this
is damaged. I can't sell this. Maybe I can reduce
the price and I'll just buy it.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
Yeah it's mine.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
Now that sounds bad to reduce the price. I'm not
stealing it's just like I'd have to reduce the price
anyways to sale for myself. Yeah. I guess that's kind
of the end of what I have written down. And
I wanted to ask, but Steph, do you have anything
you want to add or questions for us? Necessary questions
(28:59):
for us? I wanted to say, necessarily that makes no sense. No, okay,
have some more coffee please, I'm talking too much? How
do I drink coffee when I keep talking? Do you
have any questions for us or anything you want to add?
I I'm going to make a post about kind of
your store and everything as well, and hopefully we have
(29:21):
some more people check you out, because this is an
amazing store. It's amazing concept and I'm I'm proud to
be able to support you as well.
Speaker 3 (29:31):
Yeah, No, it's great. I mean, I love the people
who purchase books for me or even just like talk
to me about books. I mean, it's awesome. It's a
great conversation. Yeah, and thanks for letting me be on
the show and talk about my business.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Amazing. Well, it's been lovely, Steph. We hate to have
to say goodbye, but I appreciate everything you do.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
You're welcome, have a great day, guys.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
Yeah you too. Awesome. That was fun.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
That was fantastic. So again, that was Steph from Leather
and Lace Books. I believe you can find her on Instagram.
You can find her on a website. Yes, we'll hook
all those up on our Instagram page for you guys
to be able to go and check her stuff out.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
And I think it's important to acknowledge local businesses. This
is a completely local business. I kind of was there
when she first started and it has grown significantly in
the community of people who are supporting her are absolutely
lovely humans. So yeah, we'll post everything there if you're interested.
You can actually purchase all the books on her website.
(30:34):
If you are an indie author or anybody who is
trying to find people to kind of get your books
out in the world, contact staff. She is a very
big believer of Canadian authors and indie books, so you
never know.
Speaker 1 (30:49):
Amazing. Well, I think that just about.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
Okay, But I want to ask you one thing. Yeah,
ask one thing and then we can say goodbye. What
is your biggest red, flat or green flag about a
bookstore or a book?
Speaker 1 (31:04):
Okay, let's go with bookstore. Okay, let's start my biggest
green flag for a bookstore is if you walk in
and there is a This is so stereotypical, but there
is an older gentleman who's kind of grumbly and he's
like your typical kind of like just doesn't really want
(31:29):
to help, doesn't really want to be involved, but secretly
loves books and loves what he does. That's a green
flag for a store for me is if you have
that employee who's just kind of like think of almost
like like a dragon collecting treasures.
Speaker 2 (31:45):
Okay, do you have like a Grandpa cank here or what? Sorry,
I think i'm funny. Okay, I think you're funny too,
but no, I don't maybe a Sata Clausewood or like dragons.
(32:06):
I don't know dragons are previous dragons. I mean, I'm
not gonna I'm not gonna continue with the thought because
I have something that's probably very it appropriate that I
could say, but I'm gonna have to tell you after.
Just remind me. Okay, Okay. My biggest green flag, to
be honest, I actually absolutely love when you walk in
the door and there's plants ooh yeah, like brightens a
(32:27):
room and like, I don't know, like it gives me
that like it grows here, this is like a happy
place and like it just like there's something about them
that like changes the vibe of the store.
Speaker 1 (32:40):
Well it's quite literally changing the air in the store.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
So yes, yeah, okay, and then I'll add my red
flag and then you got to add yours.
Speaker 1 (32:49):
So backstray.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
I had this professor in sorry, in university that I
remember going to his office one time. One time I
walked in and he had books box is just stacked
up to the roof and you go in and you're like,
oh my god, like I'm gonna get crushed by books.
And I just remember telling my one friend that, you
know what, one day, he's just gonna disappear and he's
(33:13):
gonna have all of his books have fallen on him
and nobody's gonna find him because all the books have collapsed.
Very wrong, Very very rude of me to say, But seriously,
that's kind of where this is going. But if you
go into a store that, like, I'm all for having
books floor to ceiling, but when you go into a
store that like books are just everywhere, it's a disaster.
You can't really find anything, nothing sorted. Sometimes those are
(33:35):
like more so used stores rather than news stores. But
if I walk in and I get this overarching like
I have OCD. So like if I go in there
and I'm just overwhelmed and I can't I can't be
in there, I usually leave.
Speaker 1 (33:48):
Yeah. I feel similarly with red flags, where if it's
too much in there and you can't make sense of things,
it can be very overwhelming. If I have enough time
to sit and dig through, it's a bit of a
different story, but you have to be in the mood
to want to do that. It's not every day that
you walk into a store and you're like, yeah, I'm
(34:09):
gonna spend like two hours here trying to find the
books that I want. No, some days I just want
to wham bam, get in, get out.
