[intro]
Sarah Wendell: Hello and welcome to episode number 739 of Smart Podcast, Trashy Books. I’m Sarah Wendell, Amanda is with me, and yep, we’re back in the time machine! We’re going back to 2007 to take a look at the new releases in Romantic Times magazine, and we’re so glad you’re joining us. We have got kooky books, taxidermy, chick lit, and a new entry into the Character Name Hall of Fame. Strap in; it’s going to get weird.
Now, a bit of housekeeping: at about thirty-eight minutes [38:00] in, Amanda’s track had some kind of digital echo, some kind of audio interference. I don’t know what happened, but I did as much as I could to adjust it? It might be a little irritating to the ears. I have tried very, very hard to smooth it out. I am very sorry for this.
I will have links to all of the books that we mention at smartbitchestrashybooks.com/podcast under episode 739, and you can also watch this episode on the YouTubes.
I have a compliment this week, and that is my favorite thing!
To Alison: Your friends know that you’re the perfect partner for anything: paintball, karaoke, swordfighting, shopping at Costco, going to the DMV, because any time with you is always a great time.
If you would like a compliment of your very own or would like to support this here show, patreon.com/SmartBitches. Members of the Patreon are the most lovely humans on the earth, and they help make sure that every episode has an artisan transcript from garlicknitter – hi, garlicknitter! [Hi! – gk] And more topical at this moment, if you are a member of the Patreon, you can join us for our Holiday Wishes episodes. I will be setting up the recordings very soon, and if you would like to be part of these episodes that are so much fun, come join the Patreon! We would love to have you.
Support for this episode comes from My Cowboy Under the Mistletoe. If your perfect holiday romance involves a brooding cowboy, sizzling slow burn chemistry, and enough heat to melt the snow, you need My Cowboy Under the Mistletoe by Ivy Holloway, new from W by Wattpad Books.
Sarah Delaney hates Christmas. Ever since her mother died on Christmas when Sarah was eight, the holiday has meant heartbreak, not mistletoe, and certainly not happily ever afters. So when her father begs her to come home and help with the family tree farm, Sarah plans to get in, get out, and escape before Christmas arrives. Then she meets Mac. The mysterious new cowboy in town is sexy, brooding, and impossible to resist. One look has Sarah intrigued, one touch has her melting, and the more time she spends with Mac, the harder it becomes to ignore the scorching attraction between them. But Mac isn’t the only temptation waiting for her in Mistletoe: her old high school friend Luke is suddenly looking hotter than ever, and he’s always been there when she needed him. Caught between the man she’s always known and the cowboy who sets her pulse racing, Sarah finds herself swept into a steamy love affair that forces her to confront not only her past, but what she truly wants.
If you like your holiday romances extra spicy, your cowboys brooding, and your mistletoe encounters very heated, My Cowboy Under the Mistletoe is your next Christmas obsession. Pick up your copy today and get ready to turn up the heat this holiday season. My Cowboy Under the Mistletoe by Ivy Holloway is out now and available wherever books are sold.
All right, are you ready to start this episode? Let’s get in the time machine; we’re going back to 2007! On with the podcast.
[music]
Sarah: Woohoo! All right, here we go. We are here to discuss the June 2007 issue of Romantic Times. We’ve got books; we’ve got things to talk about. This is going to be a banger set of episodes, I think.
Amanda: [Laughs]
Sarah: There’s a lot to talk about in this thing, isn’t there?
Amanda: Yes – [laughs] – there sure is.
Sarah: So we’ll start briefly with the cover, as we usually do. This is about Jennifer Ashley’s series, The Calling, which was with Dorchester. You can tell because of the type font on the cover; they all used that same lettering. Jennifer Ashley is now better known for other series, including the Below Stairs Mysteries series and some other books that she’s written, but here she’s writing paranormal, and no one is wearing clothes. There’s, there’s four images –
Amanda: Yeah! I mean that’s –
Sarah: – no clothes.
Amanda: – a given for a paranormal.
Sarah: We’ll talk about it more in the ads and features, but, I mean, at least they put the book cover on there.
Amanda: [Laughs]
Sarah: That’s good, right? So you remember the book cover.
Amanda: Yeah! I mean, we’ll talk about this in the ads and features, but I felt like this was the most magazine-style cover we’ve seen in a while? I feel like the –
Sarah: Yes.
Amanda: – lately they’re just, like, the big cover image of whatever book or author they’re talking about? But this feels the most magazine-y, ’cause you’ve got, like, the sidebar with, like, What’s Inside, plus, like, the feature cover story, stuff like that.
Sarah: Mm-hmm. Yeah. I agree with you, it’s very magazine-like. This is, this is the cover that I would expect to be on a magazine about romance with an article about a series. Like, I could see this sort of cover style with the four pictures and everything for another series, like, right now. No, maybe not the cover art, maybe fan art, but yeah, this works.
Amanda: [Laughs]
Sarah: So as usual, we start with the one, the true, the only form of romance that we care about: Historical Romance. And –
Amanda: [Laughs]
Sarah: – granted, it was a popular genre, but this is the one where the summary page is the full page. There are sooo many books in this section.
Amanda: Yes.
Sarah: What did you pick?
Amanda: So I picked, on PDF 49 –
Sarah: Uh-huh?
Amanda: – a Regency romance, A Certain Want of Reason by Kate Dolan. Three stars, Mild, Setting: 1816 London. And this book, I feel like it involves what I assume to be cheating, or someone is otherwise spoken for, whether or not they want to be or not. And I noticed a lot of other books in this issue where one of the main characters already has, like, a fiancé or significant other. [Laughs] And so I don’t know –
Sarah: Yep.
Amanda: – if this point in time it was particularly popular. I mean, those sorts of stories don’t personally appeal to me, but I was like –
Sarah: Yeah.
Amanda: – I would read a description of like, Oh, wait a second – [laughs] – you’re, you have a boyfriend! You have a girlfriend!
Sarah: You’re cheating! This is not good! I tru- –
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: – I don’t trust your moral judgment. Now, I do want to tell you, I just noticed that this book is from Cerridwen Press? Cerridwen was the historical arm of Ellora’s Cave.
Amanda: Ohhh!
Sarah: And –
Amanda: So it probably has a fucked-up, weird cover is my guess. [Laughs]
Sarah: It probably has a fucked-up, weird cover, but it’s also more likely to be on the erotic side, and also kind of –
Amanda: …spicier side!
Sarah: [Sighs] Like, a lot of Ellora’s Cave books were just off the wall?
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: Like, off the wall –
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: – like we have now, with, like, you know, I got kidnapped by an alien and I’m now his nanny. Like, off the wall premises.
Amanda: Well, I’ll, I will never forget going to my first Book Expo America and the Ellora’s Cave booth being manned by shirtless models –
Sarah: Yes, that was the –
Amanda: – at Book Expo America.
Sarah: – local talent, also known as strippers, dancers, yeah.
Amanda: [Laughs] Yeah. Also, the book description, in my opinion, doesn’t seem to treat mental illnesses very respectfully, so also keep that in mind.
Sarah: What?!
Amanda: Yeah, shocker.
Sarah: In 2007? We were being assholes –
Amanda: Shocker!
Sarah: – about mental health. Okay, well, actually, that’s a really good warning to have. Bring it!
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: Let’s see what we got.
Amanda: >> A groom-to-be who will go to any length to get out of an engagement may not sound like an ingenious premise, but Dolan’s version is fun!
Sarah: D’oh!
Amanda: >> The her- –
[Laughs] I know!
>> The heroine has troubles, a brother and sister who both have mental health issues, but that lends credence to her emotional responses to the hero.
That’s the review. So the most you get out is It’s fun!
Sarah: Lends credence. Okay!
Amanda: Lends Creedence Clearwater Revival to her emotional responses to the hero.
[Laughter]
Sarah: Sure!
Amanda: That’s what I think of when I hear the word…
Sarah: Absolutely.
Amanda: For the first time in years, Lucia is in London for the season and a well-deserved vacation for, from her eccentric siblings.
I’m assuming these are the ones that have mental health issues.
>> But her first night out is ruined when she destroys her dress on a coat of armor and meets a man who barks like a dog in company, but the handsome lord shows her a sane side. Before she can explore the in- –
Yeah.
>> – before she can explore the intriguing facets of Edmund, her brother, in a fit of confusion, stabs him in the leg.
Sarah: Oh boy.
Amanda: >> Since the lord is acting the part of an insane man at the time, both men end up in an institution for the mentally ill.
Sarah: Oh boy-boy.
Amanda: So he’s pretending to be mentally unwell and then gets stabbed by the heroine’s also mentally unwell brother, and so then they both get sent to an institution.
Sarah: Oh boy.
Amanda: >> When the letter Edmund sends via his valet, proving he is truly sane, falls into the hands of his irate fiancée, she hatches a plot that will win her his title, money, and widowhood. Meanwhile, Lucia is desperate to get her brother released and fights to protect Edmund, whom she has come to love.
Like, if I were caring for two of my siblings who have mental illness, I –
Sarah: To the point where they’re stabbing people in confusion, yeah.
Amanda: I personally find it a bit inappropriate for a man to pretend to be mentally ill to get out of an engagement.
Sarah: Just a little, yes.
Amanda: It would stick in my craw a little bit.
