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
"That Time I Got Drunk and..." - Demons, Drunkenness, and Delight
Step into the whimsical world of “That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon” by Kimberly Lemming, where humor and heart collide in a captivating romantic adventure. Join us for a delightful deep dive into this enchanting tale, as we unravel the journey of Cinnamon, a spirited Spice Trader, who finds herself swept off her feet by a charming demon named Fallon. This episode promises to tickle your funny bone and spark thought-provoking conversations about the societal norms presented in fantasy literature.
Through lively discussions, we navigate the themes of love, friendship, and self-discovery, all while acknowledging the serious backdrop of discrimination and moral complexities woven throughout the narrative. Our hosts reflect on how this book masterfully blends lighthearted moments with critical societal commentary, offering sharp insight without being overly heavy-handed.
With witty character interactions, well-crafted world-building, and a playful romance that breaks typical Genre conventions, it’s a journey you won’t want to miss. We encourage you to tune in and explore the layers of this story—whether you're a fantasy devotee or just curious about the genre, there’s something here for everyone.
As we wrap up our insights, we invite you to connect with us. Share your thoughts, subscribe, and join in the discussion surrounding the groundbreaking narratives we cherish. Don't miss our next episode where we'll continue this whimsical exploration of literature!
- Links from the News Segment and Show:
- Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein movie finally coming to Netflix this November
- Minalima design team is doing Frankenstein as their next classics book
- Website and Store
- Releases Oct 2025
- The House of Night YA vampire series will be adapted for film
- HULU will not be proceeding with ACOTaR tv show
- The Pettiness of Warren Beatty over Dick Tracy
- Ali Hazelwood announced sequel to Bride coming Oct 7th
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Views expressed in this podcast are solely those of the participants. The hosts make no claim to be literary experts and their opinions are exactly that opinions. All creative works discussed or reviewed are the intellectual property of the creators of said stories and is being used under the Fair Use Doctrine.
Mari:Hello and welcome to 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:Hey, it's Kelly. We also have Ashley.
Ashley:Hey guys, it's Ashley. We also have Jonathan.
Jonathan:Hey y'all, it's JP, what's good.
Mari:All the books. All the books are good. That is the answer. All the good book reading choices. Today we're going to be discussing that Time. I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming. But first, as always, some news, and we actually have a good chunk of news this time, so we will get to it. Have a good, good chunk of uh news this time, so we will get to it. The first thing is that guillermo del toro is doing a frankenstein movie. It's been like 20 years in the making because he's been saying forever that he wants to do that. It's going to be, as far as I understand, pretty closely based off of the mary shelley original. Oscar isaac is going to be Dr Frankenstein, jacob Elordi is going to be the creature. It's going to be on Netflix in November and I'm really excited to see what he's going to do with this story, because I have watched almost everything that he's directed and I really like his style. So I'm very excited about this. Does anybody else look at Guillermo, the total fan here?
Ashley:I appreciate the artwork. I think he is definitely a master of his craft. Not all of the monster stories are for me. I think the last one I watched was the and I'm forgetting the title, the, the, not swamp.
Mari:It wasn't like swamp thing like the one, the one the shape of water.
Ashley:That, yeah, yeah, shape of water, shape of water, which was amazing, yeah, um, actually, I was really moved. It won like that.
Mari:That year it won like best picture, best director and best like soundtrack. Like it really swept everything. It was like 2018 yeah, I love. I like that movie. I like um his hellboy. One and two, I thought were really well done. He did pacific rim. He did pacific rim. Yeah, that's interesting he. He did the second Blade movie. He did Crimson Peak, which, to me, crimson Peak and the 1999 Dracula movie are like the two pinnacle examples of like what I think a good gothic horror story is visually told.
Ashley:Yeah, I mean I'm excited for Oscar Isaac. Yes, sign me up Also. Yes, mean I'm excited for Oscar Isaac.
Mari:Yes, Sign me up Also. Yes, Absolutely Also.
Ashley:Yes, yeah he was Well done sir.
Mari:Did you see Moon Knight? Did you guys watch Moon Knight?
Ashley:Yeah, yeah, we liked it actually. He was very good in that. Yeah, I agree. Was that canceled? Who's Oscar canceled?
Kelly:I believe so Moon Knight it wasn't canceled, they just did one season.
Ashley:Oh, just one season.
Kelly:Yeah, it was the whole thing where Marvel was doing one season of a show and that was it. They did one season of WandaVision, one season of Moon Knight.
Ashley:Also Daddy Duke in the first Dune yes, oh, I forget his name now.
Mari:Duke Leto.
Jonathan:Leto.
Mari:Thank you.
Jonathan:So is this going to be a series or a?
Mari:movie? No, it's a movie.
Jonathan:And where did it air in?
Mari:Netflix in November.
Jonathan:Oh, I can't wait so long.
Ashley:Well, I mean fall Frankenstein.
Mari:It'd be something good to look forward to after Halloween and HHN. And you have Frankenstein. Yeah, we something good to look forward to, you know, after Halloween and HHN you have Frankenstein.
Jonathan:Yeah, we still have our Christmas tree up.
Mari:You can put some little electric bolts on it for Frankenstein, it's all good.
Jonathan:Our desanification process needs to begin this weekend.
Mari:I'm just saying you could slap some shamrocks on it and then keep it through next month.
Jonathan:Keep all year. Yeah, that's an idea, ash.
Mari:You could do some eggs and bunny rabbits on it for Easter, little mini beach balls for summer, I'm just saying, and then at that point you're into HHN season.
Jonathan:Think about it, ash, you could do that Switch the beach balls, which would just be like.
Mari:Some beads on it for Mardi Gras.
Jonathan:Ornaments.
Ashley:It sounds like you're volunteering.