Speaker 2 (34:16):
Well, and I think too, it depends who you go with,
because I'll go with my sister and she'll be like,
wells yeah, like we've been here for twenty minutes, like
care we go and I'm like, are.
Speaker 1 (34:25):
You kidding to get out of here?
Speaker 2 (34:26):
Are you joking? Like I haven't even read the titles
of one bookshelf? No, okay, I'm glad we're kind of
on on the bar with this and I'm glad there's
no grandpa kinks here.
Speaker 1 (34:38):
That's awesome, but also no kink shaming. So if yeah,
I'm yourthing, like, good for you. I'm super happy for you.
Speaker 2 (34:44):
You could maybe have a sugar grandpa instead of a
sugar daddy. Ooh, you never know, you could, guys, But
that's gonna be our episode. We're kind of running out
of time here, and you know us, we could talk
for hours. But yeah, I mean, you know that this
is not that kind of book. We talk about pretty
much anything that comes to mind. But this is an
(35:05):
exciting episode.
Speaker 1 (35:06):
This is a fantastic episode. We had our first guest.
Speaker 2 (35:09):
Yeah, great, We're going to keep bringing guests. I think
it's exciting.
Speaker 1 (35:13):
Yeah, it is very exciting. I'm excited. You're excited. I
think the people are excited.
Speaker 2 (35:18):
Well, and I think LB is excited. He's got some
laughs in today.
Speaker 1 (35:21):
I know.
Speaker 2 (35:22):
I think it's been awesome. And realistically, I like the
fact that this episode we're not necessarily talking about our
book club pick. It was kind of a little bit
of a different vibe. And then our next episode, guys,
we are actually diving into our book club pick. We're
going to be talking about our Lovely Just for This
Summer by Abby Yemenez. Yeah, and we're really excited to
(35:44):
be able to do that with you.
Speaker 1 (35:46):
Thanks so much for tuning in again, it's not that
kind of book club, a bookish podcast
Speaker 2 (35:50):
Where we read it so you don't have to see
you guys later or next time.
Hey, I'm less and I'm read. This is not that
kind of book club.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
A bookish podcast for we read it, so you don't
have to.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Hey book friends, Hey less Ari, how are you?
Speaker 2 (00:25):
I mean, that's like a double ended question. I'm good
for the most part.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Okay, okay, what's not so good?
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Man? I'm just really tired. I had a tournament this weekend.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Oh okay.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
At least I don't have to play soccer. I only
have to be there to coach kids. But like, man,
kids are a lot of work.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Sometimes, as somebody who does not have children and is
a cool auntie, yes, I can agree, kids are a lot.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
I mean I don't have kids either, but a soccer
team is like essentially having eighteen children that are ridiculous
and say the most absurd things, especially boys. Oh yes,
I have never had so many boys talk back to
me then that I did this weekend.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Oh my goodness.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
They were just so tired because our game was at
seven am and they had to be there at six fifteen,
and it was against one of the hardest teams in
the league, and oh my goodness, they were just pissed.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Yeah, no doubt, that's such an early morning.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Yeah, and then they started losing because we ended up
going from eleven B eleven fields to seven B seven fields.
So if you know anything about soccer, that goes from
having a massive field to a quarter of.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
That field, Holy smokes. They were so mad, no doubt.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
But I mean I could also probably go on about
soccer all day, so.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Most likely, but we're here to talk about books.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
I mean books.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
As much as the soccer team is your kids, businesses
can be your kids. And we have Steph from Leather
and Lace on today.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Steph is all her business is the first romance only
bookstore in Saskatoon. And the really cool thing about it
is it's all online.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
All online is nice and simple. It just fits right
in your phone exactly.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
So Steph right now doesn't have an actual location. She's
working outside of her house, but her house is a
dream zone and it attracts a lot of money out
of your pocket, just suctions it out. But I love it.
It's the best place to be. So we're super excited
to be able to talk to Steph on the podcast today.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Hey Stan, howhi to you?
Speaker 3 (02:37):
Good yourself?
