As we hunker down for a horrible winter storm, Kris and Tara have their first-ever fight on the podcast. Lines are drawn, things are said that can’t be taken back, but laughs are also had.
Official Recommendations
From Kris: The Holiday Club (2024)
Kris’s official recommendation this week is The Holiday Club, a movie that follows two friends over the course of a year through various holidays as their relationship blossoms into something deeper and more romantic. Kris was charmed by this slow burn, low-angst story, and thinks you will be too.
The Love Book by Gun Brooke
Tara’s official recommendation this week is The Love Book by Gun Brooke. It’s a sapphic romance novel that’s bursting with things. Too many things, some might say, but Tara found it just right. When the poorly performing assistant to a high powered literary agent (who the assistant is also in love with) accidentally sends them their own manuscript anonymously, the two begin a dance of deception intended to keep the assistant’s job but might end up winning…their hearts.
Works/People Discussed
- Paradise, Season Two (Hulu)
- Love is Blind (Netflix)
- RuPaul’s Drag Race (World of Wonder)
- RuPaul’s Drag Race: UK vs. the World (BBC Three)
- Drag Queens Trixie Mattel & Katya React to The Boyfriend Season 2 | Netflix (YouTube)
- and I fell heavy into your arms by Libstar (56k words)
- What’s In A Name by InBetweens (18k words)
Support & Follow the Show
Transcript
>> Tara Scott: Hey everyone. Welcome to Queerly Recommended the podcast where we recommend queer books, films, TV shows and more. I’m Tara Scott and I review Sapphic fiction at The Lesbian Review and Smart Bitches Trashy Books. And this week I’m recommending a recently released Sapphic Romance.
>> Kris Bryant: And I’m Kris Bryant, a contemporary romance writer for Bolt Strokes books. And this week I’m recommending a 2024 Sapphic movie.
>> Tara Scott: Ooh, that sounds fun.
>> Kris Bryant: We need it.
>> Tara Scott: All right, what is up with you? What’s going on?
>> Kris Bryant: Well, right now we’re about ready to get pummelling with some bad weather, so that’s always interesting. I have no garage to park my, my awesome Subaru in, so hopefully Winnie is out there like fighting the fight. Best I can do.
>> Tara Scott: You can do it, Winnie. We’ll know by the time this is uploaded. We’ll know, right?
>> Kris Bryant: We’ll know if, if she could do it or not.
>> Kris Bryant: So what else is going on is right now in the NFL, you know, we’re, we know that I’m a big football fan. American, football. And a lot of things are happening on my team. Some good things and some bad things. And I like, I get super excited and then all of a sudden I’m really sad because we lose like four players that I loved.
>> Tara Scott: Oh no.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah. So they get traded around. So this is kind of heartbreaking time for Kansas City. Like we get rid of, really good players and I’m just like, why? And it’s like to free up, you know, money for future and other people. We can, you know, kind of like steal away from people or for the draught picks and things like that. So there’s a lot going on in that world, which is good because I’m excited to see what this next season is. Since we were trash last year.
>> Tara Scott: I know you didn’t make it to the Super Bowl.
>> Kris Bryant: We did not make it to the Super Bowl. And so I’m hoping that with some of these trades and decisions, hiring decisions that we did okay, that we’re going to be okay next year or this season coming up. It’s weird. Football’s a weird schedule. It’s from like September to, you know, February, depending on if we make the playoffs or the Super Bowl. So. And it’s funny because, you know, we ended in December, I think, and it was like, it was the first time. We haven’t been to the playoffs in 10 years. And I’m just like, what do we do? I don’t know what to do. I guess we just Watch everybody else play.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah. Did you pick up a. Did you have a backup team to root for?
>> Kris Bryant: I did. I, I usually, bet on players, you know, like, I like this player, so I hope this team wins. Like, I like the Lions. I think they’re, they’re a good team. And actually somebody like the running back that I, I have the jersey, Pacheco jersey. And he’s now a, Lions.
>> Tara Scott: Nice.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah, so, I mean, I like, I, I don’t. I, you know, you know me, I want my Chiefs to win. As long as, like the Bills don’t win, I’m fine. Sorry to all the Buffalo Bills fans out there, but y’ all treated me bad, so I’m terrible. Like, I, I hold a grudge. So anyway.
>> Tara Scott: Yep.
>> Kris Bryant: let’s see. So last time we recorded this podcast, it was unbeknownst. to me it was bring your child to work day. And so orange kitty was on my lap sprawled out a. So I took pictures and I posted them. And so this time black kitty is sprawled out next to me on the bed. So he is, he’s being very sweet and so he felt jealous and
>> Tara Scott: left out your little panther.
>> Kris Bryant: My little panther. And did I tell you about the, the Minecraft cat?
>> Tara Scott: I don’t think so.
>> Kris Bryant: So there is another cat that comes around and hangs out sometimes and you know how I am. I like to call the cats by how I see them. Black kitty, Orange kitty.
>> Kris Bryant: And Debbie’s. Absolutely, Absolutely not. Daryl Dixon. Is Daryl Dixon instead of mangy kitty?
>> Tara Scott: Well, yeah. Mangy is not a colour.
>> Kris Bryant: It is not. It’s not a good. It is. But like, I would have to explain who’s out there. Like, who are you looking at? I’m m looking at that mangy cat. So Debbie’s like, okay, I’m gonna, I’m gonna go ahead and, and give him a name. And his name is Daryl. Great. So Daryl Dixon then.
Here comes this other black kitty. I’m not even kidding. I’m going to have to get a picture of this for you. He has a square head.
>> Tara Scott: How does that happen?