Jonathan:Yeah, I'll volunteer to take it down.
Ashley:That's a lot of effort. That is To decorate it every season. This thing's not small.
Jonathan:This looks cool though.
Mari:Are these?
Jonathan:shots. Are these like stills from the movie? Yeah, I like the use of light, I like that. There's like that one. It's not as dark or dank as you might think, um, the the images are, but it reminds me of what's that. What was that movie? Uh, sherlock holmes, except he looks like he's up in a tower overlooking things. This like, um, yeah it, it looks wild, like he's just almost able to survey, um and just oversee what's going on around him in this tower. And I mean, well, I guess the tower makes sense, right, because he is powered by lightning.
Mari:Yeah, yeah it's wild.
Jonathan:I would like to be on this set just to see it, just to explore this set.
Mari:This looks cool so here's my thinking um in the past. Well, let me let me put it two things, and this is my crazy predictions. Um, frankenstein is a universal monster and in the past, universal has teamed up up with Netflix stuff for HHN. I'm just saying what better way to promote this thing that's happening in November than doing a Frankenstein house at HHN leading up to it?
Ashley:I feel like this tees us up for the next item of news. Yes, it does Very big Frankenstein-y, and in more Frankenstein news.
Mari:The MinaLima design team is doing the Frankenstein, the classic that was serendipitous, and gold foiling on like a cloth cover and then on the inside you have these like pop-up things and pull out things and just beautiful detailed imagery. Um, I think I've got almost all of them. I may be missing, like alice in wonderland and wizard of oz, because I already had another version so I wasn't gonna get it, but I think I'm gonna'm going to get it. If I'm going to order this one, then I'm going to probably order those two as well.
Kelly:If you order it from their website.
Mari:You can get them signed, but they're in the UK so of course shipping is expensive. But it releases in October, so we could read it in October and then watch it in November. That's all I'm saying.
Jonathan:Oh, interesting.
Ashley:Very well-timed Mimi Yuma. Yeah, I'm saying, oh interesting, very well timed.
Mari:Yeah, yeah, it works out. And if you happen to be in the uk, in london or in edinburgh, they have mina lima, like mini museums I don't know what to call them. I guess they're stores but they're mini museums but you can go and like, look at all these things they've done and they have these really cool displays. That, yeah, the london one is the one, the original one, and then they just last year opened one up in scotland, in edinburgh. So I would absolutely recommend, if you're going to the area or you live in the area or you're in the easy travel of the area, it's a it's a fun, fun thing to do. All right, the next thing we have, continuing on the horror monster theme, is House of Night, the YA vampire series. It's going to be adapted to film. The books were written by PC and Kristen Kast. I have not read them, but they've just gotten picked up for film. So yay for more, hopefully, good vampire stories. Have either of you either of you guys read it or, kelly, I have?
Ashley:not so I have. I don't think any only you and I are going to like this, mari. If they do it halfway good, I think it's probably a little bit more. It's definitely YA, if my memory serves, and I I remember reading this in my very, very young adulthood and being a big fan, and I think vampirism. Vampirism was something that you inherited, um, almost like puberty. So it wasn't something, although I think there were instances where it was, you know know, like a like, you know traditional, like you were turned into it, but this very much was, you know, like an academy. So when you turned, when you turned of age and you turned, you had to go to school and a lot of people had, you know, their own individual gifts and things and there was a hierarchy and or a monarchy. So I do remember it being a whole big thing and there's a lot of books, like a lot of books. I think I have eight of them.
Ashley:I think there's like 12 or 13 of them yeah there's at least 12, I think, from the main character's point of view, and then there were several novellas like four or five of them. So this is a pretty big world and the fandom has been wanting this for a very, very long time, so this is big news for them.
Mari:I added it to my Libby, so I'm now waiting on it to become available, because it's not on Kindle limited. But I'll probably read at least the first one and get a vibe for it for sure, cause it's vampires, so I'm going to at least give it a try.
Ashley:Yeah, PC and Kristen our mother and it's vampires so I'm gonna at least give it a try. Yeah, pc, let's be honest, pc and kristin are mother and daughter. Um, and I've read pc cast recently and I remember thinking this felt very, still very young like, but also like very quick and fast paced, almost quippy. So I'm excited for this. I think this is gonna be a great time for me. I can't vouch for anybody else though, sorry in advance I mean I'll give it a shot.
Mari:yeah, so I'm down to give it a try. Um, speaking of giving it a try, we talked, I think last week or the week before, about the black dagger brotherhood. That was, uh, an older vampire book series that was getting a TV show. It's a series is by JR Ward, so I recently read the first one of those and as I was reading it I was like this feels very dated. And then I look at the publishing date and it's like, oh, this is literally a 20 year old book. Okay, let me give it the benefit of the doubt.
Ashley:Yeah, you got to give it a few.
Mari:that's funny yeah, yeah, so it was. It was actually pretty interesting though. Um, if anyone is interested in that, I would say give it a shot. Just realize it's literally 20 years old.
Mari:Remember the world 20 years ago right it was not the world we live in now, um, but it had some really interesting concepts in the story and that one vampirism is also inherited, and also something that you either came into or not when you came of age. In that case of age is like 25 years old. But yeah, it was fun. I mean I'm going to read the next one of those. So it's always fun thinking you have read a lot of the vampire stuff out there and then all of a sudden it's like all this stuff is coming out that I had never heard of, never followed, and now I'm getting excited about more vampire stuff. Good times. Let me jump to the last news we had, because it's also semi-vampire related. Allie Hazelwood announced the sequel to Bride is coming out on October 7th of this year, which seems very fast to me. The thing is, I've already pre-ordered books that are coming out in like October and November.