Sarah: Yeah. Holy cow. I’m sure –
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: – it’s very sensitively handled, she said, shaking her head.
Amanda: Yeah. And then, you know, I don’t know –
Sarah: Whoo!
Amanda: – Edmund’s fiancée here, but look, if she wants to go after his title, money, and maybe kill him, I’m kind of team fiancée at this point. Like –
Sarah: I mean, let’s be honest: that is a, a logical thing to want. Like, I’m engaged to this guy. He just got thrown into a mental institution, which at that time is, like, social ruination and certainly terrible on the inside. I mean, that is a rational, logical plan. Like, she’s –
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: – she’s already vulnerable without being tied to a man. She’s tied to one who’s damaging her socially. I can see why this seems like an option for her, is what I’m trying to say.
Amanda: I also feel like, you know, men will do anything but go to therapy and talk about their feelings, right? [Laughs]
Sarah: So true?
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: Oh my God. So I picked, on page 52, and I would just like to note, as usual, the, the grade range. We do have some twos. We have one, two, I believe. But there are never any ones in Historical, and I kind of want to see the magazine where there’s a one-star review in Historical. I don’t think it will ever happen, which says a lot –
Amanda: I –
Sarah: – about the, the grading rubric here.
Amanda: I feel like the grading rubric is the same rubric they use for Whose Line Is It Anyway? where, like, the rules are made up and the points don’t matter? Like, that’s –
[Laughter]
Amanda: – that’s how I feel about –
Sarah: Like –
Amanda: – this rubric after three years of doing this.
Sarah: It’s almost like a binary at this point, because if you’re going to talk about what you got in RT you’re going to be like, I was an RT Top Pick. You know, I was four stars. Anyone who knows RT, you make three stars, Oh God, well, that’s actually pretty bad.
Amanda: [Laughs]
Sarah: Two stars! My God, what did you, why are you even putting this on the cover? Page 52. I have picked The Shoe Queen by Anna Davis. And the reason I picked it is –
Amanda: The Shoe Queen.
Sarah: – this sounds unhinged, and I am very curious.
Amanda: [Laughs]
Sarah: This is historical fiction, it is four stars, Mild – sorry. Setting is 1920s Paris.
>> Shoe queens, get ready to be plunged into the world of Bohemian Paris during the roaring ‘20s when expatriate Brits and Americans flocked to the City of Light. Everything from the wild parties with flowing champagne to the rising passions of the era are brought to life through images that flicker in your mind’s eye like old movies.
Amanda: Okay. [Laughs]
Sarah: Not if you don’t see things in your brain, but okay.
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: >> Davis cleverly uses dialogue to create her three-dimensional characters and draw the reader into a story of how an obsession can lead to independence.
There’s not a review in there? It’s just kind of like a book report, but okay. I mean, I can’t really have expectations at this point. It’s been three years; you’d think I would learn. Summary – here we go!
>> British socialite Genevieve Shelby King drags her American husband to Paris to experience the wild world of artists, poets, and the bored aristocracy who descend on the city. Genevieve has one passion: shoes. And when she spies the most beautiful pair of lace slippers on her rival’s feet, everything else pales by comparison. She discovers that they were created by eccentric designer Paulo Zachari. Zachari handpicks his clients, and of course he does not choose Genevieve. Of course his rebuff only inflames her desire for his shoes. She becomes obsessed not just with the shoes, but also with the man. Genevieve allows her desire for his shoes to be translated into a hunger for Zachari himself, and their tumultuous liaison has consequences she does not expect and opens doors to the past and the future Genevieve never imagined.
So she was so obsessed with some shoes that she ended up getting obsessed with the guy who designed them and who would not design for her. That was a whole book?
Amanda: Well, like, one, you know when you hear –
Sarah: That was a whole book?!
Amanda: – you hear a word said so much it, you start to think you’re going crazy?
Sarah: Yeah!
Amanda: You said shoes so much that that’s what it triggered in me? It’s like –
Sarah: Shoes means nothing anymore!
Amanda: And then of course as someone who’s a millennial, I thought of the classic viral YouTube video, Oh my God, Shoes.
[Laughter]
Amanda: So: These shoes suck, these shoes rule. If no one has seen Oh my God, Shoes, you’re missing out.
Sarah: We’ll put the link in the show notes; don’t worry. We’ll, we’ll hook you up.
Amanda: [Laughs]
Sarah: It’ll be on the website at, you know, Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, slash podcast under episode whatever this episode is. This will be episode 739.
Amanda: But also, looking ahead, is shoes a theme for this issue? Because –
Sarah: Yes!
Amanda: – your next pick is Shoe Addicts Anonymous!
Sarah: Shall I move right on to my next – I’m going to move right on to my next pick –
Amanda: Yeah!
Sarah: – in Mainstream Fiction, ‘cause I’m going with a theme, and my theme –
Amanda: And it’s shoes. [Laughs]
Sarah: – is, the theme is shoooes. So on page 62, we have Shoe Addicts Anonymous. Maybe I think I wrote this down wrong.
Amanda: Was this, like, in the height of Sex and the City era, when Carrie Bradshaw was obsessed with shoes?
Sarah: I really think it was, yeah. If the word shoes has no meaning for you, I’m sorry. This Mainstream Fiction includes Chick Lit! Little section just for chick lit. This is Shoe Addicts Anonymous by Beth Harbison, four and a half stars.
>> Harbison’s latest is a captivating, sparkling tale filled with wit and charm as a charismatic group of women form a support group for shoe aficionados. Superb character development and a winning plot line make this an engaging novel not to be missed.
I’ve never – okay, I’m going to read the summary. I’ve never heard of this book, and yet I could predict everything that’s going to happen in this book.
Amanda: [Laughs]
Sarah: This plot is so familiar.
>> Lorna, a suburban Maryland waitress, posts an internet ad inviting fellow seven-and-a-half-size shoe addicts to meet for some serious shoe exchanging.
Amanda: Hey –
Sarah: Gross.
Amanda: – that’s my shoe size!
Sarah: Okay, yeah, but do you want to wear some other ladies’ shoes?
Amanda: I mean, maybe! I’ve shared shoes before.
Sarah: Okay!
>> Helene, a brow-beaten wife of a rising politician; Joss, an un-, underappreciated nanny; Lorna, a maxed-out credit card user; and Sandra, a telecommunications specialist, form a group as they gather together to troll, to trade Manolos for Maglis.
That’s M-A-G-L-I-S. I hope I said that right.
>> Theirs isn’t merely a shoe group. They also provide therapy for one another as the women advise Joss on how to quit her horrible nanny job and provide support and concern for Helene, who is convinced that someone is following her, and humor is never in short supply as together the women encounter some unusual roadblocks on their journeys to personal happiness.
Could you not predict every single thing that’s going to happen in this book? Like, I –
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: – this is so familiar. I do like the idea of a shoe exchange.
Amanda: Shoes.
Sarah: Now – shoes. Now, before we get to your pick, I just want to read you a, a, a book description.
Amanda: Okay.
Sarah: And I just want you to tell me how much this book, the experience of reading it, would be your personal hell.
Amanda: Okay!
Sarah: This is Frenemies by Megan Crane, four stars, Chick Lit.
>> Crane writes a funny chick lit focusing on the struggles of getting older and not quite feeling grown up, jam-packed with hilarious one-liners and amusing scenarios. This is a quick, albeit very satisfying read.
I can already see you rolling your eyes. All right, here you go; brace yourself.
>> On the verge of her thirtieth birthday, Gus walks in on her boyfriend kissing her college friend Helen. Understandably upset with both of them, she turns to a longtime nemesis in her hour of need. From then on, her life is filled with one humorous mishap after the next, all leading to the question, did she ever really love her boyfriend in the first place?
Does this just – this is just Amanda’s worst nightmare of a book.
Amanda: My butthole clenched at the phrase humorous mishaps.
Sarah: [Laughs] I knew that would be the point where you were like, Nope! Absolutely not.
Amanda: [Laughs]
Sarah: I do not do a slapstick.
Amanda: Absolutely not!
Sarah: I don’t do pop culture.
Amanda: Yeah, no!
Sarah: I don’t do Taylor Swift references. I don’t do slapstick in my books.
Amanda: Also, if you catch your boyfriend and your college friend kissing, you don’t need to go to your longtime nemesis. You get that revenge all on your own.
Sarah: You just –
Amanda: You don’t need to outsource it.
Sarah: – dump that motherfucker already and get your own revenge. But also –
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: – it sounds like turning to her nemesis makes her life really chaotic, and I’m like, this does not seem like a win.
Amanda: No!
Sarah: So maybe you should read it! What do you think?
Amanda: No!
[Laughter]
Amanda: Absolutely not!
Sarah: There’s no goddamn way! Is that not your personal hell of a book? Like, I was like, oh, Amanda would hate this.
Amanda: [Huffs]
Sarah: Amanda would hate this so fucking much.
Amanda: I, I mean, like, I was too young, I think, at the time for chick lit, but I –
Sarah: Mm-hmm.
Amanda: – do not think that genre would be for me. As, so, like, we just recorded a bonus episode talking about, like, crushed heroines –
Sarah: Mm-hmm.
Amanda: – and sort of, like, ineptitude –
Sarah: Uh-huh!
Amanda: – in romance heroines. And I feel like chick lit especially embodies those things a lot.
