Hello and welcome to the human struggle bus show we are your human struggle bus hosts. Oh
Good lord. It is. Hi Hannah who doesn't have a phone and Caroline whose commute took two hours this evening
Yeah
So we're doing great and you said I think it's do you say it's like the hottest day of
For someone on forever says the hottest day in New York
Some I didn't on the forever socials. Maybe it was Dana. I was probably Dana. Oh cuz she got her Christmas book arcs
Oh, yeah, that's something about it. It is hot. It was like 80 degrees
Which back home
Not crazy for some reason here. I don't know if it's just because it's been so lovely and cold for so long
But god, it was horrible
Yeah
I can everyone in the subway station was so sweaty. I'm not excited for that
It was a nice day out despite me having to go to Best Buy and have them tell me that my phone
More issues than they've ever seen
I'm like, what do you mean?
like it's a catas like it's a catastrophic failure, I'm like
So if you don't know and Caroline doesn't know much now do I honestly
Because this is this is all we're processing in real time
Yesterday I went to record a video on tik-tok because that's where I do my daily book chats now because Instagram sucks and
The camera wouldn't like it would not record and I was getting so angry because it was a book chat about the book that came out
Yesterday so I was like I need to get this I was so mad
So it wasn't working. I made sure tik-tok was updated major Instagram was updated said it wasn't like loading it finally worked
But then Instagram wouldn't load the video. So I think that file was corrupt. I don't know. Um, and
and then I
Updated my phone because it was out of date and then I updated every app and all that and then I was still having issues
Tik-tok and then my phone just decides to like shut down and like restart and I'm like, well that was random
And then I proceed to do it 20 times in the next day
So yesterday probably did it 10 times and today I did it like 10 times
Like no matter what I was doing it could just be sitting next to me completely unbothered and it would just turn off and restart
And I'm like this can't be good
So I went to Best Buy today and
because I had I have AppleCare and
She runs a diagnostic and the first one she's like I have never seen this issue before and apparently, you know in the iPhone 15
There are like three cameras
Apparently two of them just didn't function and they couldn't be found in the diagnostic test and I was like, what do you mean?
And it's fun. Like I can take pictures. I
We had the Northern Lights and I took pictures of them. What do you mean? She's like, I don't know
I have never seen this before and I'm like, is that causing these issues? So she's like, I don't know
So then she did another test
Got so big
Like I have never seen this many instances of like a failure report or something and I was like well
that tracks
Because it was getting real annoying
so she imports like all of the
issues to Apple and she thought it was gonna be like they were gonna have to like change out like parts of the phone and
They came back with the addis unfixable. We have to give you a new phone and
I just was wholly unprepared for that on a Wednesday night. So
That's right, I have an iPhone 11
Have more problems than anyone has ever seen I
Was like I identify as a catastrophic failure also
So like she still doesn't even know what's wrong with it like we don't know
But I get a new phone content. Mm-hmm. We don't know what's wrong. We just know there are many things wrong
So, yeah, I have to like restore for my iCloud after this podcast
And figure that out which if you I don't I don't know how to do so we're gonna figure that out
Yeah, so that's been fun having a lot of issues my like bosses boss
Mmm, actually, it was like my
Bosses bosses boss. He's like
Hi higher up right? Yeah, he doesn't know who I am
He knows where I belong. He knows who I belong to because it's really obvious
Who the forever people are but he definitely doesn't know my name
I've been in many meetings with him. Definitely doesn't know who I am regardless. Dana has
Candy out at her desk because she's on the end and I'm next to her
And my parents had sent me Easter candy including some jelly beans and I like sour jelly beans
But not regular jelly beans. So I had brought them to work and was like here
Candy for your desk
She had left the jelly beans on the desk. Yeah
the boss guy
Came by he was like, oh i've been eating your jelly beans all day
Dana's like, oh, well, you know, they're actually carolyn's he might know my name now, but probably not
There are other problems there. They're actually carolyn's but you know, neither of us are really like jelly bean
Fans and he he's he's kind of an awkward guy
He's not like a jokester, but he looks at us and he goes really what's wrong with you guys?
And I responded
In true like my dad would be so proud and in fact he was he thought this was hilarious when I told him the story
I said
That's the least of the things that are wrong with me
and he
Didn't really respond. He just kind of walked away
And I was like, okay, well
This was just my gut response
He didn't think it was funny, yeah, I guess me with any human interaction post-covid
I feel that I just can't do that. I thought I thought it was pretty funny
You know like jelly beans is wrong with you guys that's what I thought
I thought it was pretty funny. You know, like jelly beans is wrong with you guys. That's the least of the things wrong with me
Come on now
I'm a silly goofy gal. I took a stand-up comedy class in college
You have one of those remotes you should have brought it too. I don't know where it is actually, but I do have one of those remotes
I found it. Don't worry. That's the least of the things wrong with me. I
Should have had this with me at work you should have you should just bring it
Yep. Yeah to our like full department meeting. I'll say one thing and then just
I just don't stop it. Yeah. Yeah, just keep hitting it over and over again
Yeah, so we are struggle busing that's the vibe
we
Are also struggling
with
uh
life and the podcast just because we
Were gonna do a theme and then I was like I have not thought about said theme. I also haven't thought about said things about the ups
That's not us. That's for sure. That's very very cruel fairly functioning in my daily life
I'm less than functioning
Opposite of functioning we're catastrophic. Failuring. We are catastrophic failures
but
I have managed to read some books. You one book
I've read a lot of books read more but if if we're gonna say like
Pitch me a book you've read recently. I've got one that I would want to do
One historical romance anyway, I haven't been on a big historical
In a big historical mood of late
It's just tricky with like finding things to read that aren't I don't know like new releases or something
I'm fine. Everything's fine
Do you agree
Yes, that is I
And you
And you us we
Okay, um, let's get into it so that we can stop doing this and making everyone suffer
Let's start so that we can stop stop
I'm trying to like remember any book I've read
This is just pick one become it's becoming a challenge
I'm gonna pick I'm gonna pitch you a book and you're gonna pitch me a book and we're gonna call it a night
Okay, you listeners if you wanted more recommendations
You should be subscribed to our newsletter because we just gave you so many
Did it go out?