>> Kris Bryant: He just has a square head. It’s the weirdest thing. And I know he’s not groomed or anything. I don’t know if he just has like a, really just square features, but he looks like he would be from the Minecraft series game. Slash movie. Yeah. So. So we call him Minecraft. So Minecraft. He’s been kind of hanging around and, and they all get along. All the cats get along. He’s not somebody who fights. And I’m assuming it’s a he. I could be completely wrong. Yeah, he’s a little skittish, so he doesn’t stick around. Like, I try to go out there and. And pretend like I’m snow white. Like, oh, come here, kitty. And, yeah, that doesn’t always work. So, I’m trying, though. Like, you know me.
>> Tara Scott: Cute.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah. So anyway, those are my updates.
What about you? What are your updates?
>> Tara Scott: Well, Henry Rollins went for his first haircut. See, this is the name that keeps on giving. Because how funny is it to say Henry Rollins went for his first haircut?
>> Kris Bryant: Right.
>> Tara Scott: It’s truly working for me. And we weren’t sure how he was gonna do because you never know right in the right room. Said, like, okay, we’re gonna try it out. We’re gonna see how it goes. And if nothing else, we’ll do, like, a little sanitation, you know, like, clean up around the bum and all that. And he got a full haircut, and he was so sweet. Apparently, he did not make a peep of a sound. He let her cuddle him. so he and Amber both got their hair cut. They’re both looking nice and fresh with the spring coming up. And it’s good because they both looked like they were shaggy, like the winter shag. Mm,
>> Kris Bryant: Mm.
>> Tara Scott: And, yeah, they’re doing great. And it was so funny because I’ve had a little black schnauzer before. M. And we didn’t see her as a puppy because she was an adult when we got her. She was probably about a year old or so. And when his hair got cut, he looks so much like her that it’s like, oh, okay. I feel like I have a sense of how Zadie might have looked when she was a puppy. So it’s been really. It’s been really lovely. And he seems maybe to be deciding that I’m his person.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh, yes. M. Yes.
>> Tara Scott: I am loving it. And he’s so light. So he. He can finally. He’s five months, and he can finally jump up on the furniture. And, like, if you pat your lap, he’ll jump up. But there are times where he’s so light that if I’m hyper fixated on something. So, like, maybe I’m reading a book, or maybe I’m working on something on my laptop, and then I’ll look over and he’s on my lap, and I’m
>> Kris Bryant: like, oh, there you are.
>> Tara Scott: What happened? Whereas, like, ember is over £20. So she jumps on my Lap. I feel it.
>> Kris Bryant: You feel it? Oh yeah.
>> Tara Scott: I know it’s happened. It doesn’t matter how fixated I am. There’s a bit of a. Okay. Whereas he can, like, he’s just. He’s dainty. He’s a dainty little eight pounds. So that’s been a nice thing.
And then the less awesome thing was I finally confirmed. So like, I do get migraines, but also I confirmed that I was having medication overuse headaches. Because I don’t know if you know this, so this is a thing that’s pretty common for people who get migraines too. But if you take Tylenol and. Or Advil or any of the. You have like other stuff in the US like Excedrin or whatever, but if you take it for 15 or more days a month, you are probably going to give yourself medication overuse headaches. So you start this cycle of. I’m treating a headache. Oh no, I’ve been treating it too much. So I get headaches because I’m getting withdrawals from not, treating these headaches. And I decided there’s a lot happening at work. And last week was kind of a perfect week to say I’m going to step back and I’m just going to like rip the band aid off on this. I’m just going to stop taking Tylenol and Advil. And And it’s going to suck. And we’re just going to do it because then I’ll have a better brain for later on when I need it more. And.
>> Kris Bryant: And it’s better for your kidneys to not take them all the time.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that’s been a thing. And mostly saying it because I didn’t even know that that could be a thing. But it turns out it not only can be, it absolutely is or was for me. And it’s not. It’s not been fun. And it’ll probably take another few weeks for a lot of the headaches to go away, but it’s at least in like, a. It’s a pretty dull place and it’s getting a lot better and I’m like getting more of my energy back.
>> Kris Bryant: And now can you take to the. Do doctors prescribe migraine medicine for you? I mean, is that an option?
>> Tara Scott: M. Yes. Yes. And do you have it? So I already have one that I take for. It’s called like a rescue medication. So like if you know you’re getting a migraine, you can take it and it’ll kill it.
>> Kris Bryant: Okay.
>> Tara Scott: And I’ve also asked for a preventative but I realised so he had said like he put me on the starting dose and said after two weeks I could start, I could double it but I’m going to take another week or two before I do that because I realised like I started this process at the beginning of the second week. I don’t know what my baseline is.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh yeah.
>> Tara Scott: So if I don’t know what my baseline is and if going through this process of dealing with medication overuse headaches increases the likelihood of migraines, like I feel like I should get a better sense of my baseline before I start doubling any preventative medication. But the thing I love about this preventative I sleep like a baby. Oh man, I. It makes me sleepy and that’s nice and it doesn’t make me groggy in the morning so. Oh, I’ll take it.
>> Kris Bryant: We know how important sleep is. You know me and the struggles I have.
>> Tara Scott: This whole like middle aged sleep thing is absolute. I’m not into it, I don’t like it.
>> Kris Bryant: I remember like there was a family friend who was at the time probably in her M70s and I stayed with her. It was like a family reunion type thing and it was up north and I stayed with her because I have this thing for older people like because I never really had grandparents so I missed that connection. So I have such a fondness for, for the elderly and so I wanted to stay with her and just hang out and just you know, learn from her and just talk, you know, let her talk her storeys and stuff. And so I was there for the weekend and she would get up every day at 4. I’m like why do you get up so early? And she’s like well first of all I’m glad I wake up. And then she said good point. And secondly like just getting sleep when you’re older is not a really a thing. You know, still take little cat naps and stuff. My dad does the same thing. He takes little, little tiny naps and but then he always says he doesn’t sleep at night and he does like he does nothing sleep. So he’s.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah so my parents are like teenagers, they go to bed at like 1 or 2 in the morning and they sound like sleep until 10 because they don’t have to do anything.