Sarah: Yes, there’s a lot of ineptitude and fumbling towards success and failing upward in chick lit. Like I said, it’s –
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: – New Adult in a good economy. ‘Cause there’s shoes!
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: Lots of shoes! So what shoes did you pick?
Amanda: So on page 56 – get ready; you’re going to see a familiar name. Okay? This is The Sleeping Beauty Proposal by Sarah Strohmeyer. Four and a half stars, Top Pick. So this will hearken back to a previous issue that we’ve covered. I don’t know, I don’t remember what issue, but you’ll, you’ll know it when you hear it.
>> Strohmeyer takes a break from her Bubbles Yablonsky novels –
Bubbles is back! [Laughs]
>> – to provide readers with an engaging new heroine! Genie Michaels is a fabulous protagonist, a woman who fakes her own engagement to follow her dreams of marriage in this uniquely comical yet believable novel!
Sarah: Huh!
Amanda: So, you know, going along with what’s my own personal hell –
Sarah: Oh God.
Amanda: – this feels crazy!
[Laughter]
Amanda: >> Bostonian Genie Michaels is thrilled when she believes that her boyfriend, novelist Hugh Spencer, proposed marriage to her on national television. But when she discovers that he has actually proposed to another woman, she is mortified.
Sarah: I’m mortified right now! Ah!
Amanda: I also want to know, like, were you in a fugue state and didn’t realize he said someone else’s name? Like, how do you get confused?
>> With the aid of her friend Patty, Genie perpetuates the myth that she is actually engaged to Hugh and discovers what it is really like to live the dream of her forthcoming marriage, finally gaining the complete acceptance of her family. But her dream begins to crumble when Hugh discovers her deception, and she comes to realize that being dumped by Hugh may not have been the worst thing to ever happen to her. She meets Nick, a sexy carpenter, and may even discover what true love is really about.
So this guy proposes to you on national television. Well, doesn’t propose to you – essentially proposes marriage –
Sarah: But it’s like a fake out.
Amanda: – yeah – to someone else. But you start telling people that it’s actually for you and perpetuate this lie that you’re actually engaged to your piece-of-shit former fiancé. Former fiancé then finds out that you’re lying and exposes you for lying. Like, I feel like you’re only hurting yourself multiple times in this scenario. Girl, what are you doing?
Sarah: Girl, no! No. No, no, no.
Amanda: Girl, help.
Sarah: Dump that motherfucker already. I sense a theme.
Amanda: Yeah! But, like, why would you go along with it? Like, he embarrassed you on television.
Sarah: Yeah! And if he’s your boyfriend, but then he proposed to someone else? That’s quite a, an indictment of your relationship, which sucks, but, like, it’s over. Like, there’s nowhere –
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: – there’s nowhere else to go here.
Amanda: No.
Sarah: Moving on to Inspirational. On –
Amanda: We skipped Teen Scene, by the way. Neither of us was like –
Sarah: Yeah.
Amanda: – there’s something here.
Sarah: Was there even a Teen Scene?
Amanda: There were like – it –
Sarah: Yeah – oh, it was one page –
Amanda: It’s tiny.
Sarah: – PDF page 67. There are one, two, three, four tiny, tiny reviews.
Amanda: Not worth it.
Sarah: Yeah, not, not worth – and the reviews weren’t, like, doing anything. It’s like, it was the kind of review that they write where, Here is book. See book? Book is here. Buy book.
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: Like, that was the whole of it.
So I picked Courting Trouble by Deeanne Gist, who is a past guest of the podcast, a fantastic writer, and one of the more in-, interesting historical inspirational writers out there. Now, the –
Amanda: Yes.
Sarah: – the book review is on page 71, but there’s actually an ad for the book on page 68 that is better. So I’m going to read the review, and then I’m going to read the ad, and we’re going to just, like, compare them.
Amanda: Okay!
Sarah: So this is Courting Trouble by Deeanne Gist, four stars, Historical Romance, Inspirational.
>> This Christy Award-winning author does not disappoint in her latest novel. Readers will hold their breath as passions are flared, limits are crossed! And secrets are revealed. Aside from a great storyline highlighted with humor, readers will appreciate the insides, insights that are revealed as we follow Essie on her journey towards love and acceptance. Anyone who has ever loved and lost will find this story a source of encouragement and delight.
So here’s a summary:
>> It’s 1894, and Essie Spreckelmeyer is thirty, single, and determined to find a husband. Refusing to be labeled a spinster, she sets her sights on Mr. Hamilton Crook. Unfortunately, her eccentric ways seem to repel the young widower, and Essie is hurt when he suddenly appears with a new wife. Then Essie meets a drifter, Adam Currington, who ropes her in with his charming words and his obvious attraction. Essie is armed with power, as Adam’s advances prove that she has what it takes to attract and keep a man. With this newfound revelation, she begins a journey that will break her naïveté and childlike innocence. Will Essie ever find the love she so desperately seeks?
Now, that sounds like a heroine who I would not enjoy spending time with. But here is the ad –
Amanda: [Laughs]
Sarah: – and I kind of think that they have not really – they, they let Essie down in this summary, because the ad from Bethany House is, is something very different!
Amanda: I think we’ve run into this before, where we read the review and the summary, and then we –
Sarah: Right?
Amanda: – go and read the Goodreads summary? And the Goodreads summary –
Sarah: And we’re like, ooh!
Amanda: – is much better.
Sarah: Right?
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: So, this is the ad copy for, there’s a whole-page ad of Journey to the Past with New Historical Romances from Bethany House – including the one that you picked as well! It’s in the lower right corner.
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: The headline for that one is History, Drama, and Quilting, so I am engaged.
Amanda: Yes. [Laughs]
Sarah: So here’s the text for Courting Trouble by Deeanne Gist, which, by the way, as per usual with Deeanne Gist, has a gorgeous fucking cover.
Amanda: Yes.
Sarah: >> She has one mission: find a husband. As Essie Spreckelmeyer nears age thirty, she decides the Lord has left her to find a husband on her own. After writing down the names of all the bachelors in her small Texas town, she closes her eyes, twirls her finger, and picks one. But convincing the lucky husband-to-be is going to be a bit more of a problem.
Now, that –
Amanda: [Laughs]
Sarah: – sounds fucking wild, and I am – Please tell me more! How different are those two things describing the same plot?
Amanda: I just picture her, like, for anyone who played MASH growing up?
Sarah: With the little –
Amanda: – where –
Sarah: – with the little, with the little –
Amanda: Yeah, and you, like –
Sarah: – folding paper thing?
Amanda: – Mansion, Apartment, Shack, House. But you would always –
Sarah: [Laughs] I forgot about that part!
Amanda: [Laughs] If you –
Sarah: A shack!
Amanda: You would pick like four love interests, usually –
Sarah: From church.
Amanda: – the boys in your class, or –
Sarah: Mm-hmm! We need to bring this back.
Amanda: – or celebrities, right?
Sarah: How is this not a romance right now?
Amanda: Yeah. There, no, there was! One just call, one just came out! I think it’s called The MASH Up?
Sarah: Oh!
Amanda: Where a woman is playing MASH, and then she wakes up in her seventh-grade MASH game. I, like, picked it on, for, like, Hide Your Wallet, as someone who played a lot of MASH. But yeah. So it is a, it is a romance novel.
Sarah: She’s…basically playing MASH. If you’re curious about the cover, it is a woman sliding down a banister. She is wearing a light blue gown with a big bow on the chest, puff shoulder sleeves. It looks to be some sort of watered silk or has texture. It’s, it’s just ethereal and gorgeous, and Deeanne Gist must have killed somebody and, and has the –
Amanda: She always has really good covers, but in-, we’ve talked about inspirational covers in general, how they have, like –
Sarah: Being –
Amanda: – such good costuming.
Sarah: I want to know, like, I want to know what their budget was like. Why weren’t – I mean, is it just because they publish fewer books, they have more money to invest in the covers of those books? Whereas with romance, there were more books so there was less money to go around? I don’t know!
Amanda: Well, it sounds like the fabric budgets from paranormal go to the – [laughs]
Sarah: Go, go to the inspirational historicals, yes.
Amanda: Yeah!
Sarah: So what, what did you pick? Tell me all about this book where there’s history, drama, and quilting!
Amanda: So I picked the Bachelor Puzzle, or Bachelor’s Puzzle, sorry, on page 71, by Judith Pella, Historical Fiction, four stars.
>> Pella gives us a delight, Pella gives us delightful characters in the story of a church’s sewing circle in post-Civil War America.
Sarah: Oh boy.
Amanda: Surprise!
>> The novel moves quickly, and its plot points are sweet. That Pella is herself a quilter brings authenticity to the sewing settings, and the friendship between the members is sweet and touching.
She mentions sweet twice in this review. Summary:
>> The new preacher, Zack Hartley, is young, handsome, and available. Who cares that he only rides through town twice a month?
Sarah: Me, I care.
Amanda: >> Not the ladies –
[Laughs]
>> Not the ladies –
Sarah: Not ladies in this –
Amanda: >> – of the sewing circle! They decide to make a quilt. It quickly turns into a competition with secret hopes of the pastor bachelor as the prize. But Zack has secrets of his own. Whose heart will come out of this in one piece?