Mari:But yeah, so Bride is her publishing debut. That was not just a contemporary romance, it was, you know, was vampire and werewolf, and it was well-received, it was popular. She's going to be at the RomanticyCon in Orlando that we're going to be going to this year In October actually, and this book, the sequel to Bride, comes out at the beginning of that month, so interesting.
Jonathan:Yeah.
Mari:That should be fun.
Jonathan:If the story continues, for the parts that I've gotten through um, I look forward to it, so I'm I'll hold back until I finish. Uh, bride, but once um so far. I'd be interested in more yeah high praise coming.
Mari:I like her um. I like her writing style. She originally started writing fan fiction and got very popular and then published her first book, which I believe was love hypothesis, like a um kylo ren, um ray type um fan.
Ashley:That's what I heard.
Mari:In modern STEM, and so that's what several I think that's I believe I'm going off memory here that's what all her other published books are is is, you know, contemporary romance in the STEM world, which some of them are really good. I've enjoyed some of them. I think I've read all but two, but yeah, I thought the bride was them. I think I've read all but two, but yeah, I thought the Bride was fun. I think anyone who likes the writing style of her other books would enjoy it and anyone who likes vampire and or werewolf you know monster romance type stuff, would enjoy the Bride, or Bride I keep saying the Bride, it's just Bride.
Jonathan:Yeah, even Bride feels STEM-ish or STEM adjacent bride or bride. I keep saying that bride, it's just bride. Yeah, even bride feels um stem ish like it's or stem.
Mari:I agree. I agree, yeah, because I believe and this is going off memory her background. Like her, her day job is in stem. She's a scientist of some kind, I want to say chemist.
Mari:But I love that, that's going off off memory, but she's, that's her main gig and so she is pretty well versed in that world. I was gonna say write what you know, right? Yeah, yeah, exactly. Um, and then the last bit of news I have is that hulu will not be proceeding with the akatar tv show. Surprise, surprise, they yeah, they've had it since 2021. It was going to be their first fantasy series and they are now letting it go, which it's kind of sad, but also, I think, maybe kind of good, because maybe somebody else will pick it up and actually run with it yeah, I mean I was surprised at the hulu pic from the gecko, especially with when the whole you know disney thing went down.
Ashley:That did not seem to be well. I mean, they do the handmaid's tale very well. I will say that, yeah, um, so I think that was really my only big hope for akatar. I don't think this is the end of akatar, though I think this will get produced where would you put it?
Ashley:I think you have to do it with like max or amazon. Amazon might be a problem because of fourth wing, the fourth wing adaptation. So they there are probably other studios that will bid higher amazon and the michael b jordan productions will want to invest into fourth wing and not compete with that is my guess. So maybe max, just because they're both big budget productions and big fantasy romanticy right yeah, it's very, it's in the very similar vein and everything right.
Jonathan:It'd be hard for one to do both could you buy rights without having to produce it? Could you just buy the rights to eliminate your competition? So if you're amazon, amazon's god, I mean, I guess you could, but I think there's money to be made in it, like there's a cult following.
Ashley:Yeah, but you can throttle the release.
Jonathan:It's already been done.
Ashley:I think if she inks another deal, because Hulu and Disney sat on it for four years. So I think if she's going to ink another deal, she's going to want it made is my guess.
Kelly:Yeah, a lot of times. These deals usually have a timer on it. You have to release a movie within so long or you lose the rights, and that's why you get these shadow film effects. So, like Sony wanted to hold on to the rights to the Fantastic Four, so they made a Fantastic Four movie and never released it. And that other studio did that with that Batgirl movie.
Mari:That's what I was going to ask Brendan Fraser and Batgirl right they?
Kelly:made a Batgirl movie but never released it. They basically moved it and made it so they could say they made it so that they would then keep the rights to make any future sequels and stuff. So that kind of thing happens in Hollywood a lot, where they make the movie or do it. Well, it depends, I guess.
Ashley:Sarah, don't do it.
Kelly:Sarah, right, I guess it depends on what you think about it from, you know, from the shitty standpoint of the bean counter executive. You know, if we make a really crappy movie and never actually send it to special effects, you know, don't spend all of the money on special effects like it should just spend. You know enough to make it look like a crappy 1970s effect level movie. And then you know we don't have to market it, we don't have to deal with distribution cost etc. Etc. You know, is it worth the trade-off of being able to keep the rights to it?
Ashley:that's dumb as shit.
Mari:Don't do it, sarah yeah, man, if they, if they've made a agatar and made Throne of Glass, like whoever does those, if they do it, and they do it well, they just have to do it halfway.
Ashley:It doesn't even have to be that good, I think at this point, we're all so damn thirsty for something else from her.
Kelly:Yeah, the perfect example of this and rights distribution and all this stuff is you remember the Dick Tracy movie with Warren Beatty, right? So Warren Beatty was always like a huge Dick Tracy fan. That was like his thing. He wanted to make a Dick Tracy movie his entire life, et cetera, all of that stuff. So one of the funny things that happened with that is that Dick Tracy actually got the rights to make the movies, or Warren Beatty got the right to make the Dick Tracy movies and any Dick Tracy films in the future.
Kelly:As long as a Dick Tracy movie is made every so often, a sequel is made every so often. So back in 2002, the original Dick Tracy right holders tribune media tried to sue Beatty for the rights back and Disney said they were never going to make a sequel. So Dick Tracy said, well, since I have the rights, I'm going to make a sequel. So he was making shitty little home movie sequels Literally.
Kelly:You can look this up. The story is crazy. He was making basically little you know shitty home movies dressed as Dick Tracy, and he would, you know shitty home movies dressed as dick tracy, and he would, you know, release them and that would fulfill the contracts that he would retain the rights. I love a petty queen, yeah, so I mean even. Yeah, I think it was in 2022 or 2023. He released another one where all it was was him and dick tracy costume on a Zoom call with four other people talking like he was in Dick Tracy, like he was in a Dick Tracy character, and that gave him renewed the rights for him for another seven years Magical. So he was so bitter about Disney not making a sequel that that's what he has been doing to retain the rights so that nobody else can make a Dick Tracy movie.
