It’s 2026, so we’re talking about plagues and protests. Kris is sick again after spending too much time around small children, which means she has a bevy of binge-worthy television to recommend. Despite a board game haul and a blast from gaming past, Tara’s also had time to read a book or two. They also talk about prologue protocol and epilogue etiquette.
Official Recommendations
From Kris: Deadloch (Amazon Prime)
Kris’s recommendation this week is Deadloch, an Australian black-comedy crime mystery series set in a remote town that’s dealing with a murder. Kris praised the character work and the different approach to comedy (including its face-eating seal named Kevin). Deadloch is in its second season now, but Kris’s recommendation is solely for its first.
From Tara: Margin of Error by Rachel Lacey
Tara’s official recommendation this week is Margin of Error by Rachel Lacey. This sapphic romance begins with a chance meeting and a traumatic event that impacts the two leads, who reconnect a couple of years later in a small town in Vermont. Tara loved how this story shows two women coming to their sexuality later in life and the different ways that is expressed. It’s a deliciously slow burn, and Tara thinks that if you’re into slow, you’ll love this book.
Works/People Discussed
- What’s Wrong With You (game)
- Game of Thrones (HBO)
- Tempting Olivia by Clare Ashton
- Extracted (Fox)
- Bridgerton (Netflix)
- RuPaul’s Drag Race: UK vs. the World (BBC Three)
- RuPaul’s Drag Race (World of Wonder)
- Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles (Square Enix)
- Taylor Tomlinson: Prodigal Daughter (2026)
- Of Potions and Honey by Cara N. Delaney
Support & Follow the Show
Transcript
>> Tara Scott: Hey everyone. Welcome to Queerly Recommended the podcast. 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 novel.
>> Kris Bryant: And I’m Kris Bryant, a contemporary romance writer for Bold Strokes books. And this week I’m recommending a 2023 TV series on Amazon Prime.
>> Tara Scott: Kris, it’s been a couple weeks. What’s been going on with you?
>> Kris Bryant: So I’m sick again. No, this is, now I have bronchitis. So I went from COVID to bronchitis, like with a month health, a healthy month in between. And this will be my life. Apparently I fit that age where I’m going to catch everything. I’m around small children and. Yeah, so this is my new life.
>> Tara Scott: Those small children are like little petri dishes.
>> Kris Bryant: They are. But you know what? They’re so damn cute, I can’t say no.
>> Tara Scott: Did you, did you have a small child cough in your mouth? It’s nice that they do that directly sometimes, right?
>> Kris Bryant: Or they like, you know, to touch you on your face and you’re just like, I’m gonna catch it. But it was also the ice cream we shared. Same spoon. Like that happens.
>> Tara Scott: Oh yeah. I think you found it. I think you figured it out. Oh no.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah, I was like, let’s try some ice cream. And he’s like, so, yep, it’s just gonna happen. It’s gonna be my life.
>> Tara Scott: Babies are cute little germ magnets and distributors.
>> Kris Bryant: Right. But I’m gonna be healthy by this weekend because here across the land we are having the no Kings protest.
>> Tara Scott: Or two days ago, if you’re listening to this on Tuesday.
>> Kris Bryant: Yes. I’m so sorry. Yes. So this past weekend I’m going to the protests because it’s very important. Yeah.
>> Tara Scott: Is this your first one?
>> Kris Bryant: No, no, no, no, no.
>> Tara Scott: For the no Kings one. I mean.
>> Kris Bryant: No, no. Well, I said like, oh, no, I’ve been too many. I’ve been to two. So I have signs already. Yeah, so I have signs. And so like in Kansas City, they have one down on the plaza. It’ll be a big one, there’ll be thousands of people. And I’m like, but then where I live, like maybe three miles away, you know, a lot of suburbias are putting them on too. It’s huge. It’s gonna be massive.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: And so there’s one that’s like four miles from my house. I’m like that sounds easier. I mean, for me to stand for a long period of time right now does not sound appealing. So I’m hoping that by Saturday and after all of my medicines are over, that I’ll feel better.