>> Kris Bryant: That’s amazing that that would be ideal for me. Like seriously, like I have a reminder on my phone and it says get your ass to bed if it’s 11:30 because I have to get up at like 6 at the latest. Oh, yeah.
>> Tara Scott: You have to get up stupid early.
>> Kris Bryant: I do. Because then I had to go get ready and drive into work and Yeah. So not fun. No. No offence.
>> Tara Scott: Don’t want it.
Kris: I started watching paradise season two recently
Kris, what have you been. Are you reading or are you just watching lately?
>> Kris Bryant: I’m just watching. I’m so excited.
>> Tara Scott: What have you been watching?
>> Kris Bryant: So a lot of things. We all know that I watch TV non stop.
>> Kris Bryant: So I got, I got. I started watching paradise season two. So I watched season one, only paying half attention. You know how I am about apocalyptic shit. I love it. Like, and so the first season of paradise was like a 6.5, you know, it wasn’t terrible. It wasn’t like super great. It was good. It kept me interested. And the reason why, probably maybe a 7 because Sarah Shahi is in it.
>> Tara Scott: Oh.
>> Kris Bryant: And she’s in my top 10. Like, she has always been in my top 10. And so I’m like, yeah. So then, see, you know, I didn’t think about it. You know, when season two dropped, it dropped a couple weeks ago, so several episodes have dropped and I just. I happened. I forgot that I had a subscription to Hulu. This is what happens. I’ll watch something and then I’ll forget that I have the subscription to that streaming service. And then when I get back into it, it’ll be like, oh, new season of, paradise is out now. I’m like, ah. And then Shailene Woodley, you know who she is, she was in the Divergent series. She was in the, Fault in Our Star, probably.
>> Tara Scott: To see her. Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh, yeah. She dated Aaron Rodgers, of course. Here we go, Football again. What an idiot. But anyway, so she, she was in Divergent. And I love that whole series, our trilogy, I think it was a trilogy. So I was like, yes, I’m in. So this is a much better season than the first one. I’m really enjoying, like, big time enjoying it. Because now you have answers. You’re getting answers. Like in the first season, they build this giant underground bunker that looks like a town. Like, it looks like there’s a sun. And they have built this huge entire thing with like neighbourhoods and stores and they have a select amount of people in this bucket bunker. And so because there’s like a massive, like natural disaster, like a tsunami in Antarctica just destroys everything on earth, basically.
>> Tara Scott: Whoa.
>> Kris Bryant: It was focused more on the politics of the whole thing and I wasn’t really interested. But, like, now we’re getting down to, hey, guess what, people on the surface lived. And maybe we can live on the surface. So it’s kind of fun. It’s, it’s, it’s. I’m in. I like it. Also. Love is blind. I know.
>> Tara Scott: And is it. Is love in fact blind? Is that what we’re finding this season?
>> Kris Bryant: I mean, I think, you know, with every season. Love is not blind. like this, this show is a hot mess. So, like right now I’m caught up on all the weddings and non weddings. Like, I’m caught up. so by the time this episode, by the time this podcast drops, the reunion show will have dropped already.
>> Tara Scott: Oh.
All right.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh my goodness. Like, you know me, I get very uncomfortable in confrontations, like watching other people in confront because there’s a part of me that wants to do it for them, but then there’s a part of me that wants to run away.
>> Kris Bryant: So I’m at that stage, where should I stay? Should I watch it? So it’s, it’s really hard for me to watch it because sometimes I’m like, why are you letting him talk to you like that? Why are you letting her push you around Type thing? I’m that person. But there’s so much that happened this season. Remember I told you that one guy was like, I’m not attracted to you.
>> Tara Scott: Yes. Even though she’s. Yeah. I saw. There was actually a clip going around of it on Instagram because I think it might have been a man who was like, take, like, was not okay with how that went down.
>> Kris Bryant: No, not at all.
>> Tara Scott: It was just this like, are you. I’m sorry, what? Like, she’s not, she’s not gonna.
>> Kris Bryant: She’s gorgeous, smart doctor.
>> Tara Scott: She doesn’t do CrossFit, but she’s a doctor and she’s beautiful and she’s healthy and she’s right.
>> Kris Bryant: Right. It was ridiculous. So it’s gonna be interesting to see how everybody attacks him.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: Here’s what I like. I like it. Like what they’re starting to do on the reunion shows is they’re bringing back couples from previous seasons.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: So they’re able to weigh in on things because they have the experience.
>> Kris Bryant: So they can offer a lot more to the audience as far as, like, you know, how this whole process went down, what it’s like, you know, what they really see, what they know, all that good stuff. So I like that. So I’m excited that that’s on tomorrow night for us. Or actually what. I don’t even know what today is. I don’t even care because you know time. What is it? I don’t understand this timeline. I give up.
>> Tara Scott: Who can say?
>> Kris Bryant: Right?
And here’s this kind of a sad thing that I realised. So we know how much I love Survivor, right?
>> Tara Scott: You do?
>> Kris Bryant: I do. I love it because it’s queer and it’s also kind of fun.
>> Kris Bryant: So here’s what I found out. And like, if you’re a survivor, like, if you love it as much as I do, do not listen to the next 30 seconds of this podcast because I’m going to reveal something that I wish I didn’t know.
>> Tara Scott: Okay.
>> Kris Bryant: Should I reveal it? I think I can because I’m mad.
>> Tara Scott: Sure. And I mean, it’ll be a whole week later by the time we release the episode, so.