Ashley:Fuck yeah.
Jonathan:I can make a Dick Tracy movie, fuck yeah.
Kelly:I thought, well, that first Dick Tracy movie was kind of shitty.
Jonathan:Well, yeah, I mean, it wasn't a great movie, but I mean, yeah, if you look at it through the lens of like a fluffy film, then it makes sense, campy yeah. It's like Get Smart meets. Who Framed Roger Rabbit to me?
Kelly:Yeah, so now Warren Beatty. Because of Tribune Media going bankrupt. Warren Beatty essentially holds the rights for everything related to Dick Tracy, as long as he continues to make those movies every so often.
Ashley:Amazing, interesting. You know who messed up you know who messed up.
Kelly:Anybody who wants to read about this, just Google Warren Beatty, dick Tracy, copyright battle and read this story. That in itself could be a Hollywood drama movie about this and the petty feud between Dick Tracy and Disney and everything it's hilarious.
Jonathan:The people who messed up like a sweetheart deal like that were um, was it? Uh, the, the toy company that had the star Wars rights in the from the beginning, all they had to do was produce, give them $10,000 a year in royalties and they would retain the, the rights, in perpetuity. And somebody forgot to cut a check one year and then they went back to renegotiating. It was like and he's like, that was a mistake and then we paid for it. But, like those deals, like every once in a while I mean, these are humans striking these deals. But I'd be pretty I don't know that you'd get me to sign a deal, uh, of that nature.
Jonathan:Um, if I was, if I was sarah and I was writing a deal, it'd be like hey, this is going to be pay or play. If you're going to time me up for four years, five years, six years, I want money in order to keep me on the, on the, in the benches, on the bench then that's cool. You can produce it at your own thing, but you're going to get this storyline and you're not going to get any of my other work you might have. Uh, I'm not even going to give you right A first refusal and if you go two years and you haven't produced it, the money's going to go up.
Jonathan:I want another payment. They're like I want you to. Are you going to pay me up front for the rights and then they're going to pay me every two years until you produce the film, and every two years the film and every two years the money's going to go up. And if they don't want to sign it at the school, I'll just go somewhere to have it made. If you believe in your work at that level. After reading ACOTAR and then reading TOG, can I call it TOG? Why can't I call it TOG?
Jonathan:You sure cannot I want to call it TOG. After reading TOG, why does the other one get to be a word, but this one can't be?
Ashley:T-O-G.
Jonathan:I like Tog better.
Ashley:The G is capitalized, it's T-O-G.
Jonathan:Yeah, I don't capitalize the O.
Mari:Nobody asked you. You can make a T of G.
Jonathan:Yeah, I like the throwing a glass um.
Ashley:The first one I like more, so is my tv on. Sorry, sometimes our tv randomly starts making music.
Jonathan:Sorry the night after the night after the super bowl, the morning after, my phone like erupted into an automatic like youtube play, uh of, like a touchdown, and at like 4 30 am it was like what is that? I don't know how to shut it off. Um, anyway, uh, yeah. So the the throne of glass book seems more entertaining to me. It's not, as I guess. I don't know, if I was her, that's the series I would want to have made.
Ashley:I have a limited, that's because you haven't read any of the other books.
Jonathan:Yeah, I've been trying to tell you.
Mari:But I think somebody needs to make them. You're going to make so much money by making them. Come on, people.
Jonathan:Who are the two giants right now? Sarah and uh, and mother, what's her name? Rebecca? Giants in the in this space are those the two those the two big dogs? Yeah, they're definitely yeah, those are the two like most, most like best selling.
Mari:I would say jla is up there, we're going by sales so are we.
Jonathan:Are we like just looking for if one gets a series, the other one gets a series, or are these companies trying to lock down one of these two authors into into a commitment?
Ashley:well, I mean rebecca's already committed and so was sarah up until recently. So I mean, I don't know that.
Jonathan:I don't think I understand your question well, the the question is if so, sarah and rebecca, they got to get locked down into a contract to have these, these, uh, their work produced on screen, some one one type of screen. If you're a competitor, if you're a market rival, and Rebecca's got a deal with your market rival, are you then trying to go out and find something in the same vein? And if that's the case and Sarah is open now to receiving offers, do you just jump on it? Is that the thing like WWF and WCW? You gotta get these two rivals and see what happens.
Ashley:I don't know, you're getting too businessy now, sir Ford versus Chevy.
Jonathan:You get these two top dogs, and one is if you're Hulu and fighting for market share, I guess why would Hulu back out? There has to be something. Maybe she's like me and she put too many demands on it.
Mari:Yeah, I don't know if Hulu could Maybe Hulu. I don't know, I don't knowulu. I don't know. I don't know. Maybe they didn't think it was going to be worth their while. Maybe they thought it was going to be too much of a budget investment.
Mari:I don't know I would love to see it as disney plus last bit of news is aka kajiano, who we read recently Thrown in the Dark. Her stuff was independently published and it's now being picked up by Sourcebooks Casablanca to be traditionally published. So Thrown in the Dark is going to be republished, re-released or whatever, traditionally November 4th of this year, and then the rest of the trilogy and the standalone novels and all this stuff will be coming after that and they're going to have all new covers and all that fun stuff. Good job, good for her. I still haven't started in on reading any of the others, but I do plan to read the sequels and go from there. It was, I enjoyed it. It was a fun world. Anybody else have any news?
Ashley:Ma'am, I sent you all my news. I kept you busy this week. Yes, you did.