I just think it’s so funny of women sort of, like, producing the best quilt block to impress the pastor bachelor, as they refer to him?
Sarah: [Laughs]
Amanda: And just him – this is what I’m imagining: him riding through town, all of the women, sort – [laughs] – this is my headcanon – all of the women have lined the street showcasing –
Sarah: Their quilt blocks.
Amanda: – their quilt block as he rides through, and then he picks the best one. But it’s like, what, what would impress you in a quilt block to marry a woman? Like, do the women, like, fashion the quilt blocks of, like, I’m thinking, like, a, a coat of arms? Like, Oh –
Sarah: Ohhh!
Amanda: – I’m good at cooking, so I’m going to try to make it look like a –
Sarah: Appliqué some spoons!
Amanda: Yeah! Like, I’m – or, like, do they go, like, the magpie route and try to make it, like, sparkly and shiny to gain his attention?
Sarah: Yes.
Amanda: So that’s what I’m –
Sarah: Men are –
Amanda: – picturing. [Laughs]
Sarah: Men are drawn to sparkly things.
Amanda: Yeah, that’s what I’m picturing happening in the book. During one of his two rides through town, they showcase their quilt blocks –
Sarah: [Counting noises] Yep, okay!
Amanda: – and then he says, You! And then that’s it!
Sarah: When I, when I next go to my quilters guild, which, for the record, is all women older than me, I will tell them about this book, and they are going to laugh their asses off.
Amanda: Yeah!
Sarah: I will say, though – I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before – my, my quilting guild has a potluck twice a year, June and December, and I have a personal policy against potlucks because I think a lot of other people’s cooking sucks, and I was traumatized by bad potlucks –
Amanda: [Laughs]
Sarah: – when my kids were younger in youth group and synagogue and pe-, parents were just completely unhinged with their potluck expectations, and I was like, I’m never doing this again. I never eat enough; my kids hate it; we’re grumpy. Like, I hated potlucks. This potluck, however, these old ladies, these are the women who have, like, the plug-in casserole dishes with little feet? You, we got –
Amanda: Ooh!
Sarah: – we got casseroles, we got whole meals. I mean, one woman always makes eggplant rollatini by hand for the, for the quilter –
Amanda: Oh, I love, love that!
Sarah: Oh, it’s the best cut, best potluck in the world. And I do the newsletter, so I talk about how great it is. Do not miss the potluck! Bring your –
Amanda: Do the quilting newsletter!
Sarah: Girl, on my first day, I got put in, in charge of the quilters website because it was down and they were talking about it, and I said, I work on websites. I know I’m a visitor, but I could try to help? Now I’m the webmaster and I –
Amanda: You shot yourself –
Sarah: I shot in the foot.
Amanda: – in the foot with that one.
Sarah: They want me to be president, and I keep turning them down.
Amanda: [Laughs]
Sarah: And I’m like, I’m so fucked. I’m going to have to move. They’re going to, like, they’re going to trap me for life.
So what did you pick in Science Fiction and Fantasy, which are totally, absolutely the same thing?
Amanda: Yeah! This section is always weird and always a toss-up, in my opinion.
Sarah: There’s a book in here called Places to Be, People to Kill.
Amanda: Yeah, naturally!
Sarah: Sure!
Amanda: ‘Cause I feel like in sci-fi/fantasy there are always big names that we recognize? Like, Jim C. Hines is in here; Jacqueline Carey’s in here.
Sarah: Yes!
Amanda: But then you’ve got some, like, really interesting ones. So it, it goes either way.
So on page 77, I picked Science Fiction, Death Sentence by Roger MacBride Allen –
Sarah: Mm!
Amanda: – two stars.
Sarah: Whoa!
Amanda: I’m trying to remember why I picked this one. Maybe it’ll come to me as I’m reading it.
>> This intergalactic crime drama, the latest in the BSI: Starside series, features a bevy of characters who rattle about the novel but fall short of being engaging enough to warrant the huge undertaking that is this meandering plot.
Sarah: Now, that is a review!
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: Bring it!
Amanda: >> The real story is slow to reveal itself and gets lost.
Sarah: Right.
Amanda: >> Readers may find the pace tedious and the action underdeveloped.
Maybe that’s why I picked it –
Sarah: Ohhh.
Amanda: – was because, like, we actually got a good two-star review.
Sarah: That, I know a lot about this book now! Like, okay!
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: Whoever reviewed this – this is Gail Pruskowski? Gail, girl, you’re doing great.
Amanda: Gail. Summary:
>> When a mysterious death surfaces, Jamie and Hannah, two intergalactic agents, are brought to the scene to uncover the reason. They must find out who or what could have led one of their own to his demise while preventing a war between the species. The search is on for the missing link as they encounter a world shrouded in secrets and find themselves in the middle of a race battle where humans are outnumbered.
I feel like this summary, pretty generic. Like, obviously if you’re intergalactic agents going to the scene of a death, you’re, that’s why you’re there is to investigate it. Like, do your job?
Sarah: Yeah! Like, that’s kind of the whole point, right?
Amanda: But yeah, what a good two-star review. There aren’t many two-stars. I don’t think there’s a single one-star in this issue, if memory serves?
Sarah: I looked, and I didn’t see one either.
Amanda: But I –
Sarah: Bummer, dude.
Amanda: There are some sections that definitely skew more towards twos and threes. Historical definitely not one of them.
Sarah: I also picked a two-star that has a good review.
Amanda: Yeaahh! [Laughs]
Sarah: I love, I love how we’re mind-melding in this episode. All right, so this is Fantasy, The Broken Kings, Robert Holdstock, two stars.
>> This densely written and at times nigh-incomprehensible tale attempts to fuse Greek and Celtic mythology into one, but Holdstock tends to make everything that happens sound important. The characters pontificate at each other, and the narration is excessively verbose.
Amanda: Pontificate at each other. Yuck.
Sarah: All right, that’s one my favorite words, so props to you.
Amanda: [Laughs]
Sarah: This is re-, reviewed by Lauren Brathwaite. Lauren, my girl, you’re doing great.
>> There’s something rotten in the state of Alba. The reckless sons of Llew –
It’s double-L-E-W, so it might be [khlew], but I think it’s, we’re just going to say Lou.
>> – arrive with tales of gateways opening between the world of the living and the dead. Niiv, Merlin’s lover, is still trying to extract his magic for her own ends, and Jason and the Argonauts, along with the sentient ship Argo, are hiding out! Top of all that –
Amanda: Of course! [Laughs]
Sarah: Yeah, as they do.
>> Top of all that, Kymon and Munda, the chieftain’s children, have come of age and into their destinies. Kymon is angry and impetuous, while Munda has the second sight, which allows her to see what may be coming to pass. Among all of them is Merlin, the wanderer, in and out of time, waiting for one true hero.
Wow, that sounds like a whole committee of mess.
Amanda: [Laughs]
Sarah: It sounds like this book is a committee and everyone is important. Wow. Okay!
Amanda: Yeaahh.
Sarah: Two stars, though. We took care of it! Go us!
Amanda: [Laughs] We took care of it.
Sarah: We took care of it!
In Romantic Suspense, there are so many threes.
Amanda: And twos! This one –
Sarah: Yeah!
Amanda: – I feel like was the –
Sarah: This, all these books were not –
Amanda: – lowest-scoring section.
Sarah: – not making people happy. The four and a half star Top Picks are Innocent as Sin by Elizabeth Lowell and Into the Dark by Cindy Gerard, and that makes sense ‘cause Elizabeth Lowell, likes, writes great books.
I picked, on page 82, Running with the Devil by Lorelei James!
Amanda: Lorelei James.
Sarah: An author I like a lot, who wrote the horny cowboys series.
Amanda: How could we forget the horny cowboys series? [Laughs]
Sarah: That’s right. I mean, one of the titles is Rode Hard, Put Up Wet. Whoo! Okay!
Amanda: Yep.
Sarah: So Running with the Devil by Lorelei James, three stars, Hot. Not surprised. Here is the review:
>> The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally rumbles to life –
Amanda: Sturgis.
Sarah: >> – in this fast play, paced story –
Which makes sense! I’m pretty sure she is in the Dakota in which Sturgis takes place.
>> – which is filled with snappy dialogue. The characters are interesting individuals, and their actions are well motivated. There are some inconsistencies, like a DA, DEA officer failing to search the heroine’s suitcase when they check into a hotel together, but these don’t significantly detract from the plot.
Why’d you bring it up? If it didn’t detract from the plot, why are we bringing it up? Like, I also bet, and this is so mean, but I bet that if I read this book I’d be like, That’s not an inconsistency. That, that –
Amanda: [Laughs]
Sarah: – in context makes sense. But okay!
>> Kenna Jones gets in over her head when she agrees to be a paid escort for a biker. After the man is murdered, she learns that he was a DEA informant. Now DEA Agent Drake –
Amanda: Yikes.
Sarah: >> – March is looking for her, to her for answers, and someone is trying to stop them. As they join forces to find the murderer, they are drawn to one another. Their attraction is immediate. The scenes are steamy, and the development of their relationship is logical and believable.
This was Samhain, 248 pages, eleven dollars and fifty cents. Now,
Lorelei James writes great books, but I just find the phrase “their relationship is logical and believable” to be, like, so damning with faint praise. Like, isn’t that the floor –
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: – of a romance novel – [laughs] –
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: – that you want it to be at least logical and believable?