Speaker 1 (02:38):
I'm doing pretty well, Thank you, thanks so much for
coming on the show today.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
Yeah, no, problem.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Good. We're excited to have you. I'm really glad that
you agreed. I know you're a busy gal, so we are. Yeah,
we're pumped to talk to you. We'll kind of just
dive in. We have a bunch of questions for you,
and we'll kind of just build off that, go with
the flow.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Yeah, and I mean, I think before we start into
stuff about your store, let's dive into your personal reads
right now. So tell us what book you just finished,
what book you're currently reading, and what book is up
next on your TBR personally.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Mm, well, I just finished the Unhinged series or like
the Dance with a Devil series by Stefan Mack. The
audiobook just came out this week. I powered through it,
had to finish the series that you know, with the
books that have been about Honestly, I haven't started a
new book yet, and I don't know which one because
(03:38):
there's so many books that cannot came out that I'm
interested in reading.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Mm hmm, that's understandable. I feel like there were a
lot of release dates in the last couple of weeks
for really solid books for the summer.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
Yeah, well, every Tuesday, there's like releases for books, and
there's usually about ten or so that I'm always kind
of wanting to read. So I guess I've pick out
of a hat and see which one comes up.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Nice. I think that's a really good way to do
it when you just can't decide between which ones you're
going to read, just draw names out of a hat.
Nice and simple.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
I feel like I've seen so many times too where
they'll wrap their entire shelts and like wrap them in
brown paper, put a number on them, and then put
the little papers in a jar and pull it out
and then whatever the book is that they unwrapped, they
have to read. It's one way to do it. I mean,
it makes it easy to choose.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
Yeah, that does, well, looks like it wrapped a CBR though,
like your whole shelf would be wrapped. So, I mean,
it's just so much I don't know money and time
to just get that just to unwrap it.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
So I don't know, no for sure. So shall we
dive into it.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Let's dive in.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Let's dive in. So tell us a bit more about
yourself and what kind of led you to opening a bookstore.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
Well, first and foremost, I'm a wife, mama, two, I
got off for a baby as well, and then I'm
a full time healthcare worker, so that's me outside of
the book world. And then in terms of inspiring, I
don't know. It was kind of a joke. At first.
I was reading a lot, and then my husband Matt
just kind of was like, well, if you're reading so much,
you should maybe do something with it business wise and
(05:18):
actually make some money out of it. And I turned
that joke into reality. I guess, little does he know
we actually spend more money now, but whatever.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
That's hilarious. I to build off that. What made you
decide you wanted to do an online versus an in
person bookstore.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Well, with the way the things have been going, like
economy wise, it just seemed smarter to do everything online
and a lot of people now just kind of especially
since Covid has done a lot of online shopping as
opposed to going in. So that's why I did that.
Plus the cost is cheaper because there's no overhead really
because I do everything essentially out of my home, So
it just seemed easier for that, especially with Romance, because
(06:00):
I feel like there was such a stigma back then
that's kind of eased up now about just being embarrassed
about certain romance books, especially since Indigo has it placed
like right next to the kids section.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
So that's true, I actually do. I actually never thought
of it like that they do. It's right beside the
kid and like the baby clothes.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
I never thought about that and put it together before.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
Well, I mean it I in a way it kind
of makes sense because like romance books, you know, sometimes
lead the babies, and now the baby stuff is op
beside them. I don't know, could be, could be on show.
Oh my gosh, my brain it just started.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Like did you just.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
It's a brain fart, guys.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
That's totally okay. I mean I really like the idea
of your online bookstore because we're seeing so many break
and mortars in the last five years shut down change.
So the fact that you're online it almost gives you
a little bit more of a sense of permanent stuff.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Yeah, And I mean there's so many brick and mortars,
like you said, that shut down because they kind of
like overdo I don't want to say overdue, but it's like,
you have such big ideas, and those ideas are phenomenal,
but you have to start small and a lot of
people just dive into something without thinking about that, and
I think that that is also what makes having the
online bookstore very unique and very cost effective in a
(07:26):
way too. I mean, other than probably you are tempted
by books twenty four to seven because they are in
your home, but I feel like it is like a
pretty good way to do it, right. So when did
you originally open, Like what was kind of your open date?
Speaker 3 (07:46):
So I opened in June of twenty twenty three, so
at the time we were the first romance store in Saskatoon,
and then there was another one that opened up and
Fall of that same year.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
Amazing, So I mean you are the first romance bookstore. Yes,
I am amazing. So in terms of romance, like, do
you kind of carry an array of romance or is
there a certain area that you kind of lean towards
or gravitate towards.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
Honestly, it's all customer based for the most part. Like
I try and carry as much of a variety as
I can, but because it's out of my house, I've
got limited space. So a lot of people now are
reading a lot of like fantasy romance as well as
like sports, so I tend to bring in more of those,
and now like cowboy romance and all that stuff is
coming in more so. But I do carry in a
(08:36):
array of everything, and then I special order everything else
that I don't carry.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
It's gonna say, I feel like we talked about this
on our first podcast, where it's there's a lot of
sports romance and a lot of cowboy romance.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
I haven't dived into cowboy romance yet, but that sounds
kind of fun.