Several days after it was supposed to yes. Don't worry about it. You have to keep you guessing
Schedules never let you we never let you know our next move
No
No, I don't think we will ever
Syllabus out the window. How are the cool professors? Oh
Oh, it's like a pop quiz but for us that I just get the answers we are scrambling
That's very accurate and
Yep makes me sweaty we signed on to this call tonight not knowing what it was gonna be about
I sent caroline the weirdest message from my apple watch because I could
Have for you
Okay, so I am on my apple watch and I forgot to text on this thing so i'm having to speak i'm done
I can set up right now. I don't think I have enough like I don't know rex spelled like wre
Cks for the richardson pipeline. I haven't really thought about it. Do you what this is no punctuation?
I've really thought about it. Do you want to do like I don't know
I don't know if we can get on the phone and just figure something out to do shortly like a simple if we've been reading
Or something maybe that'll be easiest. Okay, i'm gonna figure out how to send this
A follow-up text that says i'm realizing that did not make sense rake to sam pipeline not sam simp whatever help
I mean it's so real because I couldn't figure out how to use that watch. I hadn't used it since I needed it in new york for directions
It's just been sitting on my my desk
And then like I forgot you had to like write to type
I was like i'm not using my finger to like spell out words and I couldn't figure out how to do a space
So then I just decided to do voice, but then I don't know how to do voice punctuation
You have to say the punctuation
I'm not using my finger to like spell out words and I couldn't figure out how to do a space
Punctuation you have to say the punctuation. Oh, well, that's not gonna happen
It has to be like I am saying a sentence period but if you are going to do that comma
You have to spell out all the punctuation exclamation point
I am familiar. Yeah, so that didn't happen
Um, and I don't know I didn't know how to edit it
So you just got that and honestly, it sounded better as I was speaking it than what you read out because
This is yep. I'm surprised you even responded
I'll be
I could not answer she's been abducted by aliens. I'm gonna let this one i'm gonna let it ride
No, I did I did warn you before that we may have to take to email
You did so I knew this was coming. Although I wasn't expecting the apple watch voice noting
No, I didn't know how to get to my email on that phone. So I was like, okay while i'm wearing my watch
Why don't we try and we failed?
We failed so hard
God I need to remember this book. So yeah, that's been my life and I have to go to Verizon
Tomorrow morning and hopefully they could like turn on my cellular
Because without that this thing is just a brick if I leave the house
Because it's not easy being green I would know
I don't I don't have any
Listener if you don't know my last name is green. That's why I would know
And it's not easy being green
It's also very not sweet
It's true only salty
It took me so long to explain that out. No, i'm one of them you are
I thought it was obvious evidently. No, not to me. I mean, i'm very obtuse
I think not not to many people because i've had to explain it a lot and sometimes i'm like isn't it funny that people don't know and people go oh
I didn't know that there was a reason behind it. Of course. There's a reason
I think we have this verbatim on the podcast probably probably
Very clever. God bless you long-time listeners
I don't know why you're still here
All three of you
You're here longer than my brain cells have been and tell you that
Well, I don't know that that's true. I mean, I guess some of them are here like generating new cells
Yeah, they've just all regenerated to the point of having nothing in there
That's just a fresh baby
No thoughts, no grooves on this brain. Just hard-boiled egg
brain rattling around in there
Shave me down make me round
So true so true
I'm gonna picture it
Never mind. We're signing off. That was that's the end of that
Thanks for listening everybody
Have a wonderful weekend
That's all i've got. I'm gonna pitch you a book. Okay, please that I have read
And we're gonna ignore the fact that you've already started it. So clearly you're also gonna read it
Yeah, but i'm excited to hear what you have to say about it sharks. I offer you a queer historical romance
I tried what if that was my entire pitch it actually might be my entire pitch because the thing about cat sebastian is that her books
Are so good that you know when you're like, I I can't say things about this book because I just feel very incoherent about it
I felt that way about what you could be so lucky
It's hard to talk about that
It's hard to talk about that book
Because it's just like this is just really good
I think my review is half crying emojis
I would say like a word cry word cry
No, exactly
this one
Similar vibes the thing that okay. Okay. I had a conversation with dana at work the other day where I was like
Have you noticed now I am not a cat sebastian pro there?
Especially her backlist books. I've only read a handful
However, have you noticed that cat sebastian writes the exact same relationship over and over again?
I'm always starting to see it. Yeah, it's grumpy sunshine
It's like a sunshine kind of ditzy blonde usually
character
Uh, and then a dark haired kind of caustic
Dramatic background like very sarcastic, but very charmed by the kind of ditzy
Blonde i'm going through like all the ones i've read
kitweb
marion haze is unique because it's uh
not same sex they're bi but
Man and woman pairing but he is the sunshiny character
And she is the she's she's writing golden retriever black cat relationships over and over and over again
Like all of them so this book is basically we could be so lucky in a different font
Or we could no
I'm confusing the titles. We could be so good. It's we could be so good. Yeah, okay
Yes in a different font, but in this one instead of two journalists
It's a journalist who knows the first two journalists
Because andy
Was one of the main characters in book one, right? Because we already met him on like page one or so of this
Yeah, i've got so there's 17 guys. I think this is uh
The god the like book reviewer guy that gives andy that we saw that the books in the for that would make yeah
That's him and i'm blinking on his name. Is it mark and oh mark is the mark? Yeah
So and the journalist that andy knows mark
Is our black cat?
And he has been assigned to write
Um journal entries so kind of ghost writing but like basically writing diary entries for this newspaper from the perspective
of
um
Our our golden retriever eddie oleri who is a baseball player
Who's in a rough situation?