Amanda: Yes.
Sarah: Like, I’ve said this many times: one of the reasons why there are so many ex-attorneys and former attorneys and current attorneys in romance, in my opinion, is
that effectively, a romance novel is an argument to convince the reader that these two people will live Happily Ever After. You’re effectively trying to convince the reader that this is true and give them some feels along the way. Like, that’s the floor. The relationship is logical and believable – what a nothingburger of a review.
Amanda: So you did the bare minimum, good job.
Sarah: Good job! Now, I am curious about this book, so I’m going to look it up real quick, ‘cause we don’t do this beforehand, because you like to listen to us –
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: – google things. I know you do.
Amanda: Yes.
Sarah: On Goodreads, this – whoa! This, this cover has a thigh, first of all. [Laughs] There’s a, there’s a thigh in a high boot. 3.91 stars with 63 reviews and 1783 ratings. I mean, that’s not bad. But –
Amanda: Yeah!
Sarah: – the cover is chaotic –
Amanda: Yeah, I feel like I’ve –
Sarah: – and –
Amanda: – seen this cover before.
Sarah: – there’s a, there’s a motorcycle and a guy standing in a tight V-neck shirt and blue jeans in the background. And then there’s just a thigh. It’s a –
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: – an over-the-knee sort of slouchy boot, bare thigh, and a short skirt. Why would you wear that riding on a motorcycle? Do you want burns on your thigh?
Amanda: But also –
Sarah: Do you want, like, road rash? Do you want, like, dead bugs on your thighs? Like, this is not an outfit – aren’t you supposed to ride for the fall? What do you think, you’re going to fall into a foam pit? What is this thigh? So much thigh! Anyway –[laughs] – enough about the thigh.
Amanda: But she’s, like, in the foreground, right?
Sarah: But, yeah, it’s, but it’s just the leg, just the one leg.
Amanda: It makes her look like a giantess.
Sarah: Oh my God! [Laughs] Yes, you’re right!
Amanda: Like – or it’s like a toy motorcycle. Like, even –
Sarah: Oh, that’s funny.
Amanda: – where the motorcycle comes up on the man, it’s like that’s, that’s like a little tricycle that you ride around in your driveway.
Sarah: A little tricycle, oh my God! Yes. Okay!
So, what did you pick?
Amanda: I picked, on page 83, She Creeps by Alex Hairston. This is another cheating book!
Sarah: Oh boy.
Amanda: Like, there’s so many in here! It’s two stars, Mild.
>> Hairston does a poor job of connecting the different storylines, making her story a difficult one to get through.
Sarah: Hmmm!
Amanda: >> Plus, the various topics and issues she addresses are not connected to the climactic ending.
If you’re curious about what various topsics, topics and issues are addressed, you will never know. That stays a mystery – [laughs] – after the summary.
>> Housewife Naomi is fed up with her unappreciative husband and drama-filled sister. She meets sexy mechanic Brian and believes she has found the answers to her problems. Unfortunately, Naomi still has demons in her closet threatening to destroy a happiness she feels is right around the corner.
And that’s it! That’s all you get to know.
Sarah: What are the demons in her closet?
Amanda: I don’t know! And what, like –
Sarah: Is it like –
Amanda: – topics are, or, like, what does she address that’s, like – I’m trying, I’m, I’m looking – it looks like –
Sarah: I really feel like a lot of the books that are reviewed that have African-American or multicultural –
Amanda: Oh, they get reviewed so low.
Sarah: – they get, the reviews are phoned in, and there’s, like, always like a one grade penalty, I think. Like, there’s, they’re never as high as I would expect? They’re not very –
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: – engaged? They don’t really, they’re, they’re very phoning-it-in. Like, here it is.
Amanda: Okay, so this is what’s on Goodreads. So it sounds like Naomi, as a child – TRIGGER WARNING for violence against women – her mom was murdered by her dad, and it –
Sarah: Oh God!
Amanda: – and it alludes to, that the violence was due to infidelity. Like, the dad found out the mom was cheating and then killed her, which –
Sarah: Oh God!
Amanda: – obviously Naomi is now cheating on her husband. But after her dad went to jail and her mom died, she was raised in an abusive household with her aunt. And then it sounds like her current husband’s pretty controlling. So it sounds like the issues here are aplenty –
Sarah: Are substantial!
Amanda: – and maybe should have been mentioned –
Sarah: It’s like a buffet!
Amanda: – in the review.
Sarah: Speaking of committee, we have a committee of issues in this closet.
Amanda: Yeah! In case, you know –
Sarah: Oh!
Amanda: – perhaps any of these topics are sensitive to you. Maybe –
Sarah: Good to know.
Amanda: – RT should have mentioned those. [Laughs]
Sarah: You could have, they could have been more specific, but they also could have done more with this review. Like, it is –
Amanda: Yes, one hundred percent.
Sarah: – this review is barely logical and believable. [Laughs]
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: So in Mystery, continuing with a theme, because I am nothing if not a pedantic theme lover, I have selected a book called Death by Chick Lit, because I’m terrible. Death by Chick Lit by Lynn Harris, who I’m pretty sure I know. I have to go see a pic-, find a picture of her, but I’m pretty sure I’ve spoken to her at RWA conferences. Amateur Sleuth, four stars.
>> Harris’s latest is a comical view of the publishing industry with a twist. Top-rated chick lit novelists find their success short-lived when they become –
Amanda: [Sighs]
Sarah: >> – the targets of a murderer. Lola Somerville, an up-and-coming chick lit novelist, is an enigmatic protagonist whose winning personality is evenly matched with her sleuthing skills.
>> Lola, a newly married chick lit author, stumbles onto the body of fellow scribe Mimi McKee at a book party. When police suspect Mimi’s boyfriend Quentin of killing her, Lola is determined to help him clear his name. But when more top chick lit authors meet their untimely demises –
I’ve never seen the word demises before.
Amanda: [Laughs]
Sarah: Really excited about that.
>> – and Lola finds their bodies –
Oops.
>> – she is convinced that Reading Guy –
Capital R, capital G.
>> – Reading Guy, a creepy fan of chick lit authors, may have something to do with the murders. Imagine Lola’s surprise when her book climbs the chick lit charts. Could she be next on the murderer’s list? The chick lit charts? Chick lit charts. Interesting. Okay! But I’m here for the chick lit. That’s, that’s my thing. What did you pick? I know this name. Why do I know this name?
[Audio gets a little weird starting here. Sarah did a good job cleaning it up, but sometimes things just really want to be a little weird, you know? We’re all doing our best here. – gk]
Amanda: I don’t know; maybe we’ve covered one of his books prior? ‘Cause it sounds like a book that we would cover?
On page 88 of the PDF, Amateur Sleuth, Series, Tailed by Brian M. Wiprud? Wiprud?
Sarah: Wiprud, I guess.
Amanda: Wiprud? Four stars, and it’ll be obvious why I picked this one.
>> Taxidermy collector Garth –
Sarah: [Laughs]
Amanda: There we go!
>> Garth Carson, the protagonist –
Sarah: Garth Carson.
Amanda: [Laughs] Garth Carson.
>> – the protagonist of Pipsqueak and Stuffed –
So I’m assuming this is the third book in the series.
>> – returns for another crazy and hilarious adventure. This time he goes straight to Hell – Michigan, that is – and that’s just the beginning. This wholly original page-turner seems to get more outrageous the further you read, but by the end you can see it’s all controlled chaos. Hang on for a wild rollercoaster ride.
And the summary:
>> Hoping his danger days are behind him, Garth is now working for a specialty insurance company and appraising the taxidermy collections of big time game hunters.
Also, that sounds –
Sarah: [Laughs]
Amanda: – cool as fuck to be –
Sarah: That’s like –
Amanda: – a taxidermy appraiser.
Sarah: Amanda is going to resign to become a taxidermy appraiser.
Amanda: Yeah. It sounds neat!
Sarah: That’s what’s going to happen. That sounds very cool.
Amanda: But when he arrives at the Chicago home of football star Sprunty G. Fulmore to appraise his –
Sarah: I’m sorry.
Amanda: [Laughs]
Sarah: I’m sorry.
Amanda: Sprunty, yeah.
Sarah: It’s been a while since –
Amanda: His Christian name is Sprunty.
Sarah: – we, it has been a while since we have had a name that good.
Amanda: [Laughs] Sprunty!
Sarah: Sprunty G. Fulmore. Wow!
Amanda: Yes.
Sarah: Okay!
Amanda: Yeah.
>> – to appraise his collection and finds he’s been murdered in a rather grisly manner, Garth can feel trouble around the corner. Sure enough, Sprunty isn’t the first big game hunter who had hired Garth as an appraiser to be murdered, and he quickly becomes a person of interest in these crimes.
Sarah: ‘Course.
Amanda: >> Soon the FBI and the military are involved, and Garth is on the run, trying to keep one step ahead of the authorities and the killer who’s now hunting him.
Yeah. What a delight!
Sarah: I, first of all, taxidermy collector and appraiser could not be a better job for you. Number two, thank you for bringing Sprunty G. Fulmore into my life. I want to talk to Brian about how he came up with this name. Like, where did Sprunty come from? That word could be –
Amanda: I feel like –
Sarah: – so many things.
