This week, we tackle Charolette Stein's When Grumpy Met Sunshine, a listener request that's keeping us honest! We've reviewed this author previously and concluded then that we would like to read her again later. Listeners we did.

When Grumpy Met Sunshine is a romance that pits supposed opposites against each other with mixed results. Mabel is a ghost writer with a predictable penchant for bright clothes, and Alfie is an ex-footballer from the wrong side of the tracks with a wardrobe like Johnny Cash. How couldn't these goofs fall in love or dry hump at a Beyonce concert? From shared bad dads, to some pretty funny social media mishaps we explore how this particular story’s struggle with its own self-consciousness (a trend in current romance) seems to illuminate something brittle. The weight of modern romance expectations? The translation of fanfic into fic fic?

If every trope shines this brightly are we not all blind?

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A listener held us accountable. A listener reminded us that at the end of this very episode from 2018 we said we'd be curious what this author wrote in the future. And now, ahead of that discussion of a very new book by this very same author coming out next week, we want to give all of you the context you so richly deserve. Original notes below.

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At some point we’ve all felt bullied. But did you ever think, as you stared out through the slits of a locker, your new home, that perhaps your tormenter just needed to work through some misplaced sexual desire? That in fact, your personal Roger Klotz was just biding their time to tell you how they really felt? What’s the statute of limitations on attempted murder? Can a novel be both problematic and titillating? Morgan and Isabeau grapple with Letty and Tate’s relationship, barn weddings, and what to do when your mind’s telling you no, but your body, your body, has been reshaped by toxic masculinity.

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Please, no need to swoon - it's just us, talking about MEET ME AT THE ANVIL by KATE PRIOR.

Prior isn't just the author's surname, it also describes when we talked about this author re: LOVE, LAUGH, LICH - look it up in the feed where you found this one!

Diane is fine marrying Martin - as long as she has her special drawings and her special horn. That is until it isn't fine after one of her frequent faints (courtesy of staring too long at Martin's ruggedly handsome best man and cousin, Liam) interrupts the ceremony and leads to a perspective-shifting goat encounter. She and Liam hit the road to nowhere, or is it...to forever?

Does centering the body, even the marginalized body, equal objectification? What has romance writing lost in the fronting of author personalities? Why is it so hard to think of weird parts with novellas?

Keep your eye on that goat and your ear on this podcast - they're both wily son-of-a-guns.

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Trigger warnings abound everyone - sexual assault, dubious consent, Biblical characters of Judas and Satan falling in love, child death and miscarriage, suicide. Tread lightly, be gentle with yourself - it's just a podcast.

The Devil is a lie, The Devil is in the details, The Devil is afraid to be vulnerable, The Devil is afraid you can't love him the way he thinks he wants to be loved. The Judas Iscariot (we'll wait while you gather your feelings) and The Devil (yep, horns, tail, etc.) meet in The Ninth Circle of Hell and embark on one of the most complex journeys of mutual self-discovery by way of esoteric billionaire, rakish Duke romance ever committed to pages read by these, your podcast hosts. Along the way, the text dives into a rather comprehensive collection of Bible fan fictions (Dante, Milton, Kabbalah, your most beautiful, tragic Aunt's pet theories...) and creates some of its own.

What does romantasy lose in its fear of scope? What does this novel lose in its embrace of stakes? Is this the future liberals want?

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Morgan and Isabeau are joined by romance author Esme Brett as we discuss In Flight — a romance that took off in the wake of Fifty Shades. In this free wheeling discussion we tackle fanfiction's influence on the genre, the rise of self publishing, and the ethics of depicting BDSM in romance. What are we responsible for? Who are we responsible to? How can we sell more romance novels in New Zealand?

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We were in the books in 2024 and now 2024 is in the books. Hardest and softest no!s and whoa!s, the places we visited the most in literature, what we did great at and where we came up short. All that and more as we look back on the year that was...2024.