It's really good. Um
he
Essentially he got traded away from home and found out when the press sprung it on him and he had a bad reaction
On tv and said some regrettable things about the team he was being traded to
And now his swing has entirely disappeared and he can't hit a ball to save his life
And also his entire team is giving him the silent treatment
So he's just like alone and having a terrible time in new york. And now this random really hot journalist is like
Hey, i'm gonna write about you. Um, let's go to dinner
And it's so i would love that to happen to me. The thing is there's like no plot
It's again like we could be just a day in the life. Yeah, just kind of like watching things happen writing this
Yeah, newspaper column about him and
They're both
Mark is also grieving his last like partner
Had died a year and a half ago and he's still living in the apartment
That has been left to him with the dog of the deceased partner who by the way
He doesn't sleep in her bed. She sleeps by the door because she doesn't understand that he's not coming back
And he thinks that she hates him because he's here and the other guy's not
Cat why would you do this to me? Um
But it's very dog of you
Like eddie's trying to get his swing back and not be in a terrible slump and all the new york baseball fans hate him
But also are kind of rooting for him
So like there is a plot but it's mostly just like these two guys being very charming
And like slowly falling. I don't know how she does it. It's so slow that you almost can't see it, but you can see it
Well, that's what was so interesting about we could be so good
different
Yeah, like he fully so
Andy is fully in like a committed relationship by like the middle of the book and he's like proposes
And then like but i'm still like rooting for them even though like i'm rooting for
The like the main like it was a whole thing. I was like, this is nothing
How I expected this to be going and I didn't expect to just be like so enamored by the whole process
It was I was also so enamored. You're just thinking it
I also i've been really struggling with reading generally but specifically with audiobooks
Like just finding the urge to put on the audiobook and I did not I read this one in like a day and a half
I love I know you can't because of the the present third or whatever
But if that is not listen or something that bothers you
I love that Joel Leslie that narrator. I love I do love him
He's phenomenal
I know makes me sad. I
Whipped this out in best buy because I was smart enough to bring it when this phone brick thing was updating
And I was like, oh, it's just so char and so atmospheric. It's like
1960 new york in like the journalism and also baseball sphere
There are all these side characters that are just so real and like tangibly a part of their world
And there's like a whole side plot with this like poor baseball team who's doing terribly
It's a bunch of like misfits people who aren't ready to be in the major league and like old
Yeah, I guess because they said it was an expansion team. So those are all the players who yeah
Like the bearded mishmash of people
And you're like traveling with the teeth that makes me so happy. Yeah, i'm very excited. I've already I didn't want to put the book down
But I had to eat dinner and she does it cat sebastian
How do you write the exact same relationship over and over and over again? And somehow I am still so charmed
It's five stars every time I was like five minutes into the audiobook and I was like, this is five stars
She's done it again by god
Like i've already i've just got the setup of like him and him like both and i'm just like, yep
I'm ready to be ruined. Yeah, sign me up. We've got a golden haired baseball boy
And a growth reporter like I just
I can just picture. I don't know what after I was picturing
Mark ass, but there was it was like very visceral
And i'm just like i'm so ready for me. He's like a uh a gregory peck as atticus finch type
My god, but like I think a little bit sharper than that. Like that's not the exact image
But that like kind of dark hair suit glasses
He walks around reading books
And I love how they were both like you're so pretty even though they neither of them said it
I'm just like, yeah, oh my god. Yeah, I am very excited. I tried so
I rarely buy books physically because either you know
I'm sent them or i've read the arc or i'll buy the audiobook stuff like that
And so like I went to barnes noble because it said it was like the
The weekend after it was released it said it was in stock and I was like, this is my moment to shine
I can buy a book
And I go there and I literally look in every like every book that I read and I'm like, oh my god
I'm like, it's not by the cats of bastion. It's not not by the seas
It's not like randomly in the queer section because they had like like different queer end caps for pride month coming up
They had a separate historical section, but it wasn't there either because those were all like mass markets
It was on any end caps and I was like, where is this book? I just want to buy it. Did you do that?
Yeah, so I checked fiction and then I went to them and I was like, please help me and they were like we don't have to buy
Like after they try to look up like they've they followed the route that I took right now. Yeah, i've already I did check
Like it's not here. I'm like, is it still in the back?
And so I still I don't know if someone stole it, which if you're gonna steal a book, I guess
You picked a good one root of you though, if you stole it whoever you are
But they had to order it in for me and then their email didn't send to me so I was like, okay
And then I had to go in and check now. I finally have it. There's a whole saga, which apparently is just my life now
many trips
And catastrophic failures
Just I mean her eyes bugged out. She had I was like, oh
I mean, that's never good. No, I was like it's at least validating
Because like when the first diagnostic only brought up the camera on the first day of the first day of the first day
It's at least validating because like when the first diagnostic only brought up the camera
I'm like, well, that's not the issue I was having so this is a surprise to both of us
And then she was like, well this will track if it's like tracked any like shutdowns
I'm like, well, I hope it's gonna track it because there have been many
And then like five seconds later, she was like, oh my god
And I was like that doesn't look like a good face
um
And then she was like, yeah, we can probably fix it and then it progressed to yeah
No, we cannot ever fix this
So I still don't know what I just wish I know what's wrong. I feel like it was just busted from the start
Like it's only eight months old like I feel like because it had randomly like shut down before
But it was never like the apple logo coming on. It was always like the little like circle like
Buffering thing like it would like yeah, like it would turn black buffer for a second and then just go to my like login page
But it didn't I didn't require like a passcode, but this time it was like fully restarting every time
And like I have to type in my passcode every time like everything was lagging
I was like, I don't because I had like 200 gigabytes of space left
So like it's not a space issue, but also my laptop wasn't air dropping to my phone. Like it was cancelling. So i'm like, I don't know
I'm just happy i'm getting a new phone because apparently that thing was just fucked from the start. But
Yeah, now I get to relearn how to have an iphone 11
So at least at least there's no button I feel like if there was a button again, I would forget how to function
entirely, so
There's that
Wow, I wish I was in the historical romance book with no cell phones
and only
A very hot baseball player standing in front of me
Not when I talk. I mean I would know how to function in a world without that kind of technology
That is very true. Unfortunately, I would get so lost
Yeah, so that was fun
Oh god, okay. Well
Now I get to pitch you this book that I loved but do I remember?