>> Kris Bryant: And it has nothing to do. So here’s the deal. I have found a place that actually tells you who’s going to be voted off and who’s going to win. It tells you who’s going to be voted off every week and then it tells you the winner. And our lights just flicker. I don’t know how they know. I don’t know if, And. And the reason why it’s. How do I. Okay, I’m just gonna ruin it. I’m sorry. Plug your ears. But there are betting sites.
>> Tara Scott: Oh yeah, of course there are.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah. And so I never knew that. I didn’t know that because, you know, betting has not been online. Betting hasn’t been legal in Missouri until December. And so I just happened to stumble on this thing and I’m like, Survivor, why would they have this? And then it says because they’re betting
>> Tara Scott: on everything they possibly can.
>> Kris Bryant: That’s true, they are. And I was like, this is weird.
>> Tara Scott: There’s bets on politics.
>> Kris Bryant: Yes. Everything. It’s, it’s.
>> Tara Scott: Wait, didn’t. Wasn’t there a storey about. There were some people who had insider information about Iran getting bombed and they bet on it and they made money off of the betting on it for sure. Like no accountability. Like online betting is buck wild.
>> Kris Bryant: It really is. It, it is. And so I’m so sad that I have discovered this and I’m so sad because I actually called out one of the, one of my co workers who is really invol in this and is like, oh, this week it’s this person and, and this, you know, and I’m like, wow, like she’s really good at studying. And I’m like, son of a. You’ve been cheating this whole time. I mean, it’s not really cheating, but like, like she’s in this whole, like there are people out there who do like every season they have pick the, pick your winner and then it’s by point system and if they lose this, like this challenge, you get this many points and it’s, it’s a whole thing. There is a Survivor underworld thing that goes on with the, with the series that I never knew about until my co worker was explaining it to me. I was happy in my little Survivor bubble, which I didn’t know. You know, I didn’t.
>> Tara Scott: What if you had just went back to it and said that’s for those people and then stay out of it
>> Kris Bryant: for you, you know, once. I mean, because this is how I feel. People who read the ending of a book, this is how I feel that they are.
>> Tara Scott: You know, that’s not fair.
>> Kris Bryant: That’s totally fair.
>> Tara Scott: No, no, I will not, I will not be, compared to betting on a reality, finding out.
>> Kris Bryant: I, I feel it’s the same. So I’m going to need our listeners to weigh in on this. Is it the same?
>> Tara Scott: That’s rude.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah, it is the same.
>> Tara Scott: No, no, it’s not. Because I know that I was doing it for anxiety management reasons. It was, I was getting unsafe in my body feeling. That’s not a reason for reality show shit.
>> Kris Bryant: Well, maybe people have anxiety about, maybe they are stressed that they’re not going to win.
>> Tara Scott: That’s not why it’s being posted online. That’s actually, that’s the big difference. When you choose to read the end of a book, you’re only doing it to yourself when you chose, not you, you, but like when the broader you. When somebody chooses to actually post the results in advance, that’s something that impacts other people. That’s the difference and that’s why I will not.
>> Kris Bryant: But you’re still fighting. You’re still, you are still doing this thing. You are still seeking out this, this resolution. You still need to feel that, that safety. You still need to have that.
>> Tara Scott: I can be, I can be compared to somebody who seeks out those results, but I will not be compared to the people who post the results. Is this her first fight? Well, here’s the thing. If I wrote reviews where I said, and by the way, spoiler, spoiler, spoiler, spoiler, then I could be compared to the people who post who’s going home or who’s going to win, knowing when they have that information. That’s the difference.
>> Kris Bryant: You are so passionate about this.
>> Tara Scott: I am.
>> Kris Bryant: Yes. You are. Yes. I’m so sorry. So now that that’s Over.
Tara, have you been reading and. Or watching or playing?
>> Tara Scott: okay, well, I’m still playing Moonlight Island. I actually had to stop playing for a couple days because I played so much I hurt my arm. It’s so stupid that I am of an age where you could hurt yourself playing a game.
>> Kris Bryant: I love it. I hate it.
>> Tara Scott: I actually, it’s funny. The guy who, Michael Hobbes, he’s on two of my favourite podcasts. Maintenance phase and if Books Could Kill. He ended up giving himself carpal tunnel playing one of the Zelda games a couple of years ago. Like that was actually part of why they slowed down on. Or that’s what he said anyway. I don’t know if it’s actually true, but he was talking about it’s hard to edit the podcast with like wrist braces on. Right. this is where it turns out it was all just a joke and I fell for it. I don’t know. but yeah, Moonstone island, it’s still. It’s very cute. It’s very cosy. I’m really enjoying it. It’s probably going to take a while for me to finish. But the thing that’s nice too is that like you, you play like every, I would say probably every 15 minutes or so. I don’t know the exact interval, but like every roughly 15 minutes is a day in the game. So it can also be easier to put down in that sense. If you have better impulse control than me, you could pick it up and say, I’m going to play for a day. That just hasn’t occurred to me yet. So maybe I will.
But I’m still watching the drag races. UK versus the world is nearly done. They’re down to the final four. 5. I’m enjoying it very, very much. I still don’t actually know who’s going to win. I think it’s between the remaining Queen from the UK and the Queen from Thailand. But you never know. Like some of the others. Like the queen from Germany is still doing like. Nice. Yeah, there’s. They’re doing quite well. But next week is the makeover challenge, which is actually always my favourite. I love it. Like some seasons they’ll make over family members. Sometimes they’ll do. They’ve done all kinds. They’ve done teachers before. They’ve done different types of pastor.
>> Kris Bryant: Wasn’t. Wasn’t one a pastor.