Speaker 2 (08:53):
M m. Yeah, it's pretty cool, very fun. I mean,
I'm dating not a cowboy. I guess I'm dating the farm.
It's the same thing, right with cowboy. He's not a cowboy,
but like he works with cows, so he technically is
a cowboy.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Just really loosely relating there. I like it. You know,
it's a stretch, but I'll take it.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
You know what, it works. So, how did you come
up with the name leather and lace?
Speaker 3 (09:21):
Honestly, it was hard to figure out, Like it wasn't
my first choice. But my original choice was actually kind
of like co owned by Playboy. So I didn't go
with that because I didn't want to work or be
related to that. Yeah, So then I came up with
leather and lace because I carry a lot of dark romance,
so I wanted something that appealed to like the more
(09:41):
dainty side of romance as well as like the not
so dainty side of romance. So I've got a little
bit of let leather, sorry, and I got a little
bit of lace.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
I actually love that. Can we just go back for
one second. Was it co created or co owned by Playboy?
Speaker 3 (09:59):
Yeah? So, so, like the name was trademarked and it
actually was owned by Playboy, And I didn't want to
be affiliated or work with because I mean it could
have come and bit me like in the ask a
little bit about that, so I changed it. But yeah,
it wasn't originally my first choice.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
But you know what, leather and lace rolls off the
tongue really well. I really do love it. Yeah, yeah, amazing.
Let me turn to my nifty list of questions because
my brain would never remember these things. So, like you
kind of alluded to this. If somebody's looking for a
title that you don't carry, are they able to request
(10:37):
it or have you look and see if you can
order it.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
In Yeah, so a lot of them, Like they can
just message me either on Instagram or send me an
email through the website and then I will see if
I can find it from one of my distributors, and
then I bring that in. If it's something that's been
a special order to requested a couple of times, I'll
try and bring in more than one copy just to
have it on hand. But a lot of the special
order requests or more for dark romance that's Indie published,
(11:02):
so something that's not easily attainable for stock amazing.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
In terms of ordering custom books, how has it kind
of changed now that like the tariffs and changes in
pricing with the US, are you looking at trying to
carry more Canadian authors or are you still trying to
find ways to kind of get those books in without
increasing your costs dramatically.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
Yeah, I carry a lot of like Canadian authors now.
The problem is that I don't want to like kind
of discriminate or I don't know, punish I guess the
authors that aren't Canadian by not carrying their books, So
I take a little bit more for them to come in,
but I try and keep them as cost effective as possible. Yeah,
(11:47):
I mean, unfortunately that's something that's out of my hands,
but I work with it.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
But you know what, that's a very Canadian response of
you that you don't want to discriminate against the US.
But I'm not going to discriminate against the US, but
I do want to pose the how many Canadian authors
does the US cover or bring in. I mean, I
know that uh Bailey Hannah had a book kind of
(12:13):
just come out and she had changed the covers and
looking for the original covers because of course my first
two books are original cover and I don't want to
have to replace them. But I actually had to order
it from the UK, which is wild that the UK
covers has Canadian literature and Canadian books, but a lot
(12:36):
of the US just doesn't not as much.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
I mean, well, and it's like happens when they republished.
So when it like an author gets like bought out
by a publisher, like a lot of times it's in
their contract that they have to change it. So that's why,
like indie covers are very hard to find, especially when
they get bought out. So that's why we see a
lot of like different copies for the same book.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
Amazing, that actually made a lot of sense.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
I yeah, I didn't know that, So I just learned
something new today.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
Well, and I feel like even if you think about it, like,
if you are bought out and you have to re
release a book, it makes sense that you would have
to go back and kind of republish them all so
that they are cohesive against or across the board. But
I mean, as somebody who buys books and a reader,
it can come across as sucking because I don't want
(13:26):
the new covers. I want to keep my covers.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
I want the old ones.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
But then also it ends up kind of being crappy
because you'll have the old covers and then what if
you got them signed? Then what I'm gonna have three
copies of the same book.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Let me just pause here and remind all of our
listeners that Alesia has OCD, so that plays a little
bit into her need and desire to have matching sets.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
Okay, but you can't lie and tell me that it
wouldn't bother you if you had two of one kind
and one of another.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Yeah, it does, probably not as much as you.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
How about you, Steph, Yeah, oh no, I have I'm
the same. They have to be like the same, Like
if there's like a different heights of a spine or
anything like that, it just it bothers me. So then
what I'll do is I'll buy the whole series in
the new covers as well, so I end up having
like three or more of the same title.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
See two again. Once you are wrong, I am wrong.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Even producer LB is on your side.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
See, Like, I was so angry. There was one series, Steph.