I don't know. I'm gonna try. Look all I told you about the cat Sebastian is like the premise and that it
I had a lot of feelings
I'm trying to find my my inner zen to
If there's one thing I know that I know
If there's one thing I know from book marketing, it's that you don't always have to know all the details
You just have to know what's gonna get them to pick it up
That is very true. This one it it's like the i'm trying to think of like another book
The um when a scott ties the knot by tessa or tessa dare
Where she like writes like fake letters and assumes they're not being delivered delicious and then all of a sudden
Shows up at her door and he's like hello. It is I
So that's this
but she's been engaged to a vi account since childhood because she like found
a like a will or something in their attic and she
Pretended that it meant that she had to like be engaged to this guy because she didn't want to be like
like in society or whatever and so she's been using him as a distraction and like a
An excuse for not doing things
And so she's been like writing letters and stuff. Um that are like fake
And her brother I think is the only one who knows that it's not real
Um, and then all of a sudden this vi account that she's supposed to be engaged to shows up into town
And she's like, what do you mean? I don't want to marry you
He is fully like he knows
That she knows that he's not who he says he is because this person that no one knows
Person that no one's seen in like years the vi account is technically alive, but no one's seen him
They don't know where he is. So he's like claiming that he's like part of this family
But she knows he's a schemer
because she like dealt with him before and then he shows up and so
um
Like they have to basically pretend
To be engaged while pretending that he is who he says he is because he's gonna blackmail her because they met
This is so convoluted
Oh my god, they met when she was masquerading as a man at a paris club. Sure
He went there. It's all coming back. He went there to gamble and make the two thousand pounds that he was owing this villain
She goes to gamble because she's dressed as a man and wants the freedom
She wins. Yes. She wins the two thousand pounds
He loses and he's angry about it. And so he finds her in the alley and he knows she's a woman
And so they make out. Oh, so they make out in the alley, of course
Yep. Yep. So um
They make out in the alley and he tries to like
Get her to give him the money. It doesn't work. So then he goes away
And he's frustrated because he's this guy is like still after him
She goes back to her life
And then he shows back up. She recognizes him. He knows it's her but he's pretending that he doesn't know
It's her just like piss her off
um, and
So he's blackmailing her
With the knowledge that she was out in a club in paris
To pretend they are engaged
Because he needs um the
He needs like something from the estate
Because the estate doesn't really have any money
Um, but he needed like some I don't know something from it to be able to pay this dude off. Um
And so it's just a big
Romp like the entire thing is that i'm just like trying to convince everyone in the town that they are engaged and they like each other
And everything is official. Um, and it was it was so good. Her family is hilarious. This is book two
Um, so you meet her like her family and you meet the sister in book one
um, and then
There's a scene I think I mentioned it in our last episode
um
where
The mother is trying to teach sex ed to the daughters because there are like several daughters and she has like a lord turgid puppet
A lord flaccid puppet and a lady contempt puppet and it's just the best running bit
And I'm so excited for it to be in book three
um
And so that was it's a very funny book
It reminded me a lot of loretta chase because this is the one that I was reading while I was also reading
Like a loretta chase series
And I was getting them confused because they just felt very similar and
the third act
was so fun
I i'm not gonna
Explain it because it would be a spoiler
but like they're just red herrings you don't there are things you don't know and you're guessing at and
A whole family drama because then like the family that he's pretending to be a part of you start to like them
And like he just needs a family because he's lonely and of course man. Yeah, of course
It was it was so good and in the ending I I had no clue how it was gonna end and it was just
So unserious and I was like
I am very happy with this
um
So yeah, that was a lot of words
To talk about the trouble with inventing a by count by vivian lorette
again
It all came back to me as I was speaking which did not make for a very pleasant summary
but
Take away
I don't know how you would give a summary for that
um, I don't either
I mean it would help to start the beginning which I did not because I didn't remember the beginning but then I remembered it
so
I mean, it's all coming back to me. Simply so silly
It was the comparison to one of scott ties and not um is honestly all you really need to know
Um, because he basically like moves into her life
And he's giggling because he knows it's pissing her off and she's angry about it
But then she's also like he doesn't remember our kiss. It was so hot
How could he not remember like she's pissed that he doesn't remember?
And uh, it was so good book one is fabulous as well
um
She also
Said that she was engaged to that duke
To like get back at this
um like bitchy girl
and
Then the rumor mill spreads and so this duke is like I literally like any other book normally
You would expect the person who's like caught in this like fake thing would just like go along with it
He was so mad
He was like I literally this is the worst thing that you could have ever done to me
I hate you so much. This is ridiculous. Like why have you done this and she's like I did not mean to
She was it was a whole thing
But that one is really good. You see them in this book and they're like having like a marriage
um tussle
And it was very entertaining
So I would definitely read in order just so you can like get the full feels but you don't need to read in order
But this is also an art when does it come out?
People do september 24th. So yeah, i'd set all that
So that you can read it in september
But read book one
Between now and then or request the arc from avon on neck alley. I don't think it'll be disappointed. Um
But yes
words
And the cover is really good, too. It's got a pretty red dress and it's like an outdoor
Outdoor scene with the rain that was in the book
What tropes did I have on story graph i'm so technology
He's not my friend it's my enemy actually
No, i'm not you at the train instead. I
Honestly, they're not that bad
The problem is just when you've stood there for 40 minutes and your train hasn't shown up and you're like, okay
I guess I have to take a different train and then
You find you get off at the stop where you think your transfer is but then you have to leave the station to transfer
And then you go the wrong way for a block and then you have to go all the way back two blocks to get to the other
Entrance to the station because everything is under construction
See and this is why I simply wouldn't survive if I were with eddie and mark in 1960s new york because they are just
Well, they actually were taking a lot of taxis because mark was like the office is gonna pay
Because this is work and I was like that's
Honestly relatable. Um
We love charging into the work card. That's not true. We don't do that that much but when we do get to it's like, ah charge it
Yeah
Okay, i'm looking at the tropes that I listed on story graph. So we're just gonna go down the line
Um one there was a duck
I'm remembering that there was a duck two. They were caught in a rainstorm. I don't think for the record
There was a duck counts as a trope
Not necessarily tropes just circumstances that I like to keep track of because I'm on my brain is like I need a book with
A duck and I can't remember so I have to be very meticulous
Sure, there was a duck they were caught in a rainstorm set of rainstorm
Led to a tryst in the woods in a deserted, you know cabin shed, whatever. I just read the alexander vasty. Um
Yes, the chemist one where there was also a tryst in a shed
Exactly
Love a tryst in a shed me for a kid
I love conniving
Rainstorms to just really make everyone have sex happens in scandal in spring. Just my favorite my favorite
Um, obviously it's a ment of fake suitor
uh near-death experience
Enemies to lovers bananas plot fake relationship hurt comfort jealousy 16 romp
Women in pants. Oh 16. I thought you said 16. I was like 16 what?