>> Tara Scott: No, no, that’s a different show. That’s the show. That’s the show. We’re here. And yes, a pastor was made up for that. But they’re going to be doing Olympic athletes this time, which I think is fun. yeah, I think that’s gonna be really fun. I like that. And then season eight, Drag Race season. No, not 8. 18. Season 18 is also going very well. I’m really enjoying that. Nice. They’re down to the final seven. And it’s interesting because it’s also, again, it’s a blend of like queens I definitely thought would be there and a few that I’m like, how are you still here? That’s m.
>> Tara Scott: Okay, so. Which makes me wonder, like I’m. I think I know who the top four will be, but I don’t actually know because I. If, if you had told me certain queens would still be here at this point, I would have lost that bet.
>> Kris Bryant: I would like to say that if you really wanted to know, you could probably find it on online betting.
>> Tara Scott: I’m just saying you are probably correct. And I don’t want to look it up. Yes.
>> Kris Bryant: No, please don’t. I’m not either doing it. Nope.
>> Tara Scott: speaking of Drag Race queens, so Trixie Mattel and Katya, I can’t pronounce that long ass name, but Trixie and Katya, who do like a bunch of things together, podcasts and shows and whatever. So they have a YouTube show called I Like to Watch. It’s a show, they’re employed by Netflix to like watch and react to Netflix shows. And they recently dropped an episode of them reacting to The Boyfriend Season 2. oh, Neil and I watched it the other day. It’s very, it’s very funny. We really enjoyed it and it was interesting watching them watch a show that’s actually like quite wholesome because some of my favourite reaction ones are for them talking about all the dating shows like the Perfect Match and Love Is Blind. And I hope they do one for the new Love Is Blind season.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh, I hope so too.
>> Tara Scott: But this one was so. It was so good and it was interesting because this season of the Boyfriend also talks a lot about the concept of coming out, like in some ways. And they talk about this a little bit too. Like it seems like from what the show is saying, in some ways it’s harder to come out in Japan than might be in, you know, the US and Canada and I. And I think it, you know, it’s worth acknowledging it’s still hard in a lot of families to come out now, especially if you have a super religious, family. But in this case it didn’t seem to be driven by religion as much as like the culture itself. So like, as a cultural norm, it seems like it’s being presented as a little behind like North America, the uk, some other places like that. And it was interesting to see like there was, you know, some of the men saying, I’ve never come out. There were some saying I want to, there’s some saying they don’t want to. And in one case, there’s this really beautiful conversation between one of the men and his mom comes to visit and she’s clearly like, very supportive, very loving. And it was interesting watching Trixie and Katria react to that too, because they got, you know, they got emotional seeing like this mother said the most wonderful thing where she said, you know, I was only upset when you came out because I thought about how long you had struggled with that by yourself. Which I just thought, like, how. How beautiful. Was that? So, yeah, recommend that. That’s super fun and okay.
Last time I said. I’ve been reading a lot of Devil Wears Prada fanfic. I haven’t given up on it, although I have read a book for this, episode that I will be recommending. But there were a couple that I read and I enjoyed them enough that I thought I would just mention them in case anybody is looking. If the premises sound interesting, I’m not going to get a lot into them. M because I don’t remember enough of the details and it doesn’t really matter. The first one is called and I fell heavy into your arms by Libstar. The setup for this one is Andy has already left Runway. She’s not working there anymore. She has a daughter who’s I think like a few years old. She’s with her at the zoo one day and runs into Miranda and the twins and they spend the rest of the day together. And then maybe they spend some other days together. A romance happens from there. It’s really lovely. And then there’s a bunch of other. Like if you look on AO3, it’s not set up as like, They have a thing set up where storeys that all kind of exist together. Like, maybe they’re separate storeys, but they’re all like, oh, this is part one of this series and part two of this series. It’s not set up like that, unfortunately. But if you look at the author’s name, you can find the other storeys that are adjacent to this and the other one. I read this yesterday or the day before, but it’s called what’s in a name by inbetweens. And it’s Oh, I forgot, sorry, I forgot to say the other one is 56,000 words. So if you want something that takes a little bit longer to read, that’s kind of a nice short novel length. This one is only 18,000 words, so you can read it a lot faster. But it’s called what’s in a Name? By In Betweens. And it’s a soulmate one where the idea is that like the name of your soulmate shows up kind of like a tattoo on your wrist and you can have relationships with other people.
>> Kris Bryant: But what?
>> Tara Scott: Yeah. So Miranda knows. Like she’s known all along she’s had the name Andrea on her wrist and then when Andy starts to work there. And it’s interesting because it’s all told from Miranda’s perspective. It’s all like. There’s not a lot of dialogue because it’s like deep into her perspective and her psyche and like what’s happening. But it follows the structure of the film and then goes past that. I liked it. It’s very emotional and I don’t want to spoil anything else.
>> Kris Bryant: Okay, don’t spoil it, but read it.
>> Tara Scott: It’s a fun one. It’s a fun one.
All right, Kris, it’s that time. What is your official recommendation?
>> Kris Bryant: So my official recommendation is a sweet Sapphic movie from 2024 called the Holiday Club.
>> Tara Scott: That’s a cute name.
>> Kris Bryant: It is. It really is. And it’s. And we’ll get into that. It’s actually really cute how this name comes about. So I can’t tell you. And I’m sure everybody knows how much I need sweet low angst like B movies right now. Like I need it to be sapphic cosy feel good. Like my bar is both extremely high and low right now for entertainment.
>> Tara Scott: You’re ready to go start watching Hallmark Kristmas movies.
>> Kris Bryant: I am almost at that point for sure. So this. So the Holiday Club follows two friends growing relationship over the course of a year in Holidays. Cute. One of the characters, her name is Sam and she’s new to the area. And I believe that this is filmed in Ohio, but it’s not really called out. It’s a super cute hallmarky type town, very small cast. And so she meets Bailey who just happens to also live next door. I mean of course.