You might know what series it was. But I got
the first book and I got the second, and like
they were the same covers. Don't get me wrong, but
one was literally taller than the other. And I don't
understand how this happened. I think it was love unwritten.
(14:59):
Correct me if i I'm wrong, But like, no, it
wasn't that one it was. I don't know. I'll have
to show you guys a picture of it. But I
ended up getting rid of them because I couldn't stand
looking at them because they had a height difference.
Speaker 3 (15:11):
Oh, I was gonna say that series by Liz tom forty,
like The Windy City, that one has a slightly higher
like book. I think it's right, move that's slightly higher.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Yeah. Also, do you guys want to hear a funny story?
Speaker 1 (15:25):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (15:26):
So I have Alive in Wells by Bailey Hannah and
I went to the bookstore because in my brain. The
one that I had was always Seeing Red. I never
had a Live in Wells. And I went to the
thrift store one day and they had Alive in Wells
and I was like, oh my god, score, I've been
looking for this. So I brought it and I would
(15:49):
keep looking on my bookshelf. I'm like, where is where
Seeing Read? I can't find it, like this is ridiculous.
And somebody actually donated a box of books the one
day and I I open it and there's a copy
of Alive in Wells. And I was like, oh my gosh,
this is the one I'm missing, and this one was
actually signed by the author. And so I just kept
putting them on my bookshelf, and at one point I
(16:11):
looked and I was like, okay, how do I have
four copies of Alive and Wells? And I don't have
Sea and Read at this point. So yeah, I dazzled
one of them and then one is signed, and then
the one is the book that I bought brand new,
so it's like perfect, and I was like, yess, I'm
gonna keep three copies of this book.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
So yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Fun fact.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Speaking of copies, Steph in your whole like your for
your business, how many books do you keep in stock?
Speaker 3 (16:45):
Ooh, oh god, I don't even know, Like I don't
know about one hundred two hundred maybe.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Oh that's not bad.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
No, No, like those are like titles.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (16:59):
I haven't even care how many books I have. I
tend to like overbuy because I try and get as
many books in as possible. But the problem is I
have no room for them. So yeah, so a lot
of them are still sitting in boxes. I'm prepping for
a show at the end of the month, so I'm
not unpacking them, so I don't know.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
I'd have to do account No, I guess the real
question is so your store, what about your personal library?
How many books do you have in there?
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Probably close to one thousand. Like we built our house
in like twenty twenty one, and my husband had to
extend our library like three or four times since then.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Did you know, I believe it's over a thousand. If
you have over a thousand books, you're actually considered to
be a library. So like, technically my home is a library,
but that also means that yours is a library too. Stuff.
Speaker 3 (17:55):
Yep, So like you come up my stairs and I
have my personal library, and then I have like my
store in like the other room.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
So you know what, I should just start making little
library cards and be like, here, friends, you want to
borrow a book, you better use your library card.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
I just have a note on my phone and I
write who has what book? And if I've gotten it
back or not.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
See it that. I also don't do that because then
the ADHD kicks in and I forget and my friend
would be like, hey, I have all your books. I'm like,
what books? Like, which ones do you even have? And
I forgot that I owned them. Let's we really probably
have a second copy, so most likely two three copies,
so I guess. Because we're talking about like books and
(18:38):
shelves and your personal library, how do you keep yourself
from buying every book that kind of comes in? Like
how do you unpack boxes and not be like, oh
my gosh, I need this or I gotta buy this one.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
The problem is I have no self control, so I
end up you buying them unfortunately, like I put myself on,
I would call myself like a bookstore owner book band
of sorts, So I only buy the copies that have
like limited edition, like sprayed edges, or something that I
really want a first edition for, and then the rest
I'll leave for now until it's something that I'm currently
(19:14):
reading or wanting to read, and then I'll buy it.
But I think every week I'll buy maybe like three
four books a week. I think at most I've.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Spent like.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
Good puns.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
Like all of the books, I have to buy them,
so it's no choice.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
It's necessary. I mean read what what did you say
in our first one about buying books and owning books
and reading books.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
They're all three separate hobbies.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
Exactly, so no problems here. Okay, what is the spiciest
book you've ever stoked in your li in your library,
in your store.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
Honestly, I have no idea, Like I haven't read Pucking
Around by Emily Rath yet. I heard that one's really spicy.