Is this like 16?
169's
weirdly
Well, if you look if you if you read it do a 16 so you have a one and then a six
That's what i'm trying to figure out
You're missing something
The tales of the person just laying there not reciprocating to explain this to me
They're just laying there, um, they're not reciprocating which is so rude of them. Uh, no 16
And I don't remember but I do remember
That I remembered that there was a 16-year-old death experience situation
I just need to reread this book. I think is what i'm convincing myself sounds like to me. Yeah
I was having such a good time reading it though. I think my brain has just been
I read a lot
Since that one a lot of like historical so they're all kind of like melding together a lot of that was brevley jenkins, which was fantastic
Have you read her on destiny series destiny's embrace destiny surrender?
destiny's captive the latter two the pirate one and the
Prostitute one. Yes, the first one I have not
The first one was good. I think I like so I liked two then one then three
um
So far that series has not been my favorite
Yeah, I think
I really enjoyed book two. Um book
Book one and three are on the lower end for me
Of ones that i've read. Um
But they were still very good slump busters
Because like I didn't have a bad time in either of them
But I really enjoyed destiny surrender
That was the one where I was like barely jenkins has single-handedly answered the bear versus man debate
She shoots the bear and kills the man
I have no memory of this. I believe you. I just do not remember it
Yeah, there was like a bear harassing the town and I sincerely thought that the bear was going to eat the villain
Which I was excited about
Um, she ends up saving the town from the bear and then brutalizing the villain just alone
He kidnaps her obviously there's kidnapping. Sure, and then she just goes to town. She goes to town on him and i'm like, yes
Go get it. I was
It was beautiful. If it wasn't a bear i'm happy it was billy
because
That man suffered
So oh that's all I can ask really
Which one is this?
destiny surrender
I know what's the premise?
um
so she's his like
Mistress basically because he like basically pays her not to sleep with anyone else, but she's like a prostitute and then she gets pregnant
Yes. Yeah, she gets pregnant. I was thinking that we were talking about the pirate one
Oh, I thought one wasn't my favorite. No, no mine either. I did like I did like that one. I do not remember the bear
um
The bear deserved really vaguely but yeah
I deserve to kill a villain but
You know, it is what it is. No the this one the premise is that
Um, she is a prostitute, but he's basically had paid it for like two years. You just like be his
exclusively and then the book starts literally with them banging
And then the sponge rips in half. She doesn't tell him she ends up pregnant at the beginning of the book
He then at the same time that I think like the kid is like I think like 16 months old or something he is um
Very close to getting engaged or like being engaged to this like heiress diamond to the first water or whatever
And then billy storms into the engagement party. So it's very close to a speak now moment
She storms into the engagement party and it's like here's your kid
Um surprise i'm gonna leave because this villain is chasing me and both of us like I want us to be separated
And this guy was so not having it. He was so angry. He was a definitely a dick at the beginning, but
He reformed
He rode the rake to simp pipeline. Um, no, I no I wrote woo to love pipeline
Um, he wasn't a rake. He was ready to settle down
He just didn't want to settle down with her but then his mother was like, yeah
But then his mother was like you are getting married. This is a disgrace
I can't believe you weren't gonna get married to her. Um, so the mother is a real like the real queen there
And then she gets her own romance
And then you see that through like all the books which was great
Um, but the woota love pipeline is where the hero falls first or it falls second basically
but
He has to work for the rest of the book to convince her that he actually loves her and that she can like trust him in that
love
because
Before he was not able to love or whatever
um, so she was always in love with him and then once he fell in love he was like way harder and
Had to had to show her
So different pipelines than the rake to simp one. There was another one that was rake to simp, but oh that was book one
So there we are
Many pipelines. Yes
Yes
Wow, okay
Again, i'll tell you. Yep. Um, cool. Uh f1 update
Uh
I don't really have one last week was super boring except for the last five minutes of the race
Uh lando almost won, but that didn't
He was really close though. So
He was really really close and I was like, why did I even watch this race at this point?
I didn't actually I slept through most of the middle of it
Um, because it was so boring that I slept through the whole middle chunk of the race and then I woke up and lando was
Closing in on max for stopping and I was like, whoa
Did I miss anything and everyone was like no and I was like, okay, this is the most boring race of all time
Did he get like second or third or just like not? Yeah. No, he came in right behind him
So max won only like a few seconds rather than a few seconds
So we're closing the gap. We're getting there
Max for actually the most important update is that charlotte claire adopted a little um, dachshund puppy a while ago and
leo leclerc san mu
San mu is his girlfriend's last name
And he has a little paddock pass with a little head shot of his full government name
Which I may have spoken about on the podcast before now that i'm saying it but leo leclerc san mu
Is um the people's princess? He is the people's princess
He has usurped his father's throne because the way
That he just like trots around the paddock on his tiny little legs and sometimes flops down and refuses to move
So his mom has to go like pick him up and carry him because he won't move anymore
But the way that everyone in that paddock is obsessed with that tiny little dog. He comes up in press conferences
The journalists will ask about him
There was one like sky sports commentator guy who was talking about the goodest boy in the paddock leo leclerc san mu
Going for walkies. This is a direct quote going for walkies around the paddock. I was like you are a professional commentator
Yeah, that feels like a ted lasso like side plot. It could be
The way that his they're okay. So on like race week
The f1 account will post like photos of the different drivers coming into the paddock like as a carousel post
Of whatever drivers they have some pictures of
And the last one they did for that weekend. It was like driver driver like swiping through the carousel driver driver
Here's a picture of charlotte claire's girlfriend and dog
And then driver driver driver like just her normally the wags are in there if they're coming in with the driver
Yeah, not this time. They said here's a shot of just alexandra and leo
And then I don't know if you shared it or if I saw it on tiktok or somewhere but
The dog pooped somewhere. He did someone was like filming it. Yeah
They didn't know what to do because charlotte's like leo not in the paddock
So how big will that dog get I have no idea not that big though if it's a little dachshund
He's so small and he's like out on yachts living a better life than me
That dog is richer than both of us combined. No, exactly
He's so wealthy and he's so small. He's so small. He's so small. He's so small
He and he's just trotting around
Knowing that everyone is obsessed with him. I know he does. Yeah
Yep, just being like I'm so cute
And he's right
He's adorable. He's so cute. I will never recover
That's actually the biggest update is that he is just the prince of the paddock currently
Every time he walks in the camera, there are like shots of the cameraman down there like squatting to get good angles of him
It's amazing.
