Of Swords and Soulmates
Is this a kissing book? Of Swords and Soulmates features two couples (and sometimes more), with varying reading preferences and experiences, as they read, listen, and sometimes watch romantasy stories and discuss plot, fantasy elements, romance, spice, theories, and more. Join us for our non-expert opinions as we discuss, argue, rave, rant, and hopefully entertain. We may just help you find your next reading obsession or at least contribute to that TBR list!
Of Swords and Soulmates
"Assistant to the Villain" - Not just a job, it's a romance.
Can a workplace romance with a magical twist truly captivate your heart? Meet us on "Of Swords and Soulmates" as we talk about the buzz around Hannah Nicole Maehrer's "Assistant to the Villain." Fueled by social media hype, this charming tale blends humor, romance, and fantasy in a way that had us all hooked. We discuss our star ratings and how this book compares to our favorite films and TV shows.
We kick off the episode with some exciting news—Netflix is bringing Scott Westerfeld's YA dystopian novel "Uglies" to life, starring Joey King! We share our thoughts on this adaptation and reminisce about our personal connections to the book. But it’s not all rosy in the literary world; we touch on the recent Hugo Awards controversy, where deserving authors like Ziran Jay Zhao and RF Kuang were excluded. Thankfully, George RR Martin’s Alfie Awards stepped in to honor these overlooked talents, providing a heartwarming resolution to the issue.
Our deep dive into "Assistant to the Villain" is packed with laughter, insights, and debates on the romance dynamics within. We scrutinize the slow-burn relationship, the intriguing character motivations, and the effectiveness of the romantic tension. Comparing the book’s relationships to iconic pairings like Jim and Pam or Han and Leia, we explore the broader impact of romance in storytelling. We dip into a tangent on what makes a villain a villain, and who is the baddie? To wrap things up, we tease our next episode featuring a review of "Radiance" by Grace Draven. Make sure to follow us on all our social media platforms and check our website for more updates!
Links from the News Segment and Show:
- Uglies TV show drops September 13th on Netflix (link to show page)
- Based on the YA dystopian series by Scott Westerfeld
- George R. R. Martin hosted the “Alfies” this year
- Named after Alfred Bester, Martin hosts this when authors get snubbed.
- Due to the controversy with the 2023 Hugo Awards, he invited Xiran Jay Zhao (author of Iron Widow) and RF Kuang (author of Babel)
- The Hugo Awards have had past controversies, such as in 2013-2017, & 2021
- Paperback of Fourth Wing is coming out September 17th.
- Link to Instagram post
- Will include a new chapter from Xaden's POV
- Romantasy Book Convention (Orlando 2024)
- https://www.fabledfantasyevents.com/
- This episode's book is Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
Follow us:
Instagram - @ofswordsandsoulmates
Goodreads - http://www.goodreads.com/ofswordsandsoulmates
Mari:
00:33
Hello and welcome to Of Swords and Soulmates, a podcast where we read, watch and discuss romanticist stories. I'm one of your hosts, mari, and with me I have Kelly.
Kelly:
00:37
Hey everyone. It's Kelly and we also have Ashley.
Ashley:
00:40
Hi guys, it's Ashley. We also have Jonathan.
Jonathan:
00:43
What's good, it's JP living the life of luxury.
Mari:
00:48
Today we're going to be discussing Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Mayer, but first some news, as always. First thing I had that actually this episode is going to drop on the 12th, I do believe. So tomorrow, on the 13th of September, on Netflix, the Uglies TV show is going to drop, which is based off of a 2006 Scott Westerfeld YA dystopian series that I loved back in the day and I'm very excited and I hope they don't mess it up. Did anybody?
Ashley:
01:21
read this. Anybody else read these? So no, and I didn't know it was dystopian, which probably would have piqued my interest at the time, like that they were released. So I'm. I saw the I don't know if it was a preview or just like the cast lineup Is Joey King in it, I don't know who.
Mari:
01:37
Joey King is.
Ashley:
01:39
Oh, I'll look that up by name. Yeah, I don't know by name.
Mari:
01:45
All of them by name. Yeah, I don't know my name. I know that the chickie from the kissing booth is in it. I don't know what her name is, but the main actress, like the one who was the female main character in the kissing booth, she's in it. I like her.
Ashley:
01:52
Not enough to remember her name, apparently yeah, no, no problem, we'll figure this all out.
Jonathan:
01:58
Together live, looks like it looks like Joey King, chase Stokes and Jillian Murray. Okay, so Joey.
Mari:
02:09
King is the one I'm thinking of. That's the actress I'm thinking of, yeah, joey King. She plays Tally Youngblood, the main character. It's an interesting series. I want to say there's like three or four main books but then there's a few auxiliary books. It's set in like a future world, way past our time, and so you have a whole different society and you have a little bit of that.
02:31
I think of it as a Twilight story idea, because that's where I first remember hearing the story of like you are what you are until a certain age and then something is done to you and then you become acceptable to society. In the old Twilight Zone story I'm thinking of is like person. I think it's a woman looks like normal or whatever, like standard, and then she undergoes a surgery to become like everybody else and then she's got like this pig face now, because that's what everybody looks like in the Twilight Zone story I'm thinking of. I can't remember the name of that episode, but it's the old one, the black and white one In this story. But it's the old one, the black and white one In this story. It's the uglies. Everyone's an ugly until you reach.
03:07
I don't remember if it's 16 or 18. I want to say it's 16. And then you become a pretty and you live in the other part of the town after you become a pretty, and so it's a lot of commentary on society, on what we value, on what we think of aesthetics. And, mind you, this is 2006, is when the first one was written and some of it goes into like popularity, like your whole standing in society, based off of popularity on, basically, instagram, netflix, instagram, tiktok type service. It's an interesting world, so I'm curious to see how they do it, how well they do it, and I hope Netflix like does the whole thing and not just like the first book and then cancels the series because it is Netflix.
Ashley:
03:50
Yeah, is it a Netflix movie or a series though?
Mari:
03:53
It's a series. It's a series. Yeah, the other thing I had was kind of interesting. So I heard about this through Ziran Jay Zao's Instagram. That's where I follow her. She's the author of Iron Widow.
04:06
We've talked about her a little bit, so her and several other authors of either of Chinese descent or that had expressed things that were anti-Chinese were excluded from the Hugos. It was a whole big thing. Ziran J Zhao did a wonderful like multi-part video thing on it on her Instagram. I would highly recommend you look up her stuff if you're interested in that. But basically because of it, among other people, her and RF Kuang were disqualified from the Hugos, just because they had said things that were anti-current Chinese government. They had said things that were anti-current Chinese government, and so George RR Martin, who wrote Game of Thrones, has this thing that he does.