But a lot of the dark romance stuff that I like,
I have read and it's pretty good. Like the Lord
series by Shintel Tessier that I would say is probably
one of the spiciest ones that I'd carried, but it's
also dark romance. But for the most part, everything I
(20:24):
carry is spice in some way.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
Honestly, I can kind of support the Lord series. I
did read that entire series, and as I've told you before, stuff,
but there was only one book in that series that
I could not read, and I got it as an arc,
and it was so hard for me to read it
that I ended up dnffing it at seventy percent, which
(20:49):
hurts me because seventy percent is a long way into
a book that you've already committed to. But I literally
just couldn't do it.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
DNF also stands for did not finish.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
For for our newbies.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
For anybody who's new, or maybe LB producer LB who
might not have known that. Oh it's a gamer term.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Oh, did not finish is a gamer term I don't understand. Nope,
did not finish the game?
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Oh okay, did not finish the game? Oh gotcha?
Speaker 2 (21:25):
How do you DNF racing?
Speaker 1 (21:27):
You just crash pretty easily. I guess your DNF a race?
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Okay, I got it now. So Steph, have you ever
read what is it? The Sick Boys Evil Boys trilogy?
It's not a trilogy anymore?
Speaker 3 (21:46):
Yeah, I've well, i've read the first two, and I
mean unpopular opinion. I did not like it. I mean
the fine, but I felt like it was the same
book every single time with different characters, Like, the plot
was the same, so I just.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
Got bored again. I can second that because the first
book had like three guys and a girl, and then
the second book had the same three guys and a
girl kind of in the background, and then new three
guys and a girl, and then the last one, yeah,
we added another three guys and a girl. There are
nine men in here that I can't remember who the
heck is who, and then there's three females and I'm
(22:22):
sitting here and I'm like, I don't understand what's going on.
But Steph, you are entirely right. It's the exact same
plot line. It's just different different sections of the school.
They're all they're like clubs or they're different clicks. Yeah,
and they all hate each other, but then at the
end they're all like best friends somehow. I don't know, guys,
I it was a book. Clearly it was a book.
(22:43):
It was a book. It was just one of those
books that you're you finish and you're like, Okay, well
I don't need to read these again. I don't. I
probably don't even need to have them on my bookshelf.
M Mmm, No, offense to Clarissa Wilde, You're still a
great author. Okay, let's go back to the what is
your personal ick you know, romance trope or your least
(23:05):
favorite romance trope.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
To be honest, I don't know, Like I'm not a
huge fan of like third act breakups. I find that
they're really predictable. But I don't know if there's like
one specific one that I'm not a fan of. Like
usually I can kind of get by it. There's very
few that I'm just I can't do and then I
won't read it.
Speaker 2 (23:24):
M h, that's fair. I'm a what's your three?
Speaker 1 (23:30):
Oh, that's tough. I don't know if it's anything in
particular per se, but just if the writing's really bad
and it feels rushed.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
Okay, to build off what you just said, do you
ever feel like you read an author and you are like,
oh my god, this author is so amazing, And then
you read another author and you're like, no, this author
is so amazing, and then it just kind of keeps going,
and then you go back to that first author and
you read it and you're like, wow, your grammar sucks,
Like yes, like I can't read certain books anymore. And
(23:58):
I probably will never read that author again. How about
you stuff, Do you feel that too?
Speaker 3 (24:03):
Yeah, especially ones that write in third person. I hate
when books are written in third person.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
So those are.
Speaker 3 (24:10):
Usually ones that get like left for me to read
and whenever I'm board.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
I was gonna say, I actually fully agree with that. Yeah, okay,
I'll say, what is your biggest ick? Honestly, I think
I don't know if it's an ick per se, but
it's one of those things that kind of will determine
if I'm going to read a book or not. And
this is only because, like, I'm personally triggered by certain things,
and usually in the like trigger section, I can usually
(24:38):
determine if it's going to be in there or not.
But I'm not a huge person when it comes to
dealing with suicide in books because it's super triggering. And
I know in a lot of dark romance, there's a
lot of dark themes, but typically, like, I can read anything,
but also, okay, don't ever include a spider. Okay, I
(24:59):
read a book where the spider was crawling all over
this person and I literally could not read it. So
no spider's place? Does that count as an eck? In
a romancetro yep. Cool. Okay, uh, I don't know what
I was going to say, but Steph, if Leather and
Lace had a theme song, what would it be?