The paddock prince.
I was like, this is what we needed.
I mean, Lewis Hamilton also has a dog, Roscoe.
He's like a big bulldog, but he also only comes to the European races.
So Ferrari is going to be lit next year with Lewis and Charles with their dogs.
I'm so ready.
Well, when is Max Verstappen going to bring his cats to the circuit?
Of course he has cats.
Yeah.
That really makes a lot of sense.
I think he claims to like dogs better, but he has cats.
That's what they all say.
So true.
If my mom had balls, she'd be my dad.
Surely I...
Okay.
Did I not tell that part of Max Verstappen?
No!
Yes, I did.
I feel like...
Because that was after Lando's win.
In the press conference, they were like, oh, like you only won because of the safety of
the car, blah, blah, blah.
And Lando was like, oh, you know, if there hadn't been a safety car, like if this, if
that, I would have had to have overtaken blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
And Max interrupted him to go, ah, if, if, if, if my mom had balls, she'd be my dad.
But I'm just like, okay, it's my favorite thing he's ever said, possibly.
Max Verstappen doesn't care about PR training.
Well, I'm happy that you didn't just come up with it.
Oh, no.
He doesn't care about PR training anymore because he's so good at his job.
Like who's gonna stop him?
No one.
So he just says things now.
I love that for him.
I also love that I get to go and read a book about an un-PR trained baseball player.
So true.
He is un-PR trained.
I'm so ready.
He's just a goofy guy.
He's just a guy who thinks that he's stupid, but he's not stupid.
And he's like a little self-conscious that Mark is writing and he's gonna make him sound
stupid.
And Mark is like, I would never do that to you because I'm in love with you.
Not that he says that or admits it for a long time, but it's true.
I am fully prepared.
Literally the 17 pages I have read have been so good.
They're so good.
As soon as you start, you're like, ah, she's done it again.
And I just read the Amelie Howard one, which is really fun.
Did I read something else, I don't know what I just read, but I have to write that review.
But I'll procrastinate that with Kat Sebastian.
Actually, I've read three books that I have to write reviews for.
Oh no.
I hate when I do that to myself.
My worst trait.
It's being like, oh yeah, I'll write the review tomorrow.
She says not writing the review tomorrow.
Okay, well, congratulations.
You have listened to us talk.
You deserve a medal, a cookie, a treat, a little treat.
A little treat.
Treat?
So maybe that's buying a book or might be.
I don't know.
So yeah, subscribe to our newsletter because that's at least coherent.
Coherent might be a stretch.
It does have recommendations in it, though.
That is very true.
And they are in nice little sections.
Nice little sections?
You get some bad puns.
Every time I set up a newsletter, I'm like, maybe Hannah will have something better to
name this or make the subject line.
And then every time it goes out, I'm like, nope, she didn't change it.
Nope.
I had fun with the Ghostbusters one, but that was just to say that.
That one was excellent.
That was all Hannah.
That cracked me the fuck.
Because I didn't know you were sending out a newsletter.
And I was like, oh, what's this?
I was having a very good time.
I learned how to make a gif.
I saw that.
Yeah, I had to do it.
Because I was editing.
Neither of us said, like, we said some busters, but we never made the connection to Ghostbusters
in the episode.
So I just fully ran with the fact that I was watching the new Ghostbusters that night.
And I was like, what if?
Because then it gave me the little paragraph to write that I didn't have to think of any
words and just and then I was like, well, that was so funny to me that I want to do
a newsletter to add this gif and to just fully commit.
You're so real for that.
And it made me chuckle.
Who are you going to call?
And then this most recent one, if you haven't read it, was Wallflower Rex, basically.
I think they're all Wallflowers.
Not necessarily like Wallflower Rake or like Best Friends Brother, but I feel like all
of the Rex felt like they could be a really good lead in or lead off or whatever from
Bridgerton.
Because you haven't watched the season.
No, but I've seen enough about it.
And I've also read the book and unfortunately, I remember too much about it.
It's very different from the book.
That's like I feel like I just know like I'm not really scared of spoilers.
So like I don't I'm not like keeping myself from like seeing things.
So I'm like, I do know that Lord Devlin is a vegetarian that he cannot love.
It's true.
I need to find wherever it was.
I saved it.
Was it Instagram?
So like, tell your betrothed if he has beef with me.
It took me out.
Tell your friend that if he has beef, beef, I pay no heed for I am a vegan.
And I ain't fucking scared of him.
Exactly.
No, my problem was I have like one off Rex where I'm like, oh, this is a good like he
agrees to help her get married and then falls or like this is a good childhood friends to
lovers or this is a good like wallflower rate, whatever.
But I don't I don't have enough of each of those things.
Yeah.
Like more than one or two.
So we went with wallflowers, which at first I was like in New York or romance.
That was very interesting that you have put that in there.
And I was like, you're so right.
I think it's because, well, I wouldn't necessarily like I understand why an author of color,
like specifically writing a character of color would lean away from the wallflower thing.
Yep.
I think that makes sense.
But then also, so the trend right now is so like women in STEM, women who are like the
powerful do it all, be it all heroine, which isn't a bad thing.
I sound very tired as I'm saying it.
It's not a bad thing.
But I do love a classic old school wallflower because some of us.
Our wallflowers are wallflower.