04:50
It's called the Alfie Awards and he's done this multiple times when things happen with the Hugos where they do unfair things like this. So basically, george RR Martin will host the Alfies and it's named after Alfred Bester, who was the first person to ever win a Hugo, and he basically does his own awards and he gives these authors Alfies. So he invited Zarin J Zhao, he invited her, and RF Kuang, who wrote Babel and Yellowface. I think those are the two main ones, I don't know anything else she's written I want to say the Poppy Wars, but I might be wrong. But anyways, he invited both of them to dinner and a whole Alfie Award show that he made for them, which I thought was really sweet.
Kelly:
05:33
Well, what I find interesting about all of this kerfuffle with the Hugos is it's not like the Hugos have not been controversial in the past. I mean, I remember back in 2020 or 2021, they Hugo's added video games as a category. So like video game, writing, writing plot, whatever for a video game as a category. And man, what a stink that created. It was so bad that they never had that category again.
Jonathan:
06:00
Oh, wow you know.
Kelly:
06:01
Giving more, giving more credence to the age old argument about our video games art.
Mari:
06:06
I mean, of course they are. Somebody has to come up with those stories and those images and that sound Interesting.
Kelly:
06:14
It's not like the Hugos have not been, you know, a pillar of non-controversy.
Mari:
06:20
Yeah, yeah, this is the most. This is the latest one that I know of and, like I said, her Instagram is the first one that I heard about it through and she did a really in-depth presentation of everything that happened with it.
Kelly:
06:32
Yeah, it's not great.
Mari:
06:33
It's not great.
Kelly:
06:34
Listeners, you should look up the history of the Hugos and the controversies in the past and see that really, the Hugos are not the beacon of science fiction awards or fantasy awards that they're made out to be.
Mari:
06:48
Yeah, yeah, Kelly's spilling the tea. I know that there's the Hugos and I know that people rag on the Goodreads awards because people say that it's just a popularity contest rather than a quality award rather than a quality award. What other good literary type awards are out there for that kind of genre?
Kelly:
07:10
for fantasy, sci-fi, that kind of thing. Well, there's the Nebula Awards, which are probably as big as the Hugos, because the Nebula Awards are confined to authors in the United States, so it's like a country-specific science fiction right, national science fiction and fantasy. But they're fairly prestigious and mostly been without controversy.
Mari:
07:32
Yeah, I think of the Newberry, but I think Newberry's just for children's books, right. It's for younger books Like middle school. Yeah, middle school, younger, right? Alright, the last little bit of news I have is that rebecca yaros announced that the paperback version of fourth wing is going to be released on september 17th and that it was going to have a new chapter in it. From zayden's point of view, very exciting what a cash grab I thought it was a good looking book.
08:04
Yeah, in her defense she did say that it was going to be available free. That chapter was going to be available free towards the end of the year for anybody who already has their book. It's just not going to be available to everybody September 17th, I don't think.
Kelly:
08:15
Right, right. But if you're a true fourth wing fan, you're going to have to buy that paperback so you can read that chapter ASAP.
Mari:
08:21
I will wait.
Kelly:
08:23
I've got my hardcover.
Mari:
08:24
Is it a new chapter?
Jonathan:
08:28
It's a new chapter or it has the same old Zayden's POV.
Ashley:
08:30
I mean, I think it's supposed to be his POV, but it's supposed to also be a brand new bonus chapter. Is the way that I read it.
Jonathan:
08:38
Yeah, you're going to have to get it and then read it to me.
Ashley:
08:44
We'll work on that.
Mari:
08:44
Thank you, anybody have it and then read it to me. We'll work on that. Thank you, anybody have any other news or stuff they want to bring up here?
Ashley:
08:49
no, I'm very excited to review the book that we read me too.
Mari:
08:53
All right, so we chose this book. I know I had heard about it on like tiktok, instagram, youtube, that kind of thing and and it was on my list, on and off my list for I don't know how many months. It was just like I would put it on my list, on my TBR list, then I would take it off and I would put it back on and I would take it off Because the cover is cute, but it was kind of described as this workplace romance thing, which is not my jam. And then finally Ash read it and really liked it and that's what commits me to permanently put it on my TBR.
Jonathan:
09:30
I was going to say how do things end up? I'll put it on and then you take it off. Does it hurt anything to have it on your TBR list?
Mari:
09:40
My TBR list is very long and I will never read it in one lifetime. I will not read everything on my TBR and books keep getting published and they sound very good. So I every once I go through and I'm like, do I really want to read that? No, and I'll take it off. So priorities yeah, you got to. I have to have a way of taking things off my TBR other than reading them, because you can only read so much. All right. So assistant to the villain was published august 29th of 2023 and it's a story based off of the author's viral tiktok series. So that series. She did that series first and then wrote the book afterwards. I'm gonna read the synopsis and then we can get into our our points what was the?
Jonathan:
10:26
what was the series on? Was did she do like skits or something?
Ashley:
10:29
yeah, so it started out as like skits and maybe like almost like a comic book like situation, and it just gained so much popularity that she ended up writing a book.
Jonathan:
10:41
Oh, okay, was it like live action skits.
Ashley:
10:43
Yeah, like she does little tidbits Even now she does it.
Kelly:
10:48
Is it one person?
Ashley:
10:49
Yeah, I mean it's usually her, but I've seen her friends join in occasionally.
Jonathan:
10:55
I'm going to give her a follow on the TikToks.
Ashley:
10:56
She's very quirky.
Mari:
10:58
Yeah, yeah, I like her. I like what I've seen of the like. I had seen some of her series before I read the book. But I also didn't want to like watch too much. I was like once I fully said it on my list as a TBR I'm like duties supporting staff for random mayhem and terror and other capital D dark things in general, discretion a must, excellent benefits With ailing family to support Evie Sage's employment status isn't just important, it's vital.
11:41
So when a mishap with Renadon's most infamous villain results in a job offer, naturally she says yes. No job is perfect, of course, but even less so when you develop a teeny crush on your terrifying, temperamental and undeniably hot boss. Don't find evil. So attractive Evie. But just when she's getting used to severed heads suspended from the ceiling and the odd squish of inerrant eyeballs beneath her heel, evie suspects this dungeon has a huge rat, and not just the literal kind, because something rotten is growing in the kingdom of Renadon and someone wants to take the villain and his entire nefarious empire out. Now Evie must not only resist drooling over her boss, but also figure out exactly who is sabotaging his work and ensure he makes them pay. After all, a good job is hard to find. I love this so much.