Speaker 3 (25:22):
Honestly, I don't know, but to be honest, like one
of like the ones that I think of the most
is Pony by genuine.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
Ooo that or when I think of Leather and Lace,
you know how they have the Beyonce crazy in love
but it's like the slow down kind of version that.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
I mean, like from the Shades of Gray like the movies.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Yes, wow, I mean, do you guys want to hear
what comes to mind for me? And maybe this is
just like I don't know, but the first thing that
came to mind is S and M by Rihanna.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
It fits in really well.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
Sorry, like that's just what kind of came immediately m hm,
or like you could go for like I don't know,
I'm clearly thinking of the dirty side of books apparently. Okay,
I have two questions left for you, Steph, and then
I will let you get back to your very very
important healthcare job. And that just seemed like I was
(26:17):
being very snarky and what's the word, Like I wasn't
meaning to sound bad, but I know that, like, you
have a busy day, so we don't want to don't
attend too much of your time. But which book boyfriend
would be the worst roommate?
Speaker 3 (26:36):
I wouldn't call him necessarily a book boyfriend, but one
of the guys that I've read the most about would
have been like Diesel from Denna Viper's because I feel
like things would get really messy, or Melichai from Little Strangers, because,
like you had mentioned with the spider, he has an
inability to keep it in the tank.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
So I mean Eric, So, to be honest, that was
gonna be mine because again I just mentioned the spiders,
so I agree with that. He can never be my roommate.
And god, he's fictional. If anybody was like, hey, let's
buy a spider, be like, hey, you're kicked out, goodbye.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
Ye you're breaching the contract.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Yeah, I mean, what was it? Was it? In? It
was in Friends when Phoebe wanted to get Joey to
stop playing the drums, didn't she buy it like a
I don't want to say a tank but like a
little last thing and have a spider in it and
like put the drumsticks in it. And he's terrified of spiders,
so he was like, hey, yeah, I'm done drumming. Yeah yeah,
(27:33):
So like that's where I'm at. That's that's what I
think of spiders. Okay, Last, but not least, have you
ever accidentally kept a book for yourself and pretended it
was damaged inventory?
Speaker 3 (27:49):
Honestly No, that's like I'm particularly with like my books.
So if it's like an author like or a book
that I absolutely want, it has to be pristine like,
so typically I'll like donate them to people, or I'll
do like a draw and be like there you go.
That's kind of your book. But very rarely would I
actually keep.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
It for myself. Okay, that's fair, that's very honest of you,
very very much appreciated.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
You're a good person in case no one's told you
the day.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
Yeah, I know it's my That kind of bothers me
with those books.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
That's fair. I mean, I get it. At the same time,
I feel like I would probably be like, oh, this
is damaged. I can't sell this. Maybe I can reduce
the price and I'll just buy it.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
Yeah it's mine.
Speaker 2 (28:37):
Now that sounds bad to reduce the price. I'm not
stealing it's just like I'd have to reduce the price
anyways to sale for myself. Yeah. I guess that's kind
of the end of what I have written down. And
I wanted to ask, but Steph, do you have anything
you want to add or questions for us? Necessary questions
(28:59):
for us? I wanted to say, necessarily that makes no sense. No, okay,
have some more coffee please, I'm talking too much? How
do I drink coffee when I keep talking? Do you
have any questions for us or anything you want to add?
I I'm going to make a post about kind of
your store and everything as well, and hopefully we have
(29:21):
some more people check you out, because this is an
amazing store. It's amazing concept and I'm I'm proud to
be able to support you as well.
Speaker 3 (29:31):
Yeah, No, it's great. I mean, I love the people
who purchase books for me or even just like talk
to me about books. I mean, it's awesome. It's a
great conversation. Yeah, and thanks for letting me be on
the show and talk about my business.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Amazing. Well, it's been lovely, Steph. We hate to have
to say goodbye, but I appreciate everything you do.
Speaker 3 (29:51):
You're welcome, have a great day, guys.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
Yeah you too. Awesome. That was fun.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
That was fantastic. So again, that was Steph from Leather
and Lace Books. I believe you can find her on Instagram.
You can find her on a website. Yes, we'll hook
all those up on our Instagram page for you guys
to be able to go and check her stuff out.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
And I think it's important to acknowledge local businesses. This
is a completely local business. I kind of was there
when she first started and it has grown significantly in
the community of people who are supporting her are absolutely
lovely humans. So yeah, we'll post everything there if you're interested.
You can actually purchase all the books on her website.
(30:34):
If you are an indie author or anybody who is
trying to find people to kind of get your books
out in the world, contact staff. She is a very
big believer of Canadian authors and indie books, so you
never know.
Speaker 1 (30:49):
Amazing. Well, I think that just about.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
Okay, But I want to ask you one thing. Yeah,
ask one thing and then we can say goodbye. What
is your biggest red, flat or green flag about a
bookstore or a book?
