I Read a Book Once

I return with the third book in the League of Extraordinary Women series - Portrait of a Scotsman by Evie Dunmore. This historical romance follows rich, girly girl Hattie as she is tricked into marrying Lucian a businessman with a mysterious past. I spend over half of the discussion section talking about my feelings about the ending, express my enjoyment over the conversations about class and intersectionality, and compare the male love interests across the three books.

I've talked about my love for this book so many times on this podcast, and now it's time for it to finally get its own episode! Bringing Down The Duke by Evie Dunmore is a historical romance novel following a bluestocking named Annabelle and a duke named Sebastian as they battle over the Married Women's Property Act and love. I discuss rereading and my revelations the third time around, ask what my love of this book says about me, and revisit my A Rouge of One's Own episode.

It's time for the final part in my Finch Merlin Halloween series. This last episode covers all the twists and turns that the last three books bring including double crossing, plot twists, and tears. And we finally learn if Finch will get his own happily ever after. I share my anger and heartache over the events in book 15, express my shock over the ending of the second to last book, and discuss my overall thoughts about the series as a whole.

Happy Halloween (pt. 2)!! Welcome back to the second part of my three part Halloween special. In this episode I cover the middle three books in Bella Forrest's Finch Merlin series. In these books Finch gets the last things needed to get to Atlantis and we find out why Erebus wants to go there in the first place. I get extremely emotional talking about the last book in this set, express my shock over Erebus's reasons for going to Atlantis, and keep on making my hilariously wrong predictions.

Happy Halloween! Welcome to the first part of my three part Halloween special on the Finch Merlin series by Bella Forrest, which is a fantasy series about magicals (a.k.a. witches and wizards). This episode covers the first two books in the series and the beginning of Finch's adventures as a servant of Erebus. I introduce the series and give a brief recap on the Harley Merlin series, question and criticize Erebus and his motives, and express my joy at being back in this familiar world.

I'm not normally a seasonal reader, but this week I tried out a Halloween themed romance: The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling. This romance follows Vivi and Rhys two witches trying to break a curse before it takes down the entire town. I waffle about how much I liked this book, talk about the advertising around the book, and wonder what the point of a pen name is when you reveal your real name in the very same sentence.

I joined a book club and they made me read a psychological horror novel taking me WAY outside of my reading comfort zone. Shirley Jackson's classic novel The Haunting of Hill House follows four people as they stay in and are tormented by a haunted house. I talk through my thoughts about joining a book club, explain why I didn't find this book scary, and try to figure out if the house was actually haunted.

It only took 47 episodes for me to turn my podcast into a drinking game and with an unlikely book at that. Amy Stewart's historical fiction novel Girl Waits With Gun follows Constance Kopp and her sisters as the deal with the reign of terror brought down on them by a shady silk man. I introduce a new segment called are there romantic undertones or am I just a romantic?, discuss Constance's characterization, and talk about where fiction meets reality in this novel.

Have you ever read a book so you good you thought your heart might burst? No? Well then you clearly haven't read Ali Hazelwood's novel The Love Hypothesis, which follows Olive, a Ph.D. student at Stanford, who ends up fake dating one of the professors in her department. I reveal that I'm a simp for these characters, talk about the spoilers I received going into the book, and generally praise the writing style and plot for being absolutely hilarious.

Zoraida Córdova's debut novel The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina is probably the most surreal fantasy novel I've ever read. In this book, Orquídea calls her family to collect their inheritance (magic in some cases), but it causes some unexpected complications as the secrets of her past are unveiled. I debate my feelings about this book, write the premise for a television show based off the book, and focus on one aspect that makes no sense.