Amanda: – looking at the covers –
Sarah: [Laughs]
Amanda: – I feel like we talked about book one at some point. I feel like we talked about Pipsqueak, because it’s got – yes, we have talked about this book before, because the original cover has, like, a ‘50s background sort of, like, with – I don’t know how to describe it – like, spokes. And then it’s got, like, a taxidermied squirrel with glasses. I feel, I remember us talking about this cover, so I feel like we’ve, we’ve talked about Garth’s exploits before.
Sarah: Yes, we have definitely talked about Garth. Hmm. Interesting!
Amanda: Yeah! Anyway, there we go. Sprunty, taxidermy, murder mystery.
Sarah: I think you need to read this.
Amanda: [Laughs] But I have to start at book one! I can’t just dive into book three!
Sarah: Why not?
Amanda: That’s crazy!
Sarah: That’s, like, normal! It’s like a totally legitimate thing to do! You don’t care about one and two; read three!
Amanda: That’s cuckoo.
Sarah: You’ll, the, the book will catch you up! It’ll explain!
Amanda: That’s true. We just talked about –
Sarah: As you know, Bob, in, in my first book I –
Amanda: Last time on Dragon Ball Z –
Sarah: Exactly! [Laughs]
Amanda: Essentially.
Sarah: So, moving on to Contemporary. This was a period where contemporary was really kinda not my jam.
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: And here’s an example: this book is called Dinner First, Me Later? by Candy Halliday. Four stars, Hot.
>> Halliday’s second installment in her Housewives Fantasy Club series is fun but also serious. There is humor, but the hero’s battle to make a home for his daughter is presented with diligence and care. The daughter is exceptionally likable, and characters from the previous book play a large role.
There is humor, but there’s diligence and care. Good to know.
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: I wonder, out of that review, what are you going to pull for the cover? Humor? Exceptionally likable? Diligence and care? Like, there’s no pull quote here.
Amanda: I don’t, I don’t think I would pull diligence and care. Probably humor.
Sarah: Humor! Humor!
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: It’s like Sensual! Humor!
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: >> Having just recovered from a painful divorce, Alicia focuses on making her business successful. But when she discovers Jake, the man she’s had fantasies about since she was a teenager, living across the street, things change. With Alicia’s friends determined to match them up and Jake’s daughter and her dog taking a liking to her, Alicia finds business taking a back seat. Too bad Jake, a retired baseball player, has a reputation as an irresponsible playboy. Now that his ex-wife has died, he wants custody of his daughter. Getting involved with a beautiful woman is out of the question.
All right, I have a couple of questions here. Dinner First, Me Later? It’s a great title. I get where we’re going here. I love the sexual agency and all these women having fantasies, although I don’t really want to sit around with my friends or neighbors and talk about our sexual fantasies. That’s not really something I want to explore out loud with –
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: – people I don’t live with. But I have a question: if he’s a retired baseball player, his ex-wife has died, and custody is in question, what kind of father has he been up to that point where, where custody isn’t something that would be automatic? What is, is, is he traveling too much as a baseball player? Does he not know his daughter? Like, what’s the deal there?
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: I’m not sure that this guy would be hero material if I read this book because of that.
Amanda: And maybe this – I have no clue – maybe he’s not the real father, but has been a good dad, but the real dad now wants custody of the daughter. He’s like, Well, I’m the biological dad. That’s my guess.
Sarah: Interesting!
Amanda: ‘Cause if he’s, like, a baseball player on the road, maybe after his wife dies, if he finds out that she cheated and his daughter’s not really his daughter.
Sarah: That could be it! You’ve made this book much more interesting. Thank you!
Amanda: Yeah, because, like, I’m sorry, a deadbeat dad, how are you going to make – that’s a, that’s a tough redemption arc, in my opinion.
Sarah: Right? So what did you pick?
Amanda: I picked Once Around the Track by Sharyn McCrumb –
Sarah: Mm-hmm.
Amanda: – on page 100, three stars, Mild.
Sarah: Mm-hmm.
Amanda: This sounds fun.
Sarah: [Laughs]
Amanda: This sounds fun, and also harkens back to a brief period of time in sports romances – shout out to, was it Erin McCarthy? Is that who I’m thinking of? – where NASCAR was a thing.
Sarah: Flat-Out Sexy is such a good fucking book. That book is so –
Amanda: Love that series.
Sarah: – fucking good.
Amanda: [Huffs] Yeah. So this is the review:
>> The concept –
Sarah: Okay.
Amanda: >> – of this book, an all-female NASCAR team –
Sarah: Hmm?!
Amanda: >> – is a good one, and McCrumb –
Sarah: Oh?!
Amanda: >> – provides plenty of well-researched behind-the-scenes details about the sport. But while it’s enjoyable, the lack of character and plot development is frustrating.
Sarah: Mm.
Amanda: >> At the end of the day, though, this is a very readable story about a year in the life of a NASCAR team.
So it only gets a little kookier, which I think is great.
Sarah: Look, this is, this is good for kooky, right?
Amanda: Yes, this is good for kooky.
Sarah: That’s good kooky!
Amanda: Good – [laughs] – good kooky!
Sarah: Hang on, I’ve got to add that. Good kooky.
Amanda: Good kooky.
Sarah: Yeah.
Amanda: A group of female investors invade the notoriously all-male world of NASCAR with a sponsor: Vagenya – basically Viagra for women – and an all-female crew.
Sarah: I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I just, I don’t look at these in advance. If you’ve picked it, I don’t look at it, so I’m unprepared for what you just said. I’m sorry.
Amanda: Vagenya.
Sarah: Vagenya. Vagenya!
Amanda: Yeah. Yes. So an all-female investment team wants to sponsor a car for NASCAR with their product Vagenya, which is Viagra for women. And also an all-female crew. So.
Sarah: I am that GIF of, who’s the British woman with three names who played Bellatrix Lestrange and cheated with –
Amanda: Helena Bonham Carter.
Sarah: I am that GIF of Helena Bonham Carter in a red plaid shirt, just sort of mouth open.
Amanda: Yeah. Yeah.
Sarah: Uh? Wow. Okay!
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: Sure.
Amanda: Good kooky!
Sarah: I do love a good kooky.
Amanda: Yeah.
>> The only male on the team, driver Badger Jenkins –
Sarah: Badger!
Amanda: First name Badger, last name Jenkins.
Sarah: Hell yeah.
Amanda: >> – is selected for his ability to drive, and more importantly for his golden good looks. Badger just wants to drive race cars and go fishing on his days off.
So I’m getting, like –
Sarah: [Laughs]
Amanda: – kind of himbo vibes here.
Sarah: Yeah. All right, that sounds good.
Amanda: >> Team engineer and devoted fan Taran Stiles has always loved Badger, but now she wonders which Badger she actually loves, the handsome Terminator-like driver in the purple fire suit, or the quiet, regular guy who hangs around the garage with the team.
Yeah.
Sarah: Which Badger? Which Badger, Amanda? Which Badger –
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: – is it?
Amanda: [Laughs] Which, which Badger?
Sarah: Which Badger? How do, how will we know? Oh my God –
Amanda: Yeah, so –
Sarah: – that’s so funny. [Laughs]
Amanda: – we got Vagenya, we got –
Sarah: Badger.
Amanda: – all-female pit crew, we got Badger?
Sarah: Oh my God.
Amanda: This sounds bananas, in a good way.
Sarah: This sounds incredible. I –
Amanda: Yeah!
Sarah: – way – I mean, almost up there with, like, taxidermy appraisal.
Amanda: I know!
Sarah: I actually have to make a note here. We’ve got good cr-, we’ve got taxidermy appraisal.
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: The, the, the show notes for this episode are going to be a good time. That’s so funny.
Amanda: Yeah. Also –
Sarah: All right –
Amanda: – the cover? Really boring. It’s just, like, a dirt road lined with trees. This doesn’t communicate NASCAR sport romance to me. But whatever.
Sarah: That’s not a track!
Amanda: No!
Sarah: That’s a tree-lined strip of a road with a sign –
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: – that says Turtle X-ing.
Amanda: Turtle Crossing, yeah.
Sarah: Okay.
Amanda: I feel like they could have gotten a better cover. But anyway.
Sarah: Sure! Very much so.
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: In Paranormal, what did you pick?
Amanda: Ohhh! I picked Stray by Rachel Vincent, PDF page 110. I have not read this book, but I remember the cover so well, ‘cause it’s got, like, the tramp stamp. It’s essentially, like, claw marks on a woman’s back, and because I have a, a crazy good memory, I will always remember that Stray was the answer to a HaBO –
Sarah: [Laughs]
Amanda: – that was submitted by Darynda Jones.
Sarah: Okay, I love that –
Amanda: So –
Sarah: – in every way.
Amanda: [Laughs]
Sarah: Your memory is, is prodigious and not to be trifled with.
Amanda: Yeah. So, and I have not read this book, but I just remember it being very popular and everywhere when it came out.
Sarah: I do too.
Amanda: Yeah! So it’s Urban Fantasy, Stray, Rachel Vincent, four stars.
>> Vincent’s debut is fast-paced and cleverly written, and it should find favor with fans of the shapeshifter subgenre. Even those not usually enamored by it could be won over by the sheer power and clarity of her voice. Plus, some of those male, male werecats are choice.