We're just like awkwardly on the sidelines being like.
This is bumping.
I did know literally interview with the the actress who plays.
Oh, my God, Eloise and they her and like the Francesca Hatcher, somebody else.
I don't know.
But they were like, would you rather type games?
And they asked about if there was a ball and she was like, oh, no, I wouldn't show up.
I don't have FOMO.
I have fear of being involved.
And I was like, yeah, phobia felt.
That is very true.
Yeah, I all I did was type in a wallflower into Goodreads and story graph to see like
what popped up.
And then like I saw like what I had read, I was like blanking.
I was like, suddenly I've never read a wallflower before.
Like I knew one that I even include like Lenora Bell has a whole wallflower verse rogues series
that I put book one in our beauty and the beast.
So I felt fine not including it for this.
But I had to I like completely forgot about so many of them because you're right.
Like I haven't read a true wallflower like in a new book in a long time.
Like if if the heroines like aren't wanting to be on the marriage market, they're not
like actively going to balls.
I feel like I feel like they're like off, like you said, like being in STEM, doing things
or like living in the country, defiantly a spinster.
They're not a wallflower.
The way that a true like wall like clay this wallflower is.
Yeah, there was like who are also off doing things, by the way.
I know I was like, is I was like, is Daisy really a wallflower?
And I was like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm keeping it.
Lillian Bowman identifies as a wallflower.
But like I had that exact thought because I was like, I mean, Daisy is pretty much doing
whatever she wants and like.
Pretty go getter.
But she wasn't married, so I guess that's what a wallflower is.
So I was like trying to because I had like one that was like a she was an accidental
wallflower because she was like the popular girl until she sprained her ankle and then
she gets with the doctor.
That one was really fun.
And I had one that she was literally a wallflower because she was invisible.
She made a wish to be.
Yeah, I was like.
That one beat out a few because that was one of the last ones.
And I was like, I have to.
That's a fun twist.
I mean, the Samara Paris that I threw in there, yes, the wallflower.
Yep.
Yeah, there was an evil one that I felt like he could also kind of be the wallflower.
I didn't include that one because you had yours.
I was like, I think that one is a good a good version of that.
But yes, I have like more wallflower racks, but I have more than I thought I was going
to have because at the beginning I was like, I don't know what.
So I just went to bed.
I didn't think I thought I was right.
And then this is where I found myself being like modern historical romance leans away
from the wallflower.
Yeah, because all the ones that I was finding were from like twenty eighteen or twenty seventeen
or like earlier, you know, like more classic ones.
Or there were ones that I was like, oh, I bet Tessa Dare has a bunch, but I haven't
read them yet.
You know?
Yeah, I did include the wallflower wager because I had thought about that one was that one
was easy just because it says it there.
I was like, oh, yes, I guess she's a wallflower.
Also, I just love that book and I've been fighting the urge to reread it.
So I was like, I'm just going to talk about it.
But it was a very fun newsletter.
I read it like I read what you put last night and I was laughing.
Look, I am to please.
And by that, I mean I get very sleepy.
I open up my laptop on a Tuesday night when I was supposed to have written this on Friday
to go out.
I go, damn it.
I forgot the newsletter again.
I should write this before I go to sleep.
And then just words come out and I go to the boards while pollinating wallflowers.
I don't know.
Look, why are there rakes?
I kept trying to be like rake in some wallflowers.
Why are there so many gardening related puns available?
You're so right.
And then I wanted to add that I wanted to add that Daisy's literally a flower.
Oh, my God.
She so is.
Yeah, but I just I could there were so many words already that I had written that I was
like, rake.
Oh, correct.
I just like what?
Sowing their seeds, their wild oats.
Why is it all gardening?
I really wish there was like a hose emoji.
I really had wanted to send that to you, but there wasn't one.
That's tragic.
I just did it.
It's really upsetting.
I really was.
I was like, why isn't there a hose?
Justice for farmers.
Like God bless him.
West Ravenel.
Daddy West.
I'm literally I'm reading Cold Hearted Rake right now because I had nothing else to read.
I was like, I need to go for the classics.
And it wasn't it.
Well, it was interrupted by my phone shutting off 20 times.
But in between the stints of it shutting off, I was having a good time.
I was getting so angry.
So Daddy West, my hot, hot stepdad farmer.
Honestly, he's so good.
And it's just I love seeing him at the beginning and like where he ends up.
Just how Kathleen just like yells at him.
He's just like, I have messed up.
I love that man.
Is it all right if I call you dad?
I'm crying just thinking about West and his stepchild.
I'm embarking on that journey again.
Good for you.
Thank you.
I unfortunately am really stuck on this F1 romance thing and I'm not going to be able
to go back to reading my normal scheduled programming until I have read all of the F1
romance.
Well, I've already DNFed a whole bunch.
There's like six left on my list or something to actually read as opposed to read the first
few pages and go, oh, no, absolutely not.
I started one that I was like a little worried it might be bad because it's a new one, a
new author to me, indie published, which can be hit or miss.
I didn't know.
But so far I am quite charmed.
I love a fake dating setup when it's well done.
Me too.
Fake dating had a minute there where people were hating on it.
I'm like, you know what?
It's one of my favorites.
I think it's bad if it's like stupid, but that's true of literally any trope.
If it's like there's no reason for you to be doing this.
Yeah.
Like I haven't encountered too many fake datings where I just haven't had a good time because
they were faked dating.
Like I do not honestly care what the reasoning is.
I just like the situation.
The only one I had an issue with was that I mean, I probably had more, but they kept
they told everyone in their life that they were fake dating except for like two people
that they had a trick.
And I'm like, but where's the fun in that?
Right.
Like, and the people were like, yeah, they like weren't even like in their like main
life.
So like there was no, I'm like what, why you've told everyone now I'm not interested because
I love like having to fake it.
Yeah.
So that one was weird, but most of the time it works for me contemporary.
I love it in historical.
It's just so good.
So that one I realized last year when I was like doing all my like end of year stuff that
I read a lot of fake dating and then I had a lot of like five star and four star books
in there because they're just so fun.
I love the time we have sufficiently talked.
We have God.
Okay.
Well, there you go.