>> Tara Scott: Yay.
>> Kris Bryant: Because it’s Valentine’s Day and Sam has ordered a shit tonne of baked goods. Bailey runs a bakery, you know. Right. So she runs a bakery. And Sam happens to be the last stop in her delivery for the day. So Sam is anti holidays. And her tradition of hating Valentine’s Day includes watching the movie Fight Club and eating a bunch of sweet food. Like that is her thing.
>> Kris Bryant: So Bailey. Ah, so this is, this part is like, okay. They have a cute little exchange as she gives her her stuff. And Sam’s like, why don’t you come in? Because there’s a whole conversation about how Sam doesn’t like cinnamon. I’m like, how can she not like cinnamon? And Bailey was the same way. How could she not like cinnamon? So, she’s like, I threw in a cinnamon pastry for you, just, you know, to see if you like it. And she’s like, I like cinnamon. So it’s a whole thing. So she invites Bailey in and. And like, the whole thing. This part, this was the only thing that was a little like. So Bailey comes in. She is like, can I take a. Can I walk around? Can I take a look around? I, mean, can you imagine that? Like somebody delivering.
>> Tara Scott: Can I peek through your cupboards?
>> Kris Bryant: Right.
>> Tara Scott: May I cheque in your drawers instead of doing in your closet?
>> Kris Bryant: Like, if like, somebody from Instacart says, hey, can I come in and cheque out your pantry? Like, no, no, no, no. What’s in your filing cabinet?
>> Tara Scott: I would like to know.
>> Kris Bryant: So, of course, the whole just, you know, suspension of that whole thing and just like, this is a movie. Go with it.
>> Tara Scott: Yes.
>> Kris Bryant: But I didn’t feel threatened by her being there. It wasn’t an uncomfortable situation. I mean, it kind of was because at first I was like, taken aback because it. Such an invasion of. Of space.
>> Tara Scott: Who were you raised by, ma’? Am?
>> Kris Bryant: Like, we don’t.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah, definitely not my mother.
>> Kris Bryant: Right.
>> Tara Scott: Yep.
>> Kris Bryant: So eventually they become friends and you can tell that they’re kind of into each other. But, every single time Sam’s dating somebody, Bailey’s free. And every time Bailey’s free, Sam’s dating somebody. Did I say that right? I. I might have mixed it up, but you know what I’m saying. So they were never. They were never like, single at the same time. And there was always a still chemistry, like, and they had really cute chemistry. It was cute. You know, they would like, have a movie night and like, Bailey would paint Sam’s nails. That’s just cute. Frenzy things, you know? Yeah. And you could just. And they try to set each, other people up on dates. And it was just. It was so cute. And I was like, okay.
So they start hanging out a little bit more. And you’re like. When there’s like, A scene. You’re like, oh, this is it. Is this gonna be it? Is this the time? And I’m screaming out, ruin the friendship. Taylor’. Sweat. You know, ruin the friendship. Do it. Make your move. And, I can tell you it’s.
>> Tara Scott: Sometimes it works out. Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: sometimes it does. And so like, every time they don’t, like, you’re just kind of like your shoulder slump, you’re like, oh, that was a perfect opportunity to like, make your move or do something. And they don’t like the holidays. Sam, especially because I think deep down she’s just, she doesn’t like to be alone and she doesn’t like to not have somebody. It’s one of those deals. And so the holidays are so much better when you share it with somebody you love, obviously every holiday. And it also, it starts and ends on Valentine’s Day. How cute is that?
So Bailey, like, first of all, this is a very light cast. And I, I did not know. I thought maybe it was a Covid movie, but then I thought, oh, maybe they only have $10,000 budget type movie. I think it’s a Tello.
>> Kris Bryant: It’s a Tello movie.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: And I was like, at this point, like, there’s a lot of stuff out there. They do have a lot of queer stuff. But I really wanted Sapphic. I just needed to have that right now. Like, that is what I needed. So Bailey happens to also be the director of this movie.
>> Tara Scott: Oh, right, Cool.
>> Kris Bryant: And what I thought was cool is Sam is a she. They like pronouns, she, they. And Bailey did everything, put it in the movie, like the proper ways to use she, they. And it was very cool. It was a very. It’s a good learning experience without like being a learning experience. Like, I caught onto it at first. I was like, oh, oh, okay. So it’s really cool. So I. Good job. Alexandra is actually Bailey’s, real name. Like the character is Bailey. Alexandra, good job.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah. Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: Like both characters, they’re likeable. I would date both. Honestly. I, thought both were very great characters. And there’s, an element of sadness to them, but I think that’s the whole idea. Of course, you know, when you’re single and you want to be with somebody, but, you know, you’re dating other people and it’s just, you’re just kind of sad about the whole thing. But they are each a half of something greater and it takes them the whole year to realise it. So it’s kind of cute. You go through all the holidays with them. And so then you see, like, future holidays, and they are just, like, living it up. And it’s just wonderful. It’s just so sweet and so sincere. And, you know, this. This isn’t a movie that won awards or anything like that, but, you know, I always celebrate queer movies. I’ll take them. Like, give it to me.
>> Tara Scott: Absolutely.
>> Kris Bryant: So nobody’s going to win a thousand awards, but I, always celebrate queer movies. Throw some lesbians in and I’m there. I mean, why not? we need more. like I said earlier, the budget, it was a small budget, but I don’t care if it’s $10,000, if it’s a $10 million, I’m going to watch it. You know, I think, like, I’m gonna let you all know if I think it’s something that’s worth watching. And for as light as this was, I still think it’s worth it. I mean, if you like Hallmark movies and you’re into Sapphic, you’re into queer, and you like holidays, and it’s nice that it wasn’t a Kristmas movie. It talks about Kristmas, but, yes, going from Valentine’s Day to Valentine’s Day, I thought it was perfect. I like it. So that is my official recommendation for this podcast. What is yours, Tara? Tell us.