Sarah: [Snorts]
Amanda: [Laughs] That’s the review! Yeah.
Sarah: Some of those male werecats are choice –
Amanda: Are choice.
Sarah: – should absolutely be on the cover, because that makes no fucking sense –
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: – and I love it.
Amanda: >> Granted an unusual amount of freedom by her father, young werecat Faythe Sanders has been attending college and enjoying a basically human lifestyle. All of that changes when Faythe is attacked by a Stray, a rogue werecat.
Sarah: Nooo!
Amanda: [Laughs]
>> Her father orders her home, and Faythe reluctantly complies, even though it means facing her former lover, Marc. But Marc and her family are soon the least of her worries. As a rare female werecat, Faythe has always been prized and protected. Now someone is hunting her and others like her, and no one is sure why.
Sarah: I can see why Darynda remembered this book.
Amanda: What did you pick for Paranormal? This was like, I mean, I think 2027 was right, like, when paranormal was, like, ramping up. There was, like, a lot of urban fantasy series starting around this time.
Sarah: A lot of vampires. Yeah, this was when it was really starting to ramp up.
I picked Goddess of Love by P. C. Cast. And I have a special affection for this book because the website makes an appearance in the book. In one of the, in one of the scenes, the main character is searching for information about romance and finds a website called Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. She just wrote the site into the book, and I was charmed as hell!
This is a part of a series, and I actually really like this series. This is called Goddess of Love by P. C. Cast, four stars, Hot.
>> Cast is back and doing her excellent job of combining ancient mythology with modern-day scenarios. The gods and goddesses have never been more sympathetic or amusing than they are in this truly delightful novel. Cast is a wonderful spinner of magical tales.
So basically, in her mythology series, the gods come to Earth, or they swap places with a mortal and send the mortal to the gods’ realm? But there are all of the different gods or goddesses. There’s, each book has a theme. This is the goddess of love, so this is obviously Aphrodite. But they’re all in, in Oklahoma.
>> A bored and lonely goddess of love decides to check out the wonders of modern-day Tulsa. To her amazement, Venus enjoys herself!
Excuse me, it’s Venus.
>> To her ama-, immed-, ama-, amazement, Venus enjoys herself and discovers a mortal in desperate need of a makeover. Pea Chamberlain –
P-E-A.
>> – has no idea that the invocation she intones will actually invoke the goddess Venus. When it does, Pea is astonished and enchanted! As Venus helps Pea gain confidence with men, Pea learns about Venus’s platonic marriage with Vulcan, the god of fire, but neither realizes that Vulcan’s been observing them, and his lonely heart is touched by Pea. Complicate –
Okay, I just said that out loud and it…
Amanda: Yeah, you did.
Sarah: Yeah, I said that out loud, and I heard myself, and yeah.
>> Complicating matters further are the feelings that Venus develops for hunky fireman Griffith. They say true love never runs smoothly, but this romantic quadrangle is most unique.
I remember this series as being very light and very enjoyable and very fun, sort of rompy, sexy mythology. I think if P. C. Cast re-released these with new covers they might, like, this might hit people very well right now.
Amanda: Yeah…
Sarah: Although it might be too silly and twee for the current audience? I remember thinking it was just good, good fluffy fun in the best way. It was a little, it’s a little twee for you. I would not recommend these to you, because you have to be on board with a lot of sort of effervescent silliness. But –
Amanda: Yeah. [Laughs]
Sarah: – I, I remember being charmed as hell by these books, just finding them so fucking charming.
Amanda: I think a re-release is not a bad idea –
Sarah: No.
Amanda: – considering how much mythology has boomed in the romance space in the last –
Sarah: Yeah, yeah.
Amanda: – five years.
Sarah: And I could just, I can even envision what kind of cover it would get. Although the covers for these books are gorgeous. They’re very soft focus –
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: – and they’re very jewel tone, and they look really lush in a beautiful way.
Amanda: Yeah, they’re like a, almost like a watercolor-y painting.
Sarah: Yes! They’re very watercolor. Yes.
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: So in Series, I am sad to report there are no ones in Series.
Amanda: No!
Sarah: There are a couple of twos –
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: – but I picked a Top Pick, which I guess is four and a half stars Top Pick in Series, although they don’t do the stars, they just put a number.
>> Crackling with excitement and sexual tension, Shadow Hawk by Jill Shalvis is a book you won’t be able to put down if you like adventure and hot romance. Connor Hawk and Abigail Wells, ATF agents in Wyoming, have communication problems. Hawk is attracted to her, but trauma at Abigail’s last posting has her determined to stay away from men, and she appears to hate Hawk. Within the first few pages, the two are sent on a raid that goes horribly wrong. Hawk is shot and framed as the very terrorist mole he is looking for. He handcuffs Abigail to himself so that he can protect her, but she thinks he’s taken her hostage. From there, the tension and the sex escalate and never stop.
Okay, first of all, I love everything about this concept. This is completely zany; this is a Harlequin Blaze; I’m on board. Number two, what kind of sex are you going to have if two of your arms are handcuffed together? Like, just thinking about the logistics of, like, I, my shoulder would be very wrenched by the end of all of that. Like, like, who –
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: Do you just have to, like, leave those two arms alone and not move them? Like, how does that work? Also, I think this sounds really fucking fun, and I have borrowed it from Hoopla. If you –
Amanda: I’m surprised you haven’t read it, ‘cause I know you’ve read a lot of Jill’s…
Sarah: I have, but I never, I haven’t read a lot of her Blazes? I’ve read mostly –
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: – her single titles? But in case you’re curious, as, as I have said before, the thing that is really rocking my, my reading slump is diving into Hoopla’s Harlequin Presents collections?
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: It, and now I might have to add some Harlequin Blazes, ‘cause Blazes were great.
What did you pick?
Amanda: Yeah, and Blaze, Blaze is no longer around, right? They closed it.
Sarah: No, Blaze closed. They, they – [sputters] – stupid-ass decisions, but whatever. I can’t do anything.
Amanda: Yeah.
I picked your regular old Harlequin Romance. It’s a two-star. Jessica Steele’s The Boss and His Secretary.
Sarah: Oh, I wonder what that’s about!
Amanda: I know!
>> Though in love with her married boss, Taryn Webster is unprepared when he suddenly kisses her –
Sarah: Foul.
Amanda: >> – and upset enough to leave her job on the spot. The next thing she knows, she’s working for the CEO of another company, Jake Nash. Though her duties are unusual at times and Jake’s often a sarcastic beast, Taryn enjoys the challenges until she realizes she’s fallen in love with her boss again! Jessica Steele’s The Boss and His Secretary isn’t without charm. The banter between Taryn and Jake is often amusing, but there are far too many coincidences, and Jake’s frequently grating behavior is never adequately explained.
Sarah: Girl, you got a bad picker.
Amanda: But, like, you know, if I had a nickel and sort of, like, crazy it’s happened twice here, but don’t shit where you eat.
Sarah: Don’t shit where you eat. Don’t get your sausage where you get your bacon.
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: So I haven’t talked about this a lot, but I do script doctoring, basically, for a vertical drama company, because they want their romances to be good. So they’ll send me the script or the outline, and I’ll tell them how to strengthen the romance. And at one point there was one that was set in a workplace, and I believe there was a contract preventing the hero and heroine from hooking up because they were working together. And I said, You know, it does not make the hero look very upstanding, moral, or admirable that he is considering any kind of relationship with anyone who works for him, ‘cause he’s one of the co-owners of the company. And my –
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: – phrase that I used was, He would not get his females where he sends his emails. [Laughs] And I was told that might be in the script now, so I’m waiting to find out!
Amanda: Oooh! Yeah. I mean, like, falling in love with your boss twice –
Sarah: That’s a – girl, that sounds like a you problem? And also, you got a bad picker. You need some –
Amanda: Yeah. What are you doing?
Sarah: – bad picking lessons here. Oof!
And then there’s Erotica.
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: Can we talk about how fucking huge the Erotica section is in this one?
Amanda: Yeah, it’s –
Sarah: There’s so much!
Amanda: – pretty beefy!
Sarah: It’s quite beefy. It’s girthy, even, I would say.
Amanda: Yes, a girthy section.
Sarah: So I picked, on page 132, Forbidden Pleasure by Lora Leigh.
Amanda: Lora Leigh!
Sarah: I do love a Lora Leigh. If you want erotic romance: Lora Leigh. Bonkers, off the wall, lots of sex.
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: Four stars.
>> This addition to Leigh’s Bound Hearts series features two very sexy alpha heroes who love and respect women and a slightly naive but strong and intelligent heroine. Amanda –
Amanda: Who love and respect women! [Laughs]
Sarah: Love and respect women.
>> Although much of this fascinating story focuses on the characters’ sex life, which includes anal sex and light spanking –
Amanda: In case you’re wondering!
Sarah: [Laughs]
>> – there’s also a suspenseful mystery!
Is the anal and the spanking related to the mystery?
>> Characters from previous books make some appearances.
[Laughs] I just love how this story – it’s in Erotic Romance! It’s –
Amanda: Yeah!
Sarah: – Lora Leigh! If it doesn’t focus on their sex lives, people are going to be mad! And I just love that the two examples that this reviewer has chosen – [laughs] – was anal and light spanking.
Amanda: Hey, that’s important to put on the tin.