Mari:You guys all sent me news. It was very good, I think. Everybody sent me news. So, yeah, absolutely appreciate it. Okay, so on to why we're here is to talk about that time. I got drunk, saved a Demon, which is a heck of a title.
Mari:We chose this book because it's Black History Month and we actually have been. I know at least Ash and I have been kind of talking about this book for a little bit, like you'll send me things about it, I'll send you things about it. And I had read the first one, I had read this one a while back and I had been wanting to get back into it because there are three of them, so we went with it for this month. This book was originally published January 2nd of 2024. And let me read the synopsis, then we'll get into it.
Mari:Spice Trader Cinnamon's quiet life is turned upside down when she ends up on a quest with a fiery demon. In this irreverently quirky rom-com fantasy that is sweet, steamy and funny as hell, all she wanted to do was live her life in peace, maybe get a cat, expand the family spice farm, really anything that didn't involve going on an adventure where an orc might rip her face off. But they say the goddess has favorites, and if so, sin is clearly not one of them. After sin saves the demon, fallon in a wine drunk stupor fallon reveals that all he really wants to do is kill an evil witch, enslaving his people. And who can blame him? But now he's dragging cinnamon along for the ride, whether she likes it or not. On the bright side at least he keeps burning off his shirt. Heck, yeah, that right there. That synopsis is like the tone of the book I would say. So what did we think?
Ashley:I loved this book. Yeah, it was a lot of fun. Very unserious, very campy, it was fast-paced. I was here for it. Very unserious, very campy, it was fast-paced, I was here for it. It was a good read. It was a good palate cleanser.
Mari:Mm-hmm.
Ashley:Because we've read some thick books lately.
Mari:Yeah, I agree. What would you give it as far as your overall?
Ashley:rating, it was a three for me, like a three and a half actually. Yeah, let me refrain Three and a half. I enjoyed it. I got through it fast enough. It didn't feel like a chore. I was entertained. I laughed. It could have maybe had a little bit more depth. Maybe that was what I felt was missing, but for 250 pages I felt like we we got through a lot. I was entertained. It was a good time. Why are you glaring at me?
Jonathan:oh, campy, I had to like figure out what campy meant okay what we do in the shadows is campy yeah, I had to sit down and think like what made her use the word campy? So I'm just trying to word like we've been together for how long. Never has that word came come out of your mouth. I'm like well, did she use it correctly? Yeah, you always question me well, come on, so I think, to bring out campy you're just mad.
Mari:You didn't know that. So what did you think, Jonathan? Yeah, what did you?
Jonathan:think, oh, interesting, so it was. So did anyone else listen to it as well as read it? No, okay. So the voices were, it was like Southern charm voices and it was like, except for like the dragon dude. He was pretty like he, except for like um, the uh, uh dragon dude he was. He was pretty like. He had a normal-ish kind of like. It was interesting Cause it was like he was almost like uh, she was spirited and lighthearted and he was more like very matter of fact, very, um driven, like this happens now, kind of like tone in his voice.
Jonathan:So for me, I felt it was. I agree it was like it was a nice palate cleanser, it was light-hearted, it was fun um to read, it was it. It was interesting to see kind of how the story developed and the and how the you know like the story developed and the and how the you know like things. Just high, high, we're hiding in like plain sight for them. I don't know I I don't know if I laughed as much um at all, but I thought it was, uh, I thought it was a good read, uh, I hmm, stars, I felt it was more spice than I had read in a little bit um, which? So what was it? It was interesting, I don't know. Uh, let's see. I would say I think I'm good reason. I gave it a five star. It was a very polite fun read um, it was dirty and clean at the same time. Does that make sense?
Ashley:Dirty and clean at the same time it does make sense actually.
Jonathan:But yeah, if I had laughed I would have given it a monster spice, rom-com kind of designation, but I didn't laugh. Maybe I just need to work on my sense of humor.
Ashley:Lower your expectations, I mean humor is difficult.
Mari:Humor doesn't always hit the same for every person.
Ashley:This is true.
Jonathan:I probably need to work on my sense of humor. I'm the one who's over here laughing at chaos when that baby bit the dust, but the books I'm supposed to laugh at I'm not laughing at. I don't understand. I should probably check my medication. Yeah, so I would say I enjoyed it. I would, I would read it again and I would probably continue on in the series, although probably not going to continue on in the series this year for myself but I had a lot to do.
Jonathan:Yeah, I would, I would, um, I would put the. I will put the other books in the series on my um tbr. Yeah, oh, you know what it is no I think it's a bangening, that's, I have not had a bangening in a while a whole year I this, I think, uh, although it's very slow, bangening, it's like.
Jonathan:Remember when I gave you the killing curse, ashley, and you looked at me and I, uh, although it's very slow, banging, it's like. Remember when I gave you the killing curse, actually, and you looked at me and I was like it's gonna, it's slow, it's gonna take a long time, but it'll happen eventually. That's a slow setup for me. So, like on her deathbed when she passes away, I'm gonna be like I got it mom, hogwarts letters coming any day. Now. The, the like when he like what is he? What is he? They have to like he bitter and the and then they like the mating bond yes, and then he she gets some of her his magic.
Jonathan:Uh, slowly, okay, so it's a slow acting banging, but I think I think this is a banging. So yeah, five stars, kelly. What did you think? I enjoyed the book.
Mari:I thought it was funny banging. So yeah, five stars, kelly. What did you think?
Kelly:I enjoyed the book. I thought it was funny. It reminded me a lot of that same style of humor as assistant to the villain kind of Just kind of funny, the female character being very headstrong and saying whatever crossed her mind. So I thought that was fun. I thought the book was funny. It was definitely a light read. It was enjoyable, so I gave it a three and a half. I think it was definitely a fun read and something you should read if you're looking for something amusing to read in between. More serious, books.