Ashley:
12:30
Me too. I don't guys, I don't want to go first. Can we make the boys go first? I'm dying. Yes, boys go first overall rating non-spoilery not non-spoilery.
Jonathan:
12:41
Overall rating I gave it four. I gave it four. I pick up real friendly, delightful vibes from this book. It was 95% warm, and then I don't know, I'd kind of like to. I could see this being like a television show or something. I would like that. I don't know what it looks like. I feel like Awkwafina should be in it though.
Mari:
13:13
Oh yeah, that would be a good thing. So after we get through all this non-spoiler stuff, I want to go through and be like who we would cast for Into the People.
Jonathan:
13:21
I like that Good job.
Mari:
13:23
Kelly, what did you think? I gave it a three and a half.
Ashley:
13:26
High praise.
Kelly:
13:29
Well, I enjoyed it. I thought the comedy parts of it were amusing. I liked some of the character development. The only problems I had with it was some of this seems like it was kind of inspired by some stuff that's already been done. I can't remember the name of that movie. I tried to look it up but I forgot to One where Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant, where Sandra Bullock is like his personal assistant.
Ashley:
13:52
Two weeks notice.
Kelly:
13:53
Two weeks notice. Yeah, there was some very big similarities there, as well as a lot of similarities between the dynamics of, like Iron man and Pepper Potts in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. You know the witty assistant who really is running everything behind the evil. You know evil or not, so evil genius. So there was a lot of those similarities. But I mean overall I thought it was a good book. It was definitely something different.
Ashley:
14:19
I'm so happy he liked it. You guys, I've been dying to tell.
Mari:
14:33
Yeah, I very much liked it, you guys. Yeah, I very much liked it too. I overall rating five stars. For me it's a rom-com, which already that's my my brand of of romance for the most part. Like if it's going to be a romance movie I'm watching, it's going to be a romcom. So it's a rom-com with like magical stuff in it. I'm sold Like I don't know if it was the, the author, or if it was the publishing house. They described it as once upon a time meets the office and then in somewhere else it was described as the office meets princess bride. And I'm like, yes, both of those, all of those, yes, yeah, yeah, it it's a fun. It's a fun rom-com with like magical bits in it. What's not to like?
Ashley:
15:13
for sure. I mean full transparency. I stumbled upon this book like I'd seen some talk about it on tiktok and stuff, but I didn't have an overwhelming desire to like dive into it and so I stumbled like. It just happened to be available on Libby. It was an audio book. I was like I need to listen to something. I don't do that often and I was full transparency, I was not impressed, like in the beginning. I was like I don't, I don't know if I can do this, and I'll tell you that I ran out of time and the book disappeared before I finished it and I was like clawing at my neck like a crackhead, like what do you mean? This book is gone.
15:53
Um, so, taking a note from Mari, historically I have given this book five stars because I read it again for this podcast and I enjoyed it so far more than I did the first time around, and I think that was a really like, really like thoughtful process of yours. You know to to award five stars not just because of the quality of the book, but because it's something that you want to read again and plan on reading again or have read again, and so I don't think I've given a five stars to anything so far in this process, but I I loved this book. Evie was there. She was going to stick around. She was working hard, she was doing. It was not about recognition. It was not about, you know, she wasn't trying to climb a corporate ladder. No, this was Evie Sage and the villain, and I am chomping at the bit for book two. This is a five for me.
Mari:
16:53
All right. Does anybody else have anything else they want to say before we go to the spoilery bit?
Jonathan:
16:57
Nope, I'm good, I'm good yeah.
Kelly:
16:59
Kelly. So from this point forward, dear listeners, we will be discussing spoilers. So if you do not wish to be spoiled or you haven't read the book yet, go ahead and skip to the end, or come back when you read it and you're ready to hear the spoilers.
Jonathan:
17:14
Who doesn't, who's not, who's not spoiling me. You know, I think I spent my whole life trying to find me a corporate, powerful woman like I did actually, so that I can be spoiled.
Ashley:
17:25
How's that going for you?
Jonathan:
17:27
It's pretty good. I'm not going to lie, I'm living my best life. I want for nothing. I have all the books anyone could ever want.
Mari:
17:37
It's a good life.
Ashley:
17:39
It's good to hear you admit it. Sir, I accept your praise.
Mari:
17:49
So what do we think? Fantasy, fantasy, rating on it.
Jonathan:
17:50
Fantasy world building oh, I give it a three. I didn't feel like it had. There wasn't a ton of. It felt like regular stuff. I couldn't. I couldn't really determine what the setting was Like. I didn't. It was like it was odd. It was like at one point I was like maybe these roads are dirt and the houses are like a shamble, but then I was like they have job fairs and shit, so maybe they're, maybe it's not so terrible. There's like an HR department, you know, and it's like maybe it's so terrible. There's like an hr department, you know, and it's like like maybe it's I. I struggled there and then, you know, like it. Just I really didn't feel like I got the, the depth that I wanted in world building from it. So three, okay, how about you, kelly?
Kelly:
18:39
I also gave the fantasy elements of three because, while there was some interesting stuff, feel like and maybe the author intended it to be overly generic, like it's a generic fantasy setting almost there was nothing in particular special about any world building or anything like that, so it was a very localized, generic fantasy stuff.
Mari:
19:00
And so, yeah, I mean the three, we had the usual stuff and didn't think there was anything particularly great or particularly bad about it I I initially was going to go with the three for fantasy because I was like oh well, you know, there's some magic in it, like there's some magic users and there's the like magical creatures, you know, like the dragon and all that. But then I started thinking more and I'm like well, the whole ink thing is kind of cool. The magical properties of the ink is a little bit more original and specific to this world. I'm not saying that I've never heard of it before, but it was pretty well done. I thought in this it was pretty well developed. And then I was like but and also there's kind of talking animals, like Kingsley kind of talks. He's got his little signs. I'm like well, that pushed me over into a four. So I had to do a four for fantasy.
Kelly:
19:57
Look, Kingsley was adorable. He was definitely adorable, but it was specifically said the reason he's intelligent is because he's actually a prince.
Mari:
20:08
Yeah he's impanted Like Bill said that in the book yeah yeah, which is magical. So it's not like he was a real talking animal.