Speaker 1 (31:04):
Okay, let's go with bookstore. Okay, let's start my biggest
green flag for a bookstore is if you walk in
and there is a This is so stereotypical, but there
is an older gentleman who's kind of grumbly and he's
like your typical kind of like just doesn't really want
(31:29):
to help, doesn't really want to be involved, but secretly
loves books and loves what he does. That's a green
flag for a store for me is if you have
that employee who's just kind of like think of almost
like like a dragon collecting treasures.
Speaker 2 (31:45):
Okay, do you have like a Grandpa cank here or what? Sorry,
I think i'm funny. Okay, I think you're funny too,
but no, I don't maybe a Sata Clausewood or like dragons.
(32:06):
I don't know dragons are previous dragons. I mean, I'm
not gonna I'm not gonna continue with the thought because
I have something that's probably very it appropriate that I
could say, but I'm gonna have to tell you after.
Just remind me. Okay, Okay. My biggest green flag, to
be honest, I actually absolutely love when you walk in
the door and there's plants ooh yeah, like brightens a
(32:27):
room and like, I don't know, like it gives me
that like it grows here, this is like a happy
place and like it just like there's something about them
that like changes the vibe of the store.
Speaker 1 (32:40):
Well it's quite literally changing the air in the store.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
So yes, yeah, okay, and then I'll add my red
flag and then you got to add yours.
Speaker 1 (32:49):
So backstray.
Speaker 2 (32:51):
I had this professor in sorry, in university that I
remember going to his office one time. One time I
walked in and he had books box is just stacked
up to the roof and you go in and you're like,
oh my god, like I'm gonna get crushed by books.
And I just remember telling my one friend that, you
know what, one day, he's just gonna disappear and he's
(33:13):
gonna have all of his books have fallen on him
and nobody's gonna find him because all the books have collapsed.
Very wrong, Very very rude of me to say, But seriously,
that's kind of where this is going. But if you
go into a store that, like, I'm all for having
books floor to ceiling, but when you go into a
store that like books are just everywhere, it's a disaster.
You can't really find anything, nothing sorted. Sometimes those are
(33:35):
like more so used stores rather than news stores. But
if I walk in and I get this overarching like
I have OCD. So like if I go in there
and I'm just overwhelmed and I can't I can't be
in there, I usually leave.
Speaker 1 (33:48):
Yeah. I feel similarly with red flags, where if it's
too much in there and you can't make sense of things,
it can be very overwhelming. If I have enough time
to sit and dig through, it's a bit of a
different story, but you have to be in the mood
to want to do that. It's not every day that
you walk into a store and you're like, yeah, I'm
(34:09):
gonna spend like two hours here trying to find the
books that I want. No, some days I just want
to wham bam, get in, get out.
Speaker 2 (34:16):
Well, and I think too, it depends who you go with,
because I'll go with my sister and she'll be like,
wells yeah, like we've been here for twenty minutes, like
care we go and I'm like, are.
Speaker 1 (34:25):
You kidding to get out of here?
Speaker 2 (34:26):
Are you joking? Like I haven't even read the titles
of one bookshelf? No, okay, I'm glad we're kind of
on on the bar with this and I'm glad there's
no grandpa kinks here.
Speaker 1 (34:38):
That's awesome, but also no kink shaming. So if yeah,
I'm yourthing, like, good for you. I'm super happy for you.
Speaker 2 (34:44):
You could maybe have a sugar grandpa instead of a
sugar daddy. Ooh, you never know, you could, guys, But
that's gonna be our episode. We're kind of running out
of time here, and you know us, we could talk
for hours. But yeah, I mean, you know that this
is not that kind of book. We talk about pretty
much anything that comes to mind. But this is an
(35:05):
exciting episode.
Speaker 1 (35:06):
This is a fantastic episode. We had our first guest.
Speaker 2 (35:09):
Yeah, great, We're going to keep bringing guests. I think
it's exciting.
Speaker 1 (35:13):
Yeah, it is very exciting. I'm excited. You're excited. I
think the people are excited.
Speaker 2 (35:18):
Well, and I think LB is excited. He's got some
laughs in today.
Speaker 1 (35:21):
I know.
Speaker 2 (35:22):
I think it's been awesome. And realistically, I like the
fact that this episode we're not necessarily talking about our
book club pick. It was kind of a little bit
of a different vibe. And then our next episode, guys,
we are actually diving into our book club pick. We're
going to be talking about our Lovely Just for This
Summer by Abby Yemenez. Yeah, and we're really excited to
(35:44):
be able to do that with you.
Speaker 1 (35:46):
Thanks so much for tuning in again, it's not that
kind of book club, a bookish podcast
Speaker 2 (35:50):
Where we read it so you don't have to see
you guys later or next time.
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