Mari:I liked that it felt like a cozy fantasy book smashed up with a monster romance book, which monster romance tends to have some spice in it. So it ended up being this cozy, spicy, monster romance situation, and I liked that a lot of the background of the town was like, felt very like Louisiana Bayou culture. So you had like. Sometimes I like to think about things in terms of food this should be a shocker to no one who knows me. It felt like a bowl of like Cajun spicy pasta, like cheesy, comfortable, you know, cozy but spicy. Yeah, I liked it.
Mari:I read it last year and then just hadn't read the others, and so this year I reread it for this and went ahead and read the other two books, which I would also recommend. If you like this one. I'm not going to spoil anything on any of the other books, but I would absolutely recommend the other ones as well. And the same author is coming out with another book, I think next month, that's. It's a different series, but it seems like a similar tone. It's like that time I got abducted by aliens and I'm in a rom com I think it's the actual name of the book um which seems like I love that a fun.
Mari:A fun read, if you like this. So yeah, it was four stars for me. I enjoyed it.
Mari:Would absolutely recommend it moved fast, way, way faster right yeah, yeah, and it had more in it than I was originally expecting. I remember the first time I read it I was like, oh, this is going to be like your typical fantasy, tolkien-esque fantasy, but with, like, maybe some spice and maybe some you know humor. But it ended up being different, had different vibe to it, because I thought the humor hit more like Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy or Assistant to the Villain Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy or Assistant to the Villain and I thought that the magical be such a deep backstory in terms of, like, saving these enslaved peoples. And it ended up being a um, both a lighter book than I expected but also touching on some really good plot points that I didn't serious topics, yeah, so I I definitely enjoyed it. It's definitely a four.
Mari:I think that my favorite book in the series might be the third one, but either way, it was a fun series and I would absolutely recommend it to anyone. So what do we think about? Like the world building. What do you guys feel about that?
Ashley:I thought so. I think maybe that's what exceeded my expectations. Um, and you, you kind of already touched on it like we went to different areas, right, we went from very, very um, desolate, you know, farming, louisiana, bayou, we, we, we crossed over some hills, we saw some vagabonds, like we went to swamps, we went to cities, we went to desert, deserted islands. Yeah, we, we did a lot of traveling in less than 300 pages. So I again, it was very fast paced, we covered a lot, we went to a lot of places, but I thought it was very well done, you know, while also addressing some pretty heavy topics in a lighthearted way Discrimination, slavery, you know, these were big, big topics and I think the world building was probably my favorite part, for as fast-paced as it was and as light-hearted as they made it to be, that was a five for me, which got husband I was like I thought it moved.
Jonathan:I thought I thought it moved because it moved so fast and maybe, oh maybe that would have been a good point of humor where he was like it was like, all right, job done. She was like yeah, yeah, good luck on the other three places. You know kind of thing, peace out, I'm done here, good, wash my hands. And then she's like kind of like I can see you're like thing. And then all of a sudden pow, he's uh, you know, it's like wait, what do you mean? Uh, and then they were off on this adventure. I didn't think the it felt felt very much like normal earth, but like like it. I think there I would like to know more about the demons and the witches and the different magics, and I don't think we went deep enough there. Like the actual physical world just felt like normal to me, normal, un, undeveloped, kind of like yeah, there's an island, similar, nowhere cool, or there's a city, but it didn't feel like it was like a modern city. It wasn't uh, you know, it just felt.
Ashley:What you're saying is you want more.
Jonathan:Yeah, yeah, yeah, but I think for what it had in the short amount of time, I think she did a very good job keeping in the story what was necessary to keep the story moving forward. Does that make sense? Yeah, yeah, well, good job.
Ashley:What's your rating?
Jonathan:Four.
Ashley:Oh sorry.
Jonathan:How about you, Kelly I?
Kelly:mean, I agree, I think the world building was very well done for such a short duration of a book. I mean, right off the bat you got established into this world where there was this definitively established religion that was well thought out. The economy was pretty well established, with the different, you know, traders specializing in different things. The establishment that the family is this spice trading family, all this stuff was, you know, pretty well thought out and quickly established, without a whole lot of need for a big exposition dumping. So it was pretty well done and I think overall, the the pace of the world building really helped the story move along quickly and not bog it down.
Mari:So I think it was very well done and I would say it's definitely a four yeah, for me I would say the the fantasy world building was like a four and a half. I just I really enjoyed the world of it. I enjoyed that, that the setting like her hometown. I enjoyed the idea that there's this like cozy kind of town but it's also like open in a lot of ways to outsiders and they're still influenced from other places, like her mom was not from there.
Mari:You know, like the way she described that her mom has this whole backstory that we, like I want to know about. You know, where's her mom from? Like what's her mom's story? Um, and then when the demons were introduced and it's like, oh, they're not all like this one demon that we know, they're like all sorts of different kinds of demons from all sorts of different places, and then they're not the bad guys. They have their own culture and they were removed from their homeland to this frozen wasteland. And yet in all that, even as the author kept exploring this world and bringing more and more elements in, there were pirates. I didn't expect them to become pirates.
Ashley:A dancing hyena.
Mari:Yeah, a dancing hyena. But even in the midst of all that, cinnamon the main character, I think still felt like she kept her own personality. She's like this reluctant bookworm who likes snacks, and I'm like same. Yes, I kind of identify with you, ma'am. She pulled that french bread out of her pocket.
Ashley:I'm like yes, well, she kept pulling snacks out of her pocket. It was like the wizard of oz. Black bag of never-ending gifts.
Jonathan:You guys don't have pocket burgers where you go. It's a trendy thing.
Mari:Yeah, Cinnamon is the one to travel with. She was funny about it.