Jonathan:
20:13
Yeah, and where did he get signs Like how do you have so many signs?
Mari:
20:18
Where does he keep those signs, his little froggy pocket His little.
Kelly:
20:25
A magical spell called plot.
Mari:
20:29
The same way his little crown stayed on him. Yeah, he was adorable. I love Kingsley.
Ashley:
20:37
You're not going to get any complaints out of me. The fantasy was a four. I get where the boys are coming from and I do agree with Jonathan that this, if they put half as much effort into this movie or TV series, that is inevitably coming it's already been picked up and announced if they just put half, half of their little pinky finger you know Game of Thrones money into that shit, it is gonna be. It's gonna be fantastic. And I'm saying I'm thinking like Ella enchanted the movie. Yes, fantastic, like not, it is absolutely. Ya. Like, don't get me wrong, there is nothing overwhelmingly spicy or dirty about this book, but I think it's going to be visually impactful and I and while I do agree that you know we're missing some world building and I think we we got very little insight as to you know the why, why shit's going down the way that it is. I think we got very high level view of that. And again, like a crack addict, right, like I just want more, like tell me more.
Mari:
21:43
Yeah.
Ashley:
21:43
What's next? So? But I think you know, you have your variety of creatures. You have your variety of creatures. You have your variety of magic. You have magic users that are good and bad. You have, you know, malevolent, uh, the, the malevolent guards. And you know I, I have zero complaints about the fantasy in this book, and it would only be better if she had built the world a little bit more. But I have no doubt that we're gonna see it in the movie or the tv series, I forget which one and the second book.
22:13
Like I think it's good and the second book yeah wholeheartedly, and aquafina should be becky yes there's a, there is a movie there's, it's been picked up. Tv show.
22:27
Yeah, yeah, a tv show was picked up by legendary but I saw that it was announced like eight months ago, like last december, so it's gotta be and it's well. I mean, there's competing right, because so these are both entangled books and entangled maria I don't know if you knew this, that it's 100% run by women. Yes, I didn't realize that until tonight. So, kudos, we love Entangled, but Entangled is also fourth wing in the Empyrean series, so I'm sure they're going to want to plan that accurately. They're not going to want to have to, like, quote unquote, compete with each other for airtime, exactly, exactly. So I'm, I'm in, sign me up, take my money.
Mari:
23:17
That being said, I right, like I think I would envision something like assistant to the tv show being a easier to produce, like lower cost than fourth wing, in terms of like costumes, production value, you know. So this would be a good like we have a season of a fourth wing, we have a season of assistant, you know, just to kind of have good tv on all the time very interesting guys, not like you guys wednesday, vibe out of this book yeah, yeah, they could do.
Ashley:
23:50
Yeah, it doesn't have to cost a lot. They could spend some money, you know, in the CGI for the magic part of things. But otherwise, where do they go? They go to the castle, they go to the woods, they go to Evie's house. You know what I mean. We're not looking at an ass ton of different locations, or yeah, I'm super stoked for it's. The magic is a four. For me, the fantasy is a four yeah I got.
24:15
I got a little dabble of everything. There was allusions to merfolk because of the paper that the invitations were on. Oh, you're right that we're getting a little bit of everything here. It is a hodgepodge I'm here for for it. Take me to the party. I want to go to the party.
Jonathan:
24:31
I just like to add that I can buy my own flowers.
Ashley:
24:35
That's cool. So then you don't need to be spoiled. That's what you're telling me.
Jonathan:
24:38
No, no, no, spoil me, spoil me.
Ashley:
24:39
No, no, no, you can buy your own flowers.
Jonathan:
24:42
Spoil me.
Mari:
24:44
Talk to me for hours. Buy your own flowers.
Jonathan:
24:47
I was just goofing around with it. Take me to the party. I can buy my own flowers, write my name in sand. No, it's a pop culture-y thing from Hannah Montana.
Ashley:
25:02
From Miley Cyrus, but not Hannah Montana.
Jonathan:
25:06
Have you seen the show? They're the same person, ashley Spoiler. They're the same person, actually spoiler.
Mari:
25:21
they're the same person but that song was not part of the same person from like. From like, episode one, scene one. I I've seen bits and pieces. I did I don't know that I ever saw a whole lot of it. So, yeah, that one went over, that one went over my head. What about romance?
Jonathan:
25:34
what romance? One star only because I don't want to give her none, I didn't give her the one what okay? There's no romance there's nothing, exactly wolf, where it was a whiff, not a wolf dang. They missed it, they missed the mark. There was so much there was. They got close but there was no romance. There's a hint, like you know, they, they like each other, they're, they're in like with each other oh no, he's in love no, they're clearly, they like each other.
26:07
He said it oh yeah, there's no, there's no romance, there's nothing romantic about it. He was like he, he squashed it. He was like, oh, we were about to. Then kiss, and then kingsley was like calamity in the background. Come on, man, you know what I mean. Like his sign, his sign. He was like wiley coyote with a sign that's just a calamity noise. Uh, and then, like all of a sudden, the kiss went away. He was like thank god, that happened. I never want that to happen again how fast did you read this book?
26:38
because I think you somehow fast-forwarded through all the romance I, I I read it slower because I allowed ashley to join me for some of it.
Mari:
26:47
Oh, okay. Okay, Kelly, what did you think?
Kelly:
26:51
Oh, that was a really hot take there, Jonathan.
Jonathan:
26:57
Yeah, a lukewarm take, just like the romance.
Kelly:
27:00
I gave the romance a really kind of went back and forth between a three and a half and a four on this. I ended up with a three and a half just because I've never been a big fan of the workplace romance genre type stuff. But I thought the romance was fairly well done. You know it was a nice slow paced development. It wasn't like a sudden you know, one look and I'm in love forever and blah, blah, blah. It was definitely a nice slow build up to it. It's just the workplace romance type thing is just not my cup of tea.
Mari:
27:31
Okay, for me it was a four. Workplace romance is not my cup of tea either. I just don't like workplace romance. But I love me a grumpy sunshine pairing 100% yeah, and these are grumpy sunshine. I love the. Touch him and him and die, touch her and die thing. The protectiveness, the, the, the fierce protectiveness thing of it. They did that for each other. I liked the, the, the pining reluctant lovers kind of thing they had going on. I loved, loved, loved the little tornado nickname that he had for her oh, I thought.
