Over the hills and through the woods, to Velaris we go!

Feyre and Rhysand are getting ready for their first C̶h̶r̶i̶s̶t̶m̶a̶s̶ WINTER SOLSTICE together. All while reconciling the recent trauma of the War (see episodes 157, 158).

What makes a Holiday Special special? How has the messaging around the true meaning of Christmas morphed in our current therapy-speak moment? Do you feel like you've been sufficiently fan serviced today?

Join us as we weave the threads of The Star Wars Christmas Special, "It's A Wonderful Life", and Tom Bombadil together to make sense of the Phenom that is The Worst Book In This Series.

Ho! ho! ho no. This eppy, yr grls go whatever the opposite of carolling is about - Christmas Masquerade: A Pride & Prejudice Intimate Variation by Vivien Norville

Lizzie and Darcy (who you know...) are spending their first Christmas together and Darcy is BLOWING it. Or wait, Lizzie is blowing it? Honestly, no one is getting blown.

When did the public opinion pendulum swing from sweet to spicy? Is self-publishing the field from which we must harvest the bitter oats sown by celebrating ROI and SEO instead of the HEA as Romance's primary virtue? Is it just a conifer?

This Christmas, get duped by Capitalism. Again!

Saddle up the Equimare and/or gas up the Autoduck - this week yr grls pass through the veil of THE UNDERTAKING OF HART AND MERCY by MEGAN BANNEN.

Marshall Hart sends a letter looking for a friend into the aether (which is not the strangest thing to do in the strange land of this book) and it lands on the desk of his nemesis - Undertaker Mercy. She also needs an anonymous friend, turns out.

Does reading fantasy romance juice your empathy or is it just so much more escapism? What makes a retelling worthwhile? When was the last time you lusted after a blond?

You'll want to check your box for this one, because we're sending it straight to your heart.

---

Listen & Subscribe

• Apple Podcasts

• Spotify

• SoundCloud

Buy the Book

• Available at The Ripped Bodice

That a creaky stair or a creaky bed? Only one way to find out! Time to bust open the doors on "Jinxed" by Torri Heat.

Savannah thinks she's gotten the deal of a lifetime when she buys an abandoned house to open a thrift store. And, indeed, she gets far more than knick-knacks. She gets three hunky...well, not ghosts. But like, frozen-in-time-via-a-curse fellas? I guess you would say? Can these three radically different dudes from different historic eras put their differences aside so they can gang make-love-to Savannah? AND break the curse? Sure hope so..

Can a book be conscientious and lean on stereotypes for storytelling? What would a "porn book" be and does it matter? Don't you want your boyfriends to kiss?

This one may not be spooky, but it certainly has some twists.

---

Listen & Subscribe

• Apple Podcasts

• Spotify

• SoundCloud

Buy the Book

• Available on Amazon

Hoist up your bosoms, fill your tankards, and line up for facepaint - this week yr grls are travelling back in time to a general idea of "old" for WELL MET by Jen DeLuca.

Simon is an uptight, high school English Teacher by day, and a sexy, flirty pirate by a different time of day. Emily is just trying to be a cool aunt (and make more, if not The Most, of her time in this small town) when she signs up to be a wench in his school's booster club/Renn Fest. Are sparks flying or is it just so many exploding splinters from the joust.

Are romance novels influenced by Hallmark movies, or vise versa? What is the utility of an inoffensive book? What does it mean to be a grieving younger sib? Who, indeed, is Sub(aru)ing who?

We've got plenty of digressions - our trip to the Bristol Renaissance Faire, "Pirates of the Carribean", etc. But don't worry, it all leads back to the book in the end. HUZZAH!

---

Listen & Subscribe

• Apple Podcasts

• Spotify

• SoundCloud

Buy the Book

• Available at The Ripped Bodice

Nobody move! There's blood on the floor. And yr grls can't find their hearts. Thanks to whispered romance classic- "To Have and To Hold" by Patricia Gaffney.

Sebastian has everyone's fave romance hero first name and a brand new estate in an idyllic country town. Total snoozefest, but then most things are to Sebby. That is, until a captivating former-con with (gasp) SHORT hair named Rachel captures his fancy AND his rather horrid whimsy. Will these two be one another's reckoning in a good way or a bad way?

Are historical romances actually written about three times - the setting, the publication year, and the time it is read in? How can a text deconstruct while bolstering conservative sexual politic? CAN "the help" consent???

---

Listen & Subscribe

• Apple Podcasts

• Spotify

• SoundCloud

Buy the Book

• Available on Amazon