Ashley:She's like eventually the pocket ends, there's only so much room. It wasn't just loaf.
Kelly:I mean, she pulled out apples, she pulled out dried beef.
Mari:Yeah, and all the spices she brought with her. She even said you know, I always keep extra snacks in these pockets I mean, come on, she weaponized, I'm not gonna say that kelly and I have a bag labeled snacks that it hangs outside the door, that comes with us filled with snacks anytime there's any sort of road trip. But I I'm not going to say that doesn't happen either.
Ashley:I mean it's a necessary requirement, I would agree.
Jonathan:So you guys have a snackle box.
Mari:It's a big bag labeled snacks. Yeah, nice Romance. What do you think of the romance Romance?
Ashley:the romance was also fast paced. I was here for it, I. There was nothing wrong with this road. There was. We're not on spice, we're on romance. I thought the romance was delightful. You saw, you saw some development right. You saw some growth for cinnamon. You know she she had kind of had her heart sort of broken and so she was content with who she was in the life she was living. She didn't need adventure. She had some trauma, right, some family trauma, and she was like I'm good, I'm good here, like this. And then in comes this demon who is flirty and not mean at all. Actually, well, to her anyway, in hindsight, you mean other people and I, I liked it, I liked everything about the romance.
Ashley:It was a four for me. I mean for again, for such a small book, um, for as many pages that there were. I, I did see a lot of growth for cinnamon. I think fallon was pretty level-loaded and you know I was impressed with his admission that he knew that they were mates, you know from basically the get-go, and he didn't force that idea upon her, her immediately. Like some other books we've read A plus for consent and I really liked it. I think it was a four. It was fun and it was flirty and you know there was that touch her and you'll die trope, which I'm a fan of, and he listened to her. Yeah, that was a four for me and he listened to her. Yeah, that was a four for me and he was a dragon Interesting.
Jonathan:I liked it, it was fun, it was flirty to me. I thought he was more direct than she was, but she was not in denial and she was. She was very much empowered throughout the, throughout the story, um, and then even when she had like her, when she had her pick of the litter, um, it was uh, it was still very much like, almost like yeah, yeah, that's my mate, we haven't done the whole thing yet, but that's that's my mate. Like to kind of get out of it like it was very interesting how, um, and like how he was gonna. He would even be willing to be like oh, yeah, I guess, like, if you guys want, if your family does the ceremony, we could do a ceremony like it's very accommodating he was, he was, he was and she was, I think, initially when he was, when he was like hey, um, this is, this is what I think is the right thing.
Jonathan:And she and she was like didn't you just like come in my house and like try to take out my family?
Jonathan:semantics yeah, he was like well, sort of, but like you guys are trying to kill me, like how else was I gonna do this? So, like I didn't kill anyone, I was just maybe I like shoved somebody around, but yeah, you guys were you guys want to kill me? So you started yeah, pretty much like that's yeah, move the goal line a little bit there, um, but yeah, I thought it was. That was like um, what's the word? That like ignorant, flirting on his end and like on her end she was like let me just teach you how to do this the cooking through love language, or cook like that, or like the love language through cooking, or like just him saying, him making comments.
Jonathan:uh, like you know, like I I don't eat your stuff, but I saw, I saw it and I thought like I'll try to make this and I hope it didn't really mess it up, like that was. That was. That was interesting to me, it was sweet yeah.
Ashley:And I like how you were going to say it was interesting, like you didn't have a different adjective or it was sweet husband, what he did was sweet, it was kind, it was, it was thoughtful, not interesting.
Jonathan:It does not compute I know I'm trying to help you here uh, yeah, so I I thought in that in that space it was because it was light in florida. I'll give it a. I'll give it a five. Was it sweet, kelly? How'd you feel, kelly?
Kelly:I mean I thought the romance was fine. It had a lot of the same typical tropes we see in a lot of fantasy romance books. You know the toucher and you'll die, all that kind of thing, the fated mates etc, etc. But what I enjoyed most about the romance was the romance that happened between two of the side characters the what's her name, the lady that owned the bar that then basically became the pirate queen, and the snake demon. That was kind of an amusing romance that brewed in the background. I like that.
Jonathan:I like how she controlled. I like how they shared the power too.
Kelly:Yeah, so I thought the romance was fine. I think it had a lot of tropes, a lot of typical stuff, so I feel like it was good, but just kind of average. So I said it was a three.
Mari:Yeah, for me, I liked tetra and you'll die thing. I liked the. Um, uh, he fell. It felt like he fell first kind of thing. I I did not. I guess the, the flirting, the, the romance, the build-up did not hit for me so much on romance, I felt like the, the faded mates was used as a shortcut to romance. They're Fated Mates, therefore they like each other. So for me the romance buildup didn't hit. So I have romance as a three Interesting.
Jonathan:Yeah.
Mari:Sweet is what you mean, Ashley Spicy.
Ashley:On to spicy. What do we think of the spice? There was a lot of spice. This is more spice we've had in a minute. I thought it was polite spice. I thought, um, it was well thought out spice. I thought it was sweet spice and I thought it was spicy spice and I thought it was a four, though there was not. I mean there there was one part where it was like four pages of like spice. I was like swipe, swipe, swipe, dang like this goes on and on and on and on um. So kudos to the author for really punching it in there. Our tv's talking again. I think, sorry, maybe you should just turn it off. Um, it was a lot of spice and I I thought it was good spice. I was not mad at the spice it was a bangening.
Jonathan:You can't be mad at the spice. There's a bangening. Oh, um yeah, I, I. It's been a while. It's been a while, so we had a banging. I was, I was excited for the banging. What is happening? Just turn it off, sorry.
Mari:Our electronics cannot be controlled.