Jonathan:
28:08
It thought that was so cheesy. It's supposed to be Hold on, though we keep going back to the workplace romance. Are we not, jim and Pam, friendly here?
Kelly:
28:17
No, it totally had Jim and Pam bods. I mean yeah it's influenced by the office.
Jonathan:
28:24
What about Han and Leia? Are we Han and Leia?
Mari:
28:26
friendly.
Jonathan:
28:28
How about Ron and Hermione, han and Leia?
Mari:
28:30
friendly or are we like? How about Ron and Hermione, Are we? Han and Leia were not co-workers.
Jonathan:
28:36
They were comrades in arms. They were co-workers, for sure. They were both doing the same job.
Mari:
28:42
No, there's a difference between fighting with someone in a war and sitting in an office with them and sitting in an office with them.
Jonathan:
28:48
You're working to complete working to drive the team towards a goal in any space you're in, and at some point she was ranked higher.
Mari:
29:03
Anywho, the Little Tornado nickname, I love it Because I love whenever there are actual character-specific names when everything's not like sweetie, baby, honey, you know, where it's something very specific to like their experience. But yeah, little Tornado was very much what he thought of her.
Jonathan:
29:19
Scruffy little nerf herder.
Mari:
29:21
Yeah, I mean love the scruffy little nerf herder, yes, and the bratty princess, like he thought of her, yeah, yeah. But I like the them building trust, to like slowly learning to trust each other and then by the end of the book it's like unequivocal trust, like unbreakable trust they had with each other. My only thing that I didn't like as far as romance of this is there's that whole like I don't know if I would call it the miscommunication or just lack of communication Like they're both pining hard, they're both lusting after each other, they're both dreaming about each other, like he literally thought he was. He was dreaming when he woke up with her kissing him in his arms and he called her love. Like, come on, but they just need to. They need to, they need to talk, they need to verbalize.
Kelly:
30:07
But that's what rarely happens in in rom-coms, you know, because then you have all the tensions gone right, that's a very overused trope and the the two characters would get together and everything would be fine if they would just talk, but then you wouldn't have a movie or a story and not just rom-coms, I would think.
Mari:
30:25
I think a lot of romantic tension, tension like classic books too. I mean you have Jane Eyre, has that, you know it's gothic but it's got that romance, that that pining. Jane Austen, which is some of Fischer's stuff, is arguably proto rom-com but it's got a lot of that pining but they don't actually talk to each other until the very end. Yeah, I mean it's a way to stretch out that tension in the book. So, either way, it's a four for me for romance. I thought it was good.
Ashley:
30:52
I felt, yeah, I felt the romance was a four. I'm struggling a little bit.
Jonathan:
30:57
You felt that it was a four. Yeah, how am I not romantic? If that book was romantic, why am I not like king of romance in your life?
Ashley:
31:07
Well, because you tricked me. You used to be tricked me, tricked me you used to write me poetry rose or red violets or not no, not even shitty poetry. You used to like profess your love. You used to hold my hand oh, I did not.
Jonathan:
31:26
That's a lie. I used to go out and do this. I didn't hold your hand you.
Ashley:
31:30
You did in the very beginning Contact.
Kelly:
31:32
Ooh.
Ashley:
31:33
Yeah, no, you tricked me, and I think there's a difference between romance and actual physical contact. I think there's a lot to be. There was a lot of like reading between the lines here, and I know that I don't mean that literally, but, like you know, the bantering was spot on, like all day long. Those two were going at each other in the cutest way and they felt appreciated right Because of it. It helped build their bond, even if it's just, you know, a trust level situation. And I think you know he felt that from the actual very beginning with her, because that's how she got the job right. He didn't need an assistant, he had Becky. For how long? Poor Becky, you know, is a little bit of a bitch and we all are, but like he didn't want her as an assistant, he hired this lady, he didn't know, but for five minutes, and they escaped some kerfuffle together. You know what I mean.
32:35
And so I thought there was a lot of romance in here. There was a lot of pining, there is a lot of tension, there are a lot of sparks. I'm excited. The slow burn isn't for me for, like you know, three books, but a book and a half of slow burn. I'll take it. Yeah, I'll take notes, nicole, if you're listening.
Jonathan:
32:55
I hope book two has a little bit less slow burn I like it all right, so then on to spice I'm gonna give it a five points on one star, a five point to just one single, because you can't give none.
Mari:
33:15
One hot pepper.
Jonathan:
33:16
One, yeah, one, no, not even a hot pepper.
Mari:
33:19
Green pepper.
Jonathan:
33:22
One green bell pepper.
Ashley:
33:23
It's like one tomato yeah.
Jonathan:
33:27
There's the spice. I've had more spice in my sister's mashed potatoes they come from a bag I have nothing else to add to this. I can't contribute in a positive way for this I I apologize. I don't get me wrong. Just because there was the spice wasn't there doesn't mean that I disliked the book. It just meant that, hey, that, hey, it didn't tick that box.
Mari:
33:52
Right.
Jonathan:
33:54
Kelly, did you visit the spice rack for this? Did you get like I don't even know if that is a spice? I'm just shouting out words now.
Mari:
34:03
Coriander.
Kelly:
34:04
Yeah, yeah, I just gave it a one. I think it was, you know, very PG-less, so, which is fine. I think it wasn't meant to be like a super spicy book at all, which is fine. I think had the author tried to throw a bunch of spice in there, it probably wouldn't have fit well with the overall vibe and aesthetic of the book.
Jonathan:
34:26
Okay, I agree.
Mari:
34:28
Yeah, same here for me, for spice did a one for the same same thing. There really isn't any real spice in it, which is fine, I would say. There's possibly even less spice than I expected, because I expected a teeny bit of spice just based off of it being kind of a rom-com genre. A lot of rom-com books do have some spice in them, um, so I expected maybe a little bit of spice. There isn't any. It was fine. I didn't miss it because there was tons of comedy to make up for the spice not being there yeah, yes, yeah, I agree it was.
Ashley:
34:59
The spice was a one for me. There were, you know, there were some glances, there were some naughty thoughts, there were some innuendos. There was one solid kiss.
Jonathan:
35:10
It was again. One of them was pretending during that kiss for their life.
Ashley:
35:16
Yeah, it was still a good kiss. So yeah, the spice wasn't really there for this book, but I did like you said the Mario, I think it was I didn't miss it, I was fully entertained. Otherwise, I'm ready for book two. If book two was on Kindle Unlimited, unlimited I probably would have read it by now. The only thing stopping me is that I have the physical book and that requires a whole different set of skills.