>> Tara Scott: All right, so mine is the latest. Listen, I haven’t made a secret on this podcast of how, Gunbrook is one of my favourites. She just is because she was one of the first, like, Course of Action was one of the first Sapphic romances I ever read. And so when she has a new one, I always look at the premise and say, okay, yeah, probably this one. Like, I usually give them a try. I am not nearly caught up with her sci fi ones. I tend to prefer her contemporary. So I was happy to see that you released another contemporary romance. So this one is called the Love Book. So this one goes back and forth in perspectives between the two leads. So we have Verity Holden. She works as an assistant to Rowan Cross, who is our other lead. Rowan is this, like, she’s. She’s an ice queen, but she is the head of a literary agency. You know, very good at her job, very good at spotting early talent, you know, and again, it’s. If she’s like, the head of the agency, like, not only is she representing people, but she’s running a whole business. And Rowan needs her assistance to be great. And unfortunately, Verity’s not great at her job. And I think a lot of that comes down to, like, two things. A Verity’s in love with her boss. She just is. and so the book starts there. So there’s not this, like, for her. She’s. She doesn’t have to, like, build up the attraction and the feelings. She already has them. And B, I think that gives her anxiety. And so she shows up poorly. Like she’s afraid to screw up. And so much of it comes from this. Like, I have all these feelings and I don’t know what to do with them. and she’s also had aspirations for years to be an author, so getting to work in this literary agency. Dream, right? But she’s had this, she’s had this problem of starting projects and not finishing them and starting projects and not finishing them and getting up to about 20,000 words and it ends up in the literal or digital shelf. And like, what am I going to do with this? And so one day, and she knows, like, she knows that she’s not doing great and she knows that she’s probably going to be fired. And it’s, you know, you know when you’re kind of at that point. Well, I mean, I haven’t been fired like this and I’m guessing you have either. But you know, when you’re reading about people and it’s like, they know it’s coming, right? It’s like you’re like one or two strikes away from it’s going to happen. And so for whatever reason, like, she’s trying to shift the high priority emails over for Rowan to receive and accidentally sends part of her own manuscript over from her personal email address, which thankfully does not include her name. And so Rowan receives this like, portion, short portion of an, of an anonymous manuscript and it like, absolutely rocks the world. She’s like, this is amazing. We have to get this author. We have to do this. And Verity’s like, email the author.
>> Kris Bryant: We’ll see.
>> Tara Scott: Knowing that she’s the author. Now the other thing is that, so she’s like doing this weird thing where it’s like, oh, yeah, no, the author only wants to email me, so maybe we’re not going to fire me, right? Like, that’s what we’re going to. Because she also has this narrative of like, she’s the screw up in the family. Like, it’s a, it’s, it’s a tough thing for her. And like, she doesn’t want to give, especially her older sister kind of a jerk about a lot of it. Like she doesn’t want to give them the satisfaction of like, oh, look, failed again. I think you’re going to be an author, you can’t even hold down an assistant’s job. And so she’s, like, walking this tightrope. But the thing about this book is that it’s. It’s not just a novel. It’s written in the style of a fictionalised journal. But it’s where she’s been pouring all of her feelings for Row. Oh, right. So what do you do? And that’s the setup for the romance. And honestly, I don’t think I’ve read anything quite like this before. And like I said last time, it’s been really hard for me to read original fiction, especially in the last couple of months. But when I saw this book came out, I was like, you know what? I’ll give it a try. I was completely sucked, like. Right.
>> Kris Bryant: I love that.
>> Tara Scott: Right from the hopper, right?
>> Kris Bryant: I know.
>> Tara Scott: Me too. It like, it just, like it feels like you’re being pulled into. Into a slipstream. Like you just hit that perfect kind of flow state of reading. And it also still fit with what I’ve been reading in Devil. Worst product, because it felt a little bit like an alternative universe setup for it. I don’t think it originated that way. She. She does write Devil worse Prada fanfic, but she typically says in the group, like, hey, guess what? My storey. This got picked up by bold strokes. And I don’t think that happened this one. So I think it was written as, like, an original fiction. I don’t think it originated from there per se, but there is some similarities in the setup because it’s a workplace romance, with an age gap, a boss assistant situation and an ice queen. But there are some really key differences. And so. And I think that’s also what, like, kind of makes it stand on its own and makes it sing.
So Rowan is an ice queen, but she’s a lot softer than we see Miranda Priestly in a lot of the fix. Like, there’s some woof when you go to the original version of Truth and Measure, not the published one.
>> Kris Bryant: She is icy.
>> Tara Scott: Holy shit. Russell Sinclair wrote a really, really icy Miranda Priestly when she was doing fanfic. And there’s others who have done. Done the same. And so Rowan is an ice queen, but also we get to see her warm up to Verity through this process of dealing with the book. Also, you know, we see typically in the Storeys, Andy Sachs is very competent as an assistant. She’s very good. That’s part of her arc in the movie as well.
>> Kris Bryant: Right.
>> Tara Scott: Is this, like, she can pull off the impossible that is not Verity. It’s not hyper competent that, like, competence porn. This is not. And that is.
>> Kris Bryant: Okay.