Sarah: I mean, it’s all, it’s all about the butt, apparently.
>> When Mac married –
I’m going to say Keiley, K-E-I-L-E-Y –
Amanda: Yeah, that’s my guess.
Sarah: – Keiley?
>> When Mac married Keiley, he resigned from the FBI to farm and raise horses.
Amanda: As you do.
Sarah: >> He also gave up his membership in Sinclair’s Gentlemen’s Club, which caters to men who like sharing their lovers with other men. But Mac has not given up on the hope of convincing Keiley to embrace ménage à trois with his close friend and former partner, Jethro.
Amanda: Leave Keiley alone. Don’t pressure her.
Sarah: Leave Keiley alone! She’s, I, if you love and respect women, then you’re going to respect that she was like, Not my thing, pal.
>> But when Jethro comes for a visit, things progress the way Mac hoped! Unfortunately, a woman scorned –
Amanda: Maybe, maybe she’s never seen Jethro before, and then he shows up and she’s like, Oh! I can get down with this.
Sarah: Like, hang on! Hang on!
Amanda: Wait, I was too hasty!
Sarah: I was hasty in my conclusion. You, you did not give me all of the information. Like, his hog, like, hangs down to his knee. She’s like, I spoke –
Amanda: Well, that’ll be a No, because, like, look –
Sarah: You don’t want to deal with all that.
Amanda: No!
Sarah: >> When Jethro comes for a visit, things progress the way Mac hoped. Unfortunately, a woman scorned and the appearance of the Playboy Stalker, both with their sights on Keiley, might ruin their chance of being together.
I think the thing that’s going to ruin your chances of being together is that Keiley said she wasn’t interested. And if you love and respect women, then there’s no book here, guys.
Amanda: …lucky do you have to be to be the victim of not one but two stalkers?
Sarah: That’s really a lot. That’s real, it’s, it’s very unfortunate.
Amanda: And your husband’s trying to get you to have a threesome!
Sarah: Yes! And if, and if you marry her and then you pressure her, you’re a dickbag. Stop it!
Amanda: This woman has enough going on.
Sarah: This is every single story on Reddit, like, My husband asked to open our marriage, and now I’m not into it. And I’m like, Your husband asked to open the marriage because he wanted to cheat and wanted permission. That’s why.
Amanda: One of my favorite, like, Reddit threads that comes up frequently is, My husband wanted an open marriage, I didn’t, but I finally said yes, and now he’s mad that I’m getting more ass than he is. Like, that’s –
Sarah: Yes! I saw one of those? I fucking read it three times. This woman was like, The thing is, I always expect to pay, but the men that, who are, who I’m matching with always want to treat me. They’re fascinated by me, they’re respectful, they just want whatever I have to give, and they make me feel so desired, and my husband’s just mad because he has to pay and no, none of the younger women want an older man, and – oh my God, those are so satisfying.
Amanda: For Erotic Romance, I picked, on 130, Sudden Pleasures by Bertrice Small, four stars. And this brought up a question for me.
>> Arranged marriages are nothing new, but the spin that Small puts on her contemporary version is hot and different. Two desperate heirs attempting to keep their inheritance and businesses are striking out when it comes to finding marriage partners before their deadline. Interference from family and friends becomes both a help and hindrance in this page-turner. The sex scenes, although few –
Sarah: [Gasps]
Amanda: >> – are definitely scorching.
Sarah: Oh!
Amanda: So my question is – and something I’ve never really thought of – what’s the difference between erotica and erotic romance? And also, does erotic romance mean there are a lot of sex scenes, or the sex scenes are just more graphic than normal? Like, what is the line? Because my brain, when I think of erotic romance, I think of sex scenes are plentiful. There’s a lot. But maybe they’re interpreting it as not necessarily a lot? It’s like quality over quantity here.
Sarah: Yes. Okay, I have an answer for you, because –
Amanda: ‘Kay.
Sarah: – this is in 2007, and I was –
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: – very involved with the whole discussion, because erotic romance was becoming a thing and Ellora’s Cave was becoming a thing, and there was a lot of negativity towards all the sex; people didn’t like that. And the way that I heard it explained to me by an erotic romance author is that in an erotic romance, the sex and sexual tension is part of the plot to the point where if you remove the sex, the book falls apart. So, like in a book where sex is part of the motivation, the plot, the conflict, all of that, if you remove it and the book falls apart, that is erotic romance. For example, in the ex-, in the, in one example I remember, Jaci Burton writes really fucking hot contemporaries, but those are not erotic romance. However, I would certainly count Lora Leigh in erotic romance?
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: You know, there are some authors who it’s like, Oh yeah, obviously that’s erotic –
Amanda: I mean, anal sex is integral to the plot, for sure.
Sarah: Right, right. And I – this was a period of time – I will have to find out exactly when this was, but there was an editor on a panel who basically said that anal is the new oral. In romance, it used to be shocking that the heroine would all of a sudden decide to go down on the hero, and that’s where you got all of the Oh, she was a natural. Like it’s hard – difficult –
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: – thing to do, please. This is not a challenging skill? You don’t – like, it – whatever.
But anal was the new oral because oral used to be so shocking. Now anal was shocking. And then we came to a point where it was like, well, if there wasn’t anal in the erotic romance, why are we even bothering with it? Like, it, it, the, the way of, in which sexuality influences and, and penetrates different romance genre is fascinating.
The other thing is that if this book doesn’t have a lot of sex scenes and they’re few, it sounds like if you took them out, the book would still continue? So technically not an erotic romance. It’s just a romance with a lot of sex in it. That’s not –
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: – necessarily an erotic romance.
Amanda: Yeah. And this is the summary, if anyone is curious what the book is about.
Sarah: This sounds like a, a ride.
Amanda: >> Ashley needs a husband and fast. Without a marriage certificate, she will lose the family estate and her lingerie business.
Sarah: Oh, this is a contemporary! I –
Amanda: Yeah!
Sarah: I was wrong! Huh!
Amanda: >> Her past choices of grooms didn’t work out. One was gay, one a con man, and the other a sexaholic who died in the throes of passion.
Sarah: Huh.
Amanda: >> When her attorney proposes a new man who is in the same boat as Ashley – his sisters will inherit if he doesn’t marry – she is afraid to hope. But when –
Sarah: Yeah.
Amanda: >> – sexy Ryan walks into the boardroom –
Sarah: Whoa!
Amanda: >> – Ashley is immediately in love and lust. Ryan feels the same way about the curvaceous brunette. Their relationship grows, but when it looks like clear sex and love ahead, Ryan’s sisters do all they can to get the marriage overturned.
Sarah: They want to bone! Just let them bone!
Amanda: Just let them bone!
Sarah: Just let them! It’s fine! Nothing bad’s going to happen if they go to the bone zone. Let them bone!
Amanda: Bone zone, and they don’t get their inheritance, I guess, so.
Sarah: That’s true. The world will end if we bone.
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: I hate when that happens.
So what did you think of this issue in terms of the books?
Amanda: Real weirdos in this bunch, huh?
Sarah: [Laughs] Yeah, there’s some really weird ones.
Amanda: There’s a real batch of freaks in this bunch.
Sarah: Lot of shoes, lot of chick lit, a lot of girl –
Amanda: Taxidermy appraisers.
Sarah: Taxidermy appraisers, good kooky –
Amanda: Infidelity.
Sarah: Infidelity, and Sprunty. Don’t forget about Sprunty.
Amanda: Sprunty.
Sarah: Sprunty Fulmore.
Amanda: Yeah.
Sarah: And also books where women have a club of some sort, whether they’re exchanging shoes or they’re exchanging sexual fantasies, quilting. Women club series are, are very much a thing right now? This is very interesting.
[outro]
Sarah: And that brings us to the end of this week’s episode. Again, I want to apologize for the audio problems. I did so many things to try to mitigate it, and that was really the best I could do. Hopefully I will learn more from this experience and never inflict that upon you again. I am so sorry.
And, as a reminder, heads up to Patreon people: we will be signing up for the Holiday Wishes episodes soon, so watch for a post in the Patreon and in the Discord, because I cannot wait to talk with you about all of the books that you’ve read and all of the wishes that you have.
As always, I end with a terrible joke. This joke is from Adam, from another Discord! And it’s really, really bad.
Why are Buddhist monks so good at protesting?
Why are Buddhist monks so good at protesting?
[Scoffs] Because the more ohms, the higher the resistance.
[Laughs] I took an electric class in high school where I almost got my shortwave radio license, ‘cause the teacher was also a shortwave radio, ham radio guy. The ohm is the standard unit of electrical resistance, and it measures how strongly something can oppose the flow of electric current. So if you’ve ever interacted with resistors or currents in high school, like I did in this really wild class – I wish I could take it again, ‘cause I’d probably – [laughs] – pay more attention! – you might have seen on resistors little colored bands. That’s part of what tells somebody how much resistance is in a resistor, which is its name. So hey, that was a joke I had to explain, just in case anyone didn’t get it, because it’s really bad! [Laughs] So that’s why Buddhist monks are good at protesting, because the more ohms, the higher the resistance.
On behalf of everyone here, we wish you the very best of reading. Have a wonderful weekend, and we will see you back here next week! And in the words of my favorite retired podcast Friendshipping, thank you for listening. You’re welcome for talking!
[end of music]