Mari:
35:42
You gotta carry that book with you. You gotta right, gotta pull it out. You gotta use ye olde bookmark right, right, right right I think it's on everand already oh, I don't know, I couldn't find it.
Ashley:
35:54
I couldn't find an audiobook on libby, like even just searching generically to be on a wait list. But that doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
36:02
It could be I did see an audiobook on libby under harris county, but it's like a I don know ridiculous multi-month waiting period for it. I want to say like automate, like she almost sounded like AI. I don't know who this narrator is, but her voice and her dialect was so interesting to me and it actually made my listening experience. If any other author had read that book I don't or any other narrator had read that book out loud, I don't know that it would have piqued my interest quite as quite as much as so shout out to the narrator whose name I don't have in front of me.
Mari:
36:55
I'm trying to pull it up now. Please give me a name.
Kelly:
36:59
I definitely want to read the sequel, but it's one of those things where I'm not going to rush out and buy the Kindle version so I can read it now. I'll wait until it either becomes available or I know Mari bought the hardcover, so maybe when I'm home for an extended period of time and I can read the hardcover. But it's not something I'm going to jump on right away.
Mari:
37:21
Yeah, yeah, I pre-ordered the paperback. I was like, as soon as they did that release date, I was like, well, pre-ordering itering it, yeah, and honestly it's such a book trophy oh wait, that's a whole. Yeah, my bad take him step up m eldridge, em m eldridge is the narrator kudos to her m eldridge, you did a fantastic job and I went.
Ashley:
37:42
I went back to make sure that I finished it like I could have just bought the book right. But no, I needed to finish the audio experience and it was just as great the second time around 10 out of 10.
Mari:
37:51
The cover was done by Elizabeth Turner Stokes. What did we think of the cover in terms of either would it have grabbed your attention and or did it do a good job of giving what's going to be inside the book. What do you think, kelly? No, jonathan, I'm sorry. Jonathan's been first.
Jonathan:
38:10
Yeah, oh, I liked it. I liked it a lot. I like the font. The font is what was striking to me. It was straightforward, to the point. I also like the idea that there's that little ribbon on it Instant number one New York Times bestseller. I like when books do that. I think more books should do that. Even if it's just like some BS in that circle or ribbon, you should put something on there that just grabs it. That makes me like make up an award best seller in my mom's kitchen. You know something like that.
38:41
I felt like the, the background color, the foundational color, was great, um, I it, it. It was that reverse print vibe. I like the, the aesthetic, the, the, the jar with the books, the manuals, almost there, the you know places to. You can tell that they're training his. You know their people are. It's a whole whole thing like you're cared for the people who are there helping him. The malevolent guard they're there. He takes care of the people who are there helping him. The malevolent guard, they're there. He takes care of the people who are in his charge. Right, and I get that vibe from this. And then in the upper right hand corner, it's kingly help, help.
39:22
I love this so much I'm gonna give this. The cover of this book is getting is getting five. Wow, I enjoyed it. I'm going to go on a limb here and I'm just going to cast. My guess here is that I know that it's got to have a better than three score from Mari Only because she kept putting it into her TBR because of the cover of the book. So anyway, okay, I digress. Kelly, what did you think of the cover? So, anyway, okay.
Kelly:
39:49
I digress, kelly. What did you think of the cover? So I gave this cover a four because it reminds me a lot Some of the great comedy books I've read great comedy, fantasy and sci-fi books I've read. It has a lot of similarities to those covers. So it reminds me a lot of the covers from some books like the Myth Series by Robert Lynn Asprin. It reminds me a lot of Bring Me the Head of Prince Charming, which was a book done by Roger Zelazny, so it has a lot of those vibes to it. It has a lot of the funny little individual elements that draw your attention. So, yeah, I thought it was a pretty good cover. It definitely would have picked my interest and got me to look inside of it for sure at the bookshop.
Mari:
40:31
Yeah, I agree, for me the cover was a five. It looks like it's a comedic, lighthearted fantasy romp and that's what it is. I mean, the cover looks like that. The cartooniness of it, the font they used, it feels like a little spoofy thing of a D&D campaign or something. It has those vibes. And then even just the actual title Assistant to the Villain instantly makes me think of the Office. It's an instant reference to that in my brain. So either one of those things would have made me pick it up. I don't think I actually noticed Kingsley initially. It wasn't until after I read the book, when I like or was reading the book, the first time and I went on, went back to, was looking at the cover. I'm like, oh yeah, there's Kingsley, but he did not. I did not initially see him. But yeah, it's a five like beautiful, well done.
Ashley:
41:27
I agree wholeheartedly. I again had the trophy part of this book cover is just. It just makes it better for me. And the fact that it's not just the cover like I don't know, Mari or anybody, if anybody's looked at the back of it but like the synopsis on the back is, you know, there's a a, there's a parchment roll at the top, assistant wanted, like it's, it's so well themed kingsley's on the spine with his help sign, help he technically he's on all three sides.
Jonathan:
42:01
Yeah, I'm just I love it he's on, he's on all four sides in the inside oh yeah, he's inside our heart and you know he's got something to say.
Ashley:
42:15
You know he's got tea to spill. I'm waiting for it I'm sure that'll evolve I am bursting. I, I love it so much. It's. It's so cute. What's that? What's the character say in the movie? It's so cute, it's so cute. I just can't. I physically can't. I love it so much.
Kelly:
42:34
I'm fully anticipating that Kingsley is actually the evil king's son.
Mari:
42:39
Me too. Yes, that's what I think too.
Jonathan:
42:43
I don't know that the king is evil.
Ashley:
42:45
I don't think he's evil. Oh, he absolutely is.
Jonathan:
42:47
I don't know, I think he's just goal-oriented, I think he's just goal-oriented. I don't know that he's evil, but I am interested to think of it from. I was thinking about this earlier assistant to the villain. Was the assistant to the villain her father?
Mari:
43:08
Yeah, villain her father. Yeah, yeah, I was gonna say, if I think the king is evil and I think her dad is evil, if nothing else for the same reason that they're willing to give her like a thing to the dude who, like, harassed her.
Ashley:
43:22
I, the blacksmith dude oh, I get very culty vibes I I get very culty vibes from the King and like how he he presents as this you know, benevolence, all I'll look at all I've done for you. Look at, look at how I protect you, look at how you know we're, we're, we're going to defeat this villain. You know this. This bad guy, and even Evie touches. You know this bad guy and even evie touches, you know, touches on this in the middle of the book. Well, but like, what has the villain what? Why is he the villain like? Can you name one thing?
