Plot Trysts

We wrap up this adorable series with Ben and Eleanora and we were both thoroughly charmed.

Our version of spooky season continues with "Mated to My Ex." We usually like Kate Prior's social commentary, but she goes a different route with this one. Laine is grossed out, but Laine has insufficient exposure to wolf stuff.

We were completely charmed by this contemporary vampire rom-com. I know! Who am I?

We start off spooky season with Laine cackling like a witch with glee at how absurd this book is.

This book makes you FEEL how precarious the characters' lives are (credit to Meg). Apparently it's less steamy than her usual fare, but it's definitely doing something new. That thing is just kinda stressful for Laine.

I cannot get the name of this book right for the life of me, but it's so good I need to figure it out.

Alex and Meg wrap up this series with a bang!

Meg and Laine try a new author, though this book was too short for us to draw any conclusions. If you've seen this book advertised as steamy, that is incorrect.

Ok look. We can't stay on topic to save our lives and we end up talking more about our platonic ideal of a romance novel. In short: this book is good. We want there to be a way to understand what open door means to each author so we have reasonable expectations.

Meg has fond feelings about this 90s-tastic Kleypas, and Laine read it for the first time. It brought us both joy, just in different ways.

Meg and Alex are joined by Sarah Wendell to discuss the final book in the Vorkosigan Saga.

This book is... a lot. It handled a difficult subject in a compelling way but left us wanting more from the characters. The main couple really works, but this book didn't feel like an escape.

Delphine Roy deals with some themes that are not our favorite, but does seem aware of the difficulty and makes some fun choices within a very not fun context. Mind the trigger warnings here for sure.

MacLean really nails the prose as she goes full medieval. We liked it.

Meg and Alex are joined by Kelsea Yu to spend most of the episode talking about the ending of this book.

Good news! This book was wayyyyy less problematic than the first in the series, in that it was not problematic at all.

There are many things to enjoy about this book and a ton of well developed B plots. Maybe too many, but we could have looked beyond that if all the talk of erotica had lived up to the hype. As such, we liked this, but didn't love it.

Meg loved this, Laine didn't, so maybe don't start here if you're new to SciFi?

Meg and Alex are joined by Jim Butcher to discuss Captain Vorpatril's Alliance, which TBH sounds like a romp.

Laine isn't a bird person and apparently Meg isn't a this book person, so we struggled a bit here.

This series keeps getting more and more bonkers. There are moments of fun, but we untimately had trouble connecting with the characters.

This book might be quintessential Milan. She deals with real issues with a lot of resonance today in a way that is still so true to the Romance novel genre. This one is definitely on the angsty side, but it really plays with the expected.

Meg and Alex are joined by Yoon Ha Lee to discuss Diplomatic Immunity.

Torie is basically the best and Dominic is... trying, but in a way we both REALLY enjoyed.

Alexandra Vasti's first full-length novel is here and we stan it almost as hard as Peter stans Selina.