Hopefully you pick up.
Well, you can only go pick up one of those recommendations actually pick up book one
in that Vivian Lorette series.
What is the technology?
Okay.
So the store or the series is called the liars club and book one is called it had to be a
Duke.
It's the one with the pink dress and then this is the one with the red dress.
There you go.
Or yeah, or pick up some Beverly Jenkins, any Kat Sebastian.
I've been meaning to reread the rune of a rake and that whole Kat Sebastian series because
that one was so good.
I loved all those books, so many books, but then I also just don't want to read sometimes.
And then I'm like, yeah, you're right.
Audio books have been a little bit harder of late.
It feels really nice to pick up like a solid book and like be reading that.
Been having a lot of luck on my Kindle lately.
I got a new Kindle case, which is very fun for me.
I love buying accessories.
One of my simple pleasures.
That's so valid.
Yeah, it made me very happy.
So there was a span there for a while where I knocked out like 10 arcs just because I
had a new Kindle case.
So if you're in a slump.
You buying like a new pair of gym shorts and suddenly going to the gym multiple days a
week because I'm like, oh, yeah, get out of any slump by just treating yourself to a little
treat and accessory or two, something to make what you don't want to do enjoyable.
And then suddenly you'll want to do it.
And it really did work.
I got I had like I had a lot of arcs I had to read and then I read them all.
Now I think only have like two.
Why doesn't mine do that?
Oh, did it do that again?
Yeah, I gave you a thumbs up.
Wow.
Oh my fireworks.
Before it just gave you a little thumbs up.
Mine won't do it.
Mine does it on like my phone when I FaceTime.
That's so weird.
I don't know.
Maybe because my computer is old.
Oh, that could be.
Well, a short moment of fireworks over this sad empty town.
Yes, thank you.
Well, yep.
Oh, I'm still going to bully you into doing a torture poets rec thing, but I have to bully
myself into finishing it.
I don't have any recommendations for the torture poets department.
We need to.
I don't have any.
Just take just imagine that you were in love with Maddie Healy and making really poor decisions.
Well, first of all, and then you simply would never.
I know I can make decisions more relatable.
Being in love with Maddie Healy, not relatable.
Making poor decisions over a terrible person who will never be good.
But apparently, I don't know.
He doesn't look scary up close.
I don't know.
He's but I don't have book recommendations for that.
I'm going to bully you.
Well, I'm going to watch and drive to survive and then it's over for you, bitches.
I don't I'm not opposed.
I'm just.
Opposed to any show, but not specifically draft to survive.
Like it was good when we were watching it at Steamy Lit.
Like I know it's because it's good.
It is.
I just have a very hard time watching things.
I will say if you have you watched Ghosts?
No, there's like the British version, the American version.
Very good show.
Like basically this woman gets hit on the head and can now see the ghosts that have
been living in this mansion that she inherited.
And they're like all from different time periods and they're hilarious.
And like it started off as a British show, so you know, it's going to be funny.
And then it came to the American one.
And I don't know if it's like sacrilegious or whatever, but the American one is just
as funny.
Like they're both very different and I love them both.
But like I also very much like the American one and it's still going.
The British one ended.
And the episode that I watched last night, it was so funny.
There's this ghost from the Revolutionary War and apparently he loves dinosaurs.
And then he was getting married to another ghost.
But then they like had a bachelorette party and the one got lap dance.
Then the other one felt bad.
So then the human hired a stripper for him to have a lap dance.
So she was like just stripped to this empty chair.
And he's like, you like I'll do whatever you're paying the bills.
And it was the funniest thing I've ever seen because he also knew dinosaur facts and he
just started talking about them.
And then the ghost was like so turned on that this guy was doing a lap dance, but also had
abs, but also was fighting dinosaur facts.
And then he was like, can you make the sound of this dinosaur or can you roar?
So then the human was like, can you make that sound?
And he's like, actually, they don't roar.
There's no evidence of roaring, but there is clicking.
So he just like is like clicking like while doing a lap dance to like an empty chair.
When I tell you I was guffawing, never have I ever guffawed.
I was losing my mind.
My dad rarely laughs at things.
He was like, it was so funny.
God, it was a good time.
For a good time, call some ghosts.
Wow.
Well, it's the opposite of Ghostbusters.
It is.
Yeah.
Maybe we should do some paranormal rags or something because I'm suddenly so into ghosts.
Suddenly.
That's so true.
I have been eight years ago.
We had the nothing gets us going like a ghost.
Oh, my God.
You are so right.
And then I saw there's one going around on Twitter by Ann Mallory.
Interesting.
There's another one with another ghost.
It's like an older, old school one.
Ann Mallory with a ghost.
Uh huh.
I don't know if I can go on Twitter on this iPad, but I will.
I mean, you can just Google it for the earl's pleasure.
Yes.
Apparently, he like gets her off at like a horse derby or something, like in the middle
of broad daylight, but he's a ghost so no one can see him.
I think the reformed rakes podcast did an episode on it.
And it's on Kindle Unlimited.
That's what I could check.
You know what's interesting is nothing in the description of the book says anything
about a ghost.
Yeah.
But the longer I'm on this here earth, the longer I realized that I just want more fantasy,
magical, paranormal, historical romances.
Yeah, for the earl's pleasure.
So I have it on Kindle Unlimited and I will be partaking because it seems like a very
good time.
And I've got a few like time travel.
I feel like a few other ghost ones during the independent bookstore day that I'm excited
to read.
So maybe that's what I should do rather than do some audiobooks.
So alright, ghosts.
It's time for the struggle bus to park, I think.
Give us a few hours peace.
Yes, we need peace.
I need to go update this phone.
Wish me all the luck on Friday when you're listening to this.
Hopefully I will have a phone.
I won't be a dinosaur because honestly when I was thinking I didn't know they could do
loaner phones, I was like, I don't know how I'm going to survive weeks without a phone.
Like I was a little panicked.
But here we are.
She's eluded.
You will see us in print sometime next week.
It's still going.
It goes a really long time, unfortunately.
Sounds like a historical romance hero.
It does.
Like, alright buddy, let's wrap this up.
Stamina is not our issue.