Jonathan:The TV wants to give its rating. It's insane. Remind me to tell you the TV story later. Anyway, the banging.
Ashley:Focus.
Jonathan:Yeah, how could you not focus when a banging is occurring? I thought the the spice I. I wanted it to happen earlier. I think it's the only negative I have for it is that like, let it, let it happen in the in the river you like your ladies to be a hoe. That's why I chose you. I'll give it a four.
Mari:Kelly, what'd you think?
Kelly:It was definitely more spice than what we've normally seen in the last few books. I guess I thought it was pretty decent. I don't know that it was something that was absolutely amazing or super well written or anything like that. I feel like it was fine, so I gave it a three for me.
Mari:I put the spice at a four. Um, because a lot of this was when I would read stuff about it. It was described as like a cozy fantasy more than a monster romance. Um, so for cozy fantasy, I felt like I had more spice than I would expect of a cozy fantasy. It's about as much spice as I would expect of a monster romance, but I thought the spice was well done. I like that. The world seemed to be sex positive. You know, there was no shame around sex. I think that consent was well done. I thought that, like them equally, being aware of each other's needs and wants, was well done. Yeah, I think it was good. I liked it. So, before we get to the last question, um, I was as I was reading it, I was like okay, so that town where they freed all the demons, right? Did everybody else in that town just like burn up?
Ashley:they all just died when they set the town ablaze and they're like see ya, we're on the pirate ship. I think they were just kind of left to their own.
Mari:Ferdinating the villagers To figure it out.
Ashley:Yeah, you've been liberated. Now you get to deal with the cleanup by yourself. Yeah, okay, bye.
Mari:I was like, okay, so one person got the opportunity to get on the ship the tavern keeper, chickie. She's like oh, demons are actually people and slavery is bad.
Mari:Everybody else had no opportunity, no no they were not part of the band, not at all. But, yeah, I enjoyed this world a lot. The world gets wider and deeper and, uh, there's some really interesting stuff that happens in the second and third mainly the third book. Um, but second and third book, so I I would, if you guys enjoyed this, I would recommend the second and third book. Um, do we think that this is a kissing book? Is this a kissing book?
Jonathan:yeah, yeah, I'll give it.
Kelly:I'll make a kissing book yeah, I think it has to be a kissing book same same.
Mari:Oh, look at us guys, look at us all right. Is there anything else anybody wants to say?
Ashley:about the book. I mean, again, just kudos to the author. I feel like we touched on a lot of, you know, very heavy topics, um, modern and historic ones. Uh, like you were saying, body positivity, sex positivity, discrimination, slavery, you know, there there were characters where they admitted, right, like, like holy the tavern lady, was it Usha? Where she, you know, the realization dawned on her that the demons were being kept in, basically slavery, and how they were sentient, you know, they had thoughts, they had feelings and, oh shit, I've been fucking up this whole time and just allowing this to happen. Um, and so it was.
Ashley:It was a very brief scene, but I thought that that was very touching and, um, appropriate because it was common sense to cinnamon, right, but Usha hadn't really known any different. And then, when she did, she apologized to the first demon that she saw, right, like, hugged him, sobbing right on to fallon, um, so, you know, kudos to the author for really taking some very heavy topics and making them, I want to say, easy to digest, but I feel like that's really simplifying it, but I I really did enjoy to talk about.
Mari:I would say right.
Ashley:Yeah, she just like she, just she built this whole world basically and, like Kelly was saying, you know the whole religion. I kind of glanced over that myself. But yeah, I mean it was really. She did a lot in a very short time frame and I really enjoyed that about her writing.
Kelly:I think it was interesting because you know she established this religion context in her story and then the whole gist of part of the story is all of these villagers and all these people had just always been following this religion without questioning it. And so you know, kind of, is this a comment on modern day religion and just following what your religion tells you, without ever questioning your religion, or does your religious beliefs make any actual sense? So that was an interesting angle to the story as well.
Mari:Yeah, or at the very least, questioning the actions that your religious leaders ask you to do. Yeah, I really enjoyed this author. Like I said, I read all three of the books and the two novellas. I've also read her. She wrote a little short novella for Christmas. That was very funny.
Mari:It's what's a Girl Gotta Do to Get on the Naughty List, which I would recommend as a holiday read. It's a Krampus holiday, modern day like fun little story. The book that she has coming out is actually going to be out by the time that this episode releases. So the book releases on February 18th. We're recording on February 15th. The book is called I Got Abducted by Aliens and Now I'm Trapped in a Rom-Com and the cover has a female character being held in the arms of like an alien looking character and there's dinosaurs in the background. So I really like the. I did not look up and see who did these these her artwork on the covers but I really like the style of of the artwork on these covers. Where it's it's very like cartoony, but also lush and detailed. Yeah, it was very well done, alrighty.
Mari:So thanks for listening to Of Swords and Soulmates. Before we go, make sure to check out notes, rate and review, and subscribe to us on your podcast app of choice, if it's an option. It helps others to find us. Follow us on Instagram at Of Swords andoulmates, or join our Facebook page, ofswordsandsoulmates. Check us out on our website ofswordsandsoulmatescom or on YouTube, tiktok, pinterest, with the same username.
Mari:If you'd like to offer a suggestion for a future episode, give us your opinion, any of that stuff. Please feel free to contact us on any of those options or email us. If you want to read along with us as we prep for a new episode, follow us on Goodreads at Of Swords and Soulmates, or for chapter by chapter interaction on the Fable app at the Of Swords and Soulmates book club. We also have a Tome account, which is also under the Of Swords and Soulmates name, so you can follow us there as well. And, last but not least, we hope that you'll join us in two weeks for our next episode, when we'll be discussing onyx storm by rebecca yaros, the latest installment in the imperion series bye, buckle up guys, yes you.