43:58
yeah, he's definitely killed people well, and I think again, evie mentions she, you know when, when shit's going down, you know, and I I think it's with with her father the line she says we're all monsters in the end, right, so it you're the perspective of the journey. Everyone probably feels they're doing what they feel is right or just, or for the betterment of whatever, and it very well. And it could be that King Benedict thinks, or strongly feels, he's doing some good and I and there's definitely more to the story, right, we don't have enough information for what went down with him and the villain initially, other than that dude was ready to, just to you know, to kill him because of his, because of his the power that he had, no ifs ands or. But For that reason I'm thinking he's not quite such a good guy. But I'm not keen either. I have to make good decisions.
Kelly:
44:57
The thing is, everyone always believes they're the good guy in their own story. Everyone is convinced that they're doing the right thing.
Mari:
45:05
The king was willing to give her to the blacksmith guy. The king imprisoned Tristan. He imprisoned Tristan. He imprisoned Tristan for like a month before his powers even really manifested. I mean, that's pretty bad. And I will also say Tristan, those people that he's killing and torturing whatever, are the ones that the king sent to kill him. So I mean, if someone's out to kill you, I think you also we don't know, you can defend yourself. But we do have just one, one point of view, really we don't know what hours are a little bit.
Kelly:
45:40
Yeah, go ahead, kelly I mean, I think the defining moment for sure, if you, you know, thought that maybe the king was actually, you know, sort of a good guy was once, yeah, once y' y'all said like once, y'all said once he was willing to treat Evie as an object. You know, that's the defiant, that's the defiant of evil. Right, in some instances, is treating people as being less than humans.
Jonathan:
46:03
Yes, Well, I think that he needs her. He needs her to complete something in a more ritualistic way. That's why it felt like he was very demanding that he receive her remains Afterwards, kill her however you want. That's your reward. You get to get even, just do whatever, but I need the body. I need the body for something else, something in addition to and again, we, we. I don't think we have anywhere near the full scope of the villain's powers and an understanding of what he's capable of doing. We also don't know the role that Kingsley plays.
Kelly:
46:42
Right, right.
Jonathan:
46:42
Kingsley might be the proper heir to the throne and yeah, so there's a lot. I think there's way more at play than is being let on If it's a three-book series, is it a three-book series or is it going to go beyond?
Mari:
46:57
that, yeah, I don't know. There's at least the third book announced, but there's no cover or anything announced for it. There's at least two books that are written and published and then the third one is in the works. It's been announced I don't remember the exact date, but it is coming. The third book doesn't even have a title yet, but it has a potential release date of September of 2025. Okay, so I put it out on our interwebs for what suggestions and what we should do for our rapid fire. And Cry bell suggested we do game of thrones, so we're gonna do the game of thrones tv show. Is it a kissing book? Oh, no, no, stop, stop the presses. Assistant to the villain. Is it a kissing book?
Ashley:
47:45
everybody hold for editing jonathan, is it a kissing?
Jonathan:
47:52
book. Uh, it is not a kissing book. I dropped it through the romantilator 3000 I think I'm going with 3000 for the number there and I came out with a no and score general score of 33 and I was trying to be generous and bump it up a few points, whatever I could. How about you, kelly? Is it a kissing book?
Kelly:
48:13
It's really kind of tough because I feel like the villain was going to keep on trucking with its plans no matter what, but at the same time because, like, at what point did the, the romance, actually begin to affect the plot? Right, like that's the question. So I think I would have to go with yes, because towards the end the romance became much more central to the characters, actions and motivations.
Mari:
48:39
Okay, I had to say no. I don't think it's a kissing book. I think the romance that's in it is great. I like don it Don't laugh.
Jonathan:
48:47
Don't check yourself before you wreck yourself. Ashley.
Mari:
48:52
Was that a gasp, I'm sorry, finish. I think that the fantasy was great, I think the book was great, but I don't think that their romantic entanglement was necessary to the plot. I think if she had met him and he offered her the job she needed the job, she became his good assistant and that this whole mystery of who's the mole, all this stuff would have happened. And I think I don't know that it would have happened that differently if they weren't actually romantically involved if you, if you, if you remove her from the story?
Jonathan:
49:28
no, not remove her, I mean, she's still there.
Mari:
49:30
She's still there, but they don't have to be romantically entangled like if she just worked for him there was.
Kelly:
49:37
If there was no romance between them, he would have not treated her any differently than he treated rebecca. He wouldn't have gone to her house, he wouldn't have cared about her sister. He certainly wouldn't have come to the party to save her.
Ashley:
49:51
Good point. Is it my turn? Yes, this was not a kissing book, you guys.
Kelly:
49:56
I love everything about this book.
Ashley:
50:00
I love the romance that was in it and I love the fantasy that was in it, and I do feel it has romantic vibes. But this book, book one, is not a kissing book. If their paths had not crossed, their lives would have continued well and just fine. There never would have been a mole, there wouldn't have been a bomb, none of these other things. Now I will say that because of her accepting the job and dad being his own, doing whatever he felt was right, escalated what was happening. But I don't think the the story, the story would have stopped for evie. This, the story would have been monotonous and day-to-day and the struggle would have. The struggle bus would have continued. But Mr Tristan, the villain, would have just gone along on his handy-dandy way and he wouldn't be talking to his siblings and his dad and his dad probably wouldn't have been kidnapped from the party and Evie would still be taking care of the household. You know, with her the shirt on her back, you know kind of thing, the dad still would have been autopilot.
51:13
Yeah, like it would have been autopilot. The book, the story would have continued without their potential romance. I don't think I'm going to have the same answer in book two and for that I'm really excited. But this book I do not feel was a kissing book. I think the villain would have continued on his villainous ways and the king would have gone on his villainous ways and Evie's life would have sucked. Yeah, yeah, hmm. So there's romance and he cared about her from the very beginning. I missed that in the first read. I didn't catch the ink part. But there's romance and there are feelings and he feels very, very deeply for her. But I don't think this is a kissing book.
Kelly:
51:54
So if he didn't feel deeply for her, then the plot would have fallen apart.
Ashley:
52:00
The romance part of it, evie's story would not have happened the way that it did. I think the villain's story would have continued as it was. So it doesn't stop entirely. It doesn't not go anywhere. I think his story just continues. Hers does not, so for that it's.