>> Tara Scott: and like I said, like, when the storey starts, Verity’s already in love. And so we don’t have the typical, like, oh, okay, this one is finding feelings. And this one is finding feelings. Like, no one of them has feelings. But even then, like, she’s really, truly trying to save her job. And she’s not trying to win Rowan over. She’s not trying to make her boss fall in love with her. She. She doesn’t actually expect that. And so I, I do think there was something kind of funny and cute isn’t quite the right word, but like, yeah, it was kind of sweet. This, like, oh my God, I’m so nervous in front of you. I’m literally shaking. And so she comes up with coping mechanisms for it. For example, like when she’s bringing her coffee over, she’ll count her steps to herself because it just lets her. It slows her brain down enough. It gives her brain something to focus on. Like, it’s quite cute. And then. And then Rowan’s like, what are you doing? And she’s like, fuck. I can’t think of anything else. counting. Why are you counting? I have anxiety. Like, it’s just very. There’s something very sweet.
At, one point while I was reading, I did not skip to the end, but what I did do is go to Goodreads because I was curious about, like, so what do other people think of this book? I don’t always do it, but sometimes I do. And it was really interesting to see the reviews. It, like, it rated fairly high.
>> Kris Bryant: Huh?
>> Tara Scott: Like, it did quite well on, Goodreads. Not one of the top ones, but, like, quite good. And it was interesting to see some reviews that said this book is so angsty. And some said this book has no angst at all. And I went, I’ve never seen that before.
>> Kris Bryant: So what’s this? It.
>> Tara Scott: So here’s the thing. I, after finishing the book, I actually think I. I can almost see both sides. I do think there was a bit of angst to it in the sense that all along there’s this sense of like, so, so when is Rowan going to find out that Verity is the author, right? And that all these deep feelings being expressed in this book so beautifully are about her. Like, you’re reading about yourself, lady. Like, when is this going to come out? So I think that definitely drives a lot of the tension, but I actually think the perception of the angst Came down to how well you can handle Verity’s anxiety. Because I think for some people, reading about a character being anxious made them, feel anxious, which drove a perception of angst in the book. I didn’t have that. I was fine. And I mean, I just said, I’ve spent, like, two months this year reading almost nothing but fanfic because things have been too stressful and it’s only March. Yeah, yeah, exactly. So, like, oh, it’s fine for me. But it was. It was just really interesting to see, like, for people who read, truly angsty, because there are some books that, like, And it’s like somebody punched you in the stomach. Like, I think for me, the Goodmans by Claire Ashton is one of the best books I can never read again because there’s so much angst tied up in the twist. Like, the plot twist is so good. This book was not that angstic. It’s just not.
The other thing, too, is so, like, speaking like, so the title of this novel, the Love Book. And I was like, oh, I wonder why it’s called that. And then I realised, so Verity, like, Verity was writing this thing that when the book started, she had about 50,000 words. She added more over the course of it, but it’s like. It’s because she basically was writing an extended love letter. And so I thought that was kind of cute. It’s not just a love letter, it’s a love book.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah.
>> Tara Scott: and I was like, how sweet is that? It was also interesting how this. How this book really, like. Yes. Okay. Eventually the information comes out. I’m not going to say how that went, but, like, the difference between this perception of Verity’s not good at her job. Look at how good this author is at writing.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah.
>> Tara Scott: Look at her masterful craft of the writing. And I think it’s really, What really supports that perception for the reader is we get. We don’t get the full book, of course, because that would require a whole other book that’s nothing but her feelings for her boss. But we get good chunks of it. Like, we get passages of it that we get to read. And also interesting is that sometimes it’s Rowan reading it to herself, but sometimes, because Rowan doesn’t know who the author is, she knows, that the author is only talking to Verity. Sometimes she. She makes Verity read it out loud to her.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh, my goodness. I know, right?
>> Tara Scott: They also have, you know, they have these, like, very different personalities. So I liked that juxtaposition between them. Rowan is very serious. She’s Driven. She’s very professional. Verity’s just. She’s really warm, she’s creative, she loves to wear bright colours. But even then they have like this one thing in common, which is that both of them have bad relationships with their families. So, you know, there is a lot that’s, I will say the one like you’re either going to get into it or not. There’s a lot that’s going on with this book. So, you know, there is the. There’s those family dynamics that impact how they show up. There’s also stuff that’s, you know, more fun than that. Verdi has a parrot whose name is Horatio, who. I didn’t know that I would fall in love with a parrot in a book, but here we are.
>> Kris Bryant: Yay.
>> Tara Scott: There is a situation where they have to take in these newborn puppies just for like a day. It was wild. Like, they are newborn, but to prevent them from being euthanized, they had to take them in until foster. The foster family could be found. And I was like, wait, what are we really talking about euthanizing puppies? But like, it sort of ends up, it’s fucking bonkers, but it sort of makes sense. And then the foster family who ends up taking them in are side characters that we see a little bit of in her book Scarlet Love, which I was like, oh, that family. That was also part of why I looked it up on Goodreads, because I was like, are there too many things happening in this book? And then I really sat back and considered it, because it. There are. Like I said, there are a lot of elements there going on. But also, I don’t think it mattered to me because I really enjoyed it. I had a great time reading it. And I also read the whole thing in less than 24 hours.
>> Kris Bryant: Wow.
>> Tara Scott: So like, yes, there are a lot of elements, but I think they all actually ended up making sense. Yeah. It’s called the Love Book by Gunbrook. I had a great time reading it. Very sweet tonnes of feelings and honestly, even just that whole dynamic between the two of them and, this is beautiful. That’s my recommendation.
>> Kris Bryant: Nice.
>> Tara Scott: That is all for this episode. Thank you to everyone who is listening. If you have a friend who you think would be interested in anything we talked about today, please, you know, send a link to them or tell them about this show. And if you want to support us, we do have a link in our show Notes to our coffee.
>> Kris Bryant: Nice. Or if you want to connect with us on, your favourite social media sites, we have links in the show notes for that as well. Or you can just text us. Can you text us? No, but you can email us. Some people can text us. Some people can text us. You know, you know us.
>> Tara Scott: If you already have our number, you may text us. Otherwise you can find us on social media and message us there.