Kelly:
52:18
I guess I looked at it as the plot of this book would have fallen apart without the romance, because if you're saying he was in love with her from the beginning, then the plot never even would have happened without the romance.
Ashley:
52:31
There were certainly feelings in the beginning. He recognized her innocence and her trustworthiness. I feel like For some reason he felt her worthy of protecting and not just you know what?
Kelly:
52:43
See, I think this is another one like the spell shop, where I think you get caught up on Evie being the main character, so you're looking at it through the lens of her and not through his lenses, just like with the spell shop. You look at it through her without considering how Laren was head over heels in love with her and how central that was to the plot.
Jonathan:
53:06
But it's the story itself. But so I? But there it's the, the story itself. If you remove her, if you remove evie from the from the story it, it, it doesn't impact their the villain's life trajectory, right. So now he's still gonna keep I mean well what?
Kelly:
53:22
he never would have. He wouldn't have gone and met his with his dad at that party.
Ashley:
53:26
He didn't need to though, like it's not part of what his end goals are. It's going to make him a better person in the long run. It's probably going to tie up some loose ends and we might get a happily ever after when this is all said and done, but I don't think it's integral to his path and the path that he still feels very much that he's on. He recognizes that he's in love with her and for that reason he's smart enough to know that he's not good enough for her and try to let her go. It's just not how this book ends.
Jonathan:
53:52
I think it's a good hand-holding book.
Ashley:
53:54
It's a good hand-holding book.
Mari:
53:55
It's cozy.
53:57
I'm going to change. I think it's a kissing book. I'm going to change. I think it's a kissing book, and the reason I say that is when you guys were bringing it up and talking about the ink thing, like the fact that he gave her the special protective ink that he hadn't given anybody else from the beginning means that he felt when she was in trouble, and there's things that he did because of that with her that he didn't do with any of his other employees. There's a there's a tie that he had with her that he didn't have with anybody else, and so I don't know that the story would have happened without that tie. Okay, so I think it is a kissing book. All right, so all right. So, moving on to rapid fire, we put it out to the social web, social media, and we had asked people what we should do for a rapid fire segment for this show, and cry bell, on our facebook page, said we should do game of thrones tv show. So game of thrones guys, is it a kissing?
Jonathan:
54:56
book. I have no idea. I've never watched a minute of game of thrones intentionally. It is my life's objective to not watch the only thing I, the only takeaway I have from Game of Thrones is Pineapple Dog.
Mari:
55:11
The dire wolf. You call that the Pineapple Dog.
Ashley:
55:14
Yes, yeah, the stark emblem of the dire wolf. Yeah, we had a whole fight about a t-shirt that I have. He's like, you have a Pineapple Dog and I was like what the fuck are you talking about? It was like an almost blowout fight. He ended up running into the room and like trashing my drawers, pulling everything out.
Jonathan:
55:32
Not like it wasn't like a violent trashing of the drawers, it was like I just scrambled to find a t-shirt.
Ashley:
55:39
I'm pretty sure you yanked all the t-shirts out of the drawers.
Jonathan:
55:41
To show you Pineapple Dog. But like it wasn't, like I didn't like upturn a dress dresser and rage and Hulk out of my shirt. Come on, that would have been sexy though.
Kelly:
55:55
Kelly. Game of Thrones. The TV show is such a mixed bag now. It's like a cultural phenomenon. Everyone was talking about Game of Thrones, game of Thrones was such a big thing, and then that last season and now nobody talks about it. It's like it never happened. That's how bad it was.
Mari:
56:13
We're all traumatized. Yeah, ptsd.
Kelly:
56:16
No, I just. I'm so bitter about how that series went in the last season that I don't want to give it anything that can be considered praise.
Mari:
56:26
So no.
Ashley:
56:27
That is, that's respectable, okay so no, that's respectable.
Mari:
56:32
My decision is sounding better and better For me. I would have to agree with Kelly. I don't think it's a kissing book. I think there's a ton of stuff that happens in it. There's a lot of intrigue and battles and armies and subterfuge and behind the scenes things or whatever, but I don't feel like there was any overarching romance that had a huge effect. So I would say no, it's not a kissing book.
Ashley:
56:59
Yeah, I have to agree, I've not read any of the books. I couldn't get past chapter one in the first book for this part of the series. I did not get any. You know, mate bond, I'll burn the world for her or him. You know there were definitely couples that were very steamy and you know there was a lot that we saw, that we wanted to see, and I know the ending left us all upset, unequivocally upset. Now I think House of the Dragon could have a vein of a kissing book, like the whole Rhaenyra and Daemon storyline, and I haven't read those books either, I'm probably not going to. I see that far more as being a kissing book, but I do not see Game of Thrones, the TV series, as a kissing book at all, in no way, shape or form, I guess you could say.
Kelly:
57:53
The only defense you could say that it is a kissing book would be that if Jaime and Cersei despite the ickiness of it if they weren't in love, then none of the things would have happened. The entire show would have taken place, because Bran never would have got pushed off. You know everything? Yeah, none of it would have happened.
Mari:
58:12
Yeah.
Kelly:
58:14
For better or worse.
Ashley:
58:15
Yeah, that's the best. That's the best I have for it, but even that, like you know, fizzles out.
Kelly:
58:22
Yeah.
Ashley:
58:23
So no, and it should have ended.
Kelly:
58:25
It should have ended with Jaime killing her. That's how it should have ended, with Jaime killing her. That's how it should have ended.
Mari:
58:30
George, take notes, george, jaime needed some kind of a redemption arc, and he was heading in that direction and then it just didn't. It just went out in left field. Daenerys' story went out in left field. The whole story just imploded. Ugh, yeah. So there's that, all right. Anything else we want to talk about before we wrap it up? All right, thanks for listening to of swords and soulmates.
58:57
Before we go, make sure to check out the show notes, rate, review and subscribe to us on your podcast app of choice. It helps others to find us. Follow us on Instagram at of swords and soulmates, or join our Facebook page of swords and soulmates, or check out our website of swords and soulmates dot com, and we're also available on YouTube and TikTok with the same username. If you'd like to offer a suggestion for a future rapid fire question, give us your opinion, tell us how you think we're absolutely wrong or that you agree with us. Please reach out to us on any of those methods. If you'd like to read along with us as we prep for a new episode, follow us on Goodreads at of Swords and Soulmates. We hope you'll join us in two weeks for our next episode when we review Radiance by Grace Draven. Thanks for watching.
44:55 / 59:59