>> Tara Scott: That’s amazing. Yeah. it’s really important and it’s been interesting to see, even from here, keeping track of some of the numbers, that there’s just more and more and more people showing up to them and knowing that like the best ways to. What is it? Something like the, the more. The most effective ways of overturning authoritarianism is through nonviolent, like widespread nonviolent protest. And so it might feel for some people, like, well, it’s just one day. What’s the point? But it is this like, building of a movement. And how many people are showing up to protest that have never done it in their life before? Right.
>> Kris Bryant: Like, I can’t remember the last time I protested, you know? well, I can actually. It was a. We did a LGBTQ protest or one
>> Tara Scott: of those schools, I was going to say. I think I remember. Wasn’t it something to do with trans kids? Yeah, to support them.
>> Kris Bryant: So. Yeah. So, I mean, I guess I do. But yeah, it’s like it wasn’t a huge rally, it wasn’t a huge protest, sadly. But it was also a smaller city, smaller town, not too far from me.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: So it was one of those, well, we’re going to do this, so let’s go.
>> Tara Scott: Well, it’s. I think it’s one of those things that’s still important and especially for something like that where, you know, there were. There were like trans kids and their families who were there. Right. as many people who could be there. They knew that those people care about them in their community. So I think that’s amazing.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah. So I do it more. I. I don’t remember having to protest when I was younger. I mean there. I mean, there’s always been issues here. In the world. I understand that. But that affects us so greatly. Like this is just like the worst administration ever. And so it’s time to clean house. With everything that’s come to light, I mean, I can’t understand why he’s still in. Cannot figure it out.
>> Tara Scott: I don’t know enough to answer that one either. enablers. Lots of.
>> Kris Bryant: I know. People getting paid off. It’s like, like you are risking, you know, this whole like m. I don’t know, humanity. It’s just like they don’t care. They just. It’s in it for money and it’s so funny because I was having this argument with somebody and I want to say it was somebody in our community, so I have to be careful. But there was an argument about people being scared to go against him. And I’m like, sometimes you have to, like, you just have to. I mean, that’s your job as a representative of the people. You just have to. You just don’t get to take all the. The glory and all the money. You have to actually represent your people and you know anymore by the time you’re at that level, you’re so far removed from the people, it doesn’t even matter to you.
>> Tara Scott: No, no. History is going to not remember a lot of people kindly.
>> Kris Bryant: Right? M. Yeah. Agree.
>> Tara Scott: Well, I think it’s great that you’re going.
>> Kris Bryant: Thank you. Thank you with that. It’s pretty much news for my life, around my life. What about you? What’s, new with you? Anything?
>> Tara Scott: No, things are. Things are going along. It’s. While we’re recording this, it is March break in Calgary.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh, March break. Okay.
>> Tara Scott: I know. So it’s like, it’s fairly late. All my co workers that are in other parts of the country, they had it last week, but for some reason it’s. It’s this week. So. Yeah, I’ve occasionally had a kid show up while I’m in a zoom call. I think the funniest one was I was like, why? Why are you here? And it was like my lunch had been delivered. I think Neil was out running an errand or something like that. And the dogs were in there with me because I’d had a ham sandwich delivered and they’re nothing, of course, beggars. They’re like, so ham for me. And I’m like, no, go away. You only showed up for the ham bit. Root.
>> Kris Bryant: Right.
>> Tara Scott: And then my kid kind of comes in and I said, hey, like, what. Why are you here? And they said, well, I was told to watch the dogs. I said, you don’t have to watch them when they’re in the office with me. Like, we’re good. I got the dogs, so yeah, it’ll be good when they go back to school next week. One fun thing that did happen over the last week was we had a power outage, which I know doesn’t typically sound like a fun thing.
>> Kris Bryant: Wow.
>> Tara Scott: So power went out. It was last Friday and it was some. A little after 11. And so we have a group text with our next door neighbors. Yep. Their power outage is out too. So it’s not just our house. Okay. So Neil’s checking the company’s website and they’re like, yeah, it’s out in these five neighborhoods, our neighborhood included.
>> Kris Bryant: Great.
>> Tara Scott: It’ll be back online around 2. And so we were like, oh, well, all, right then. And so Neil, our youngest and I, we took Amber for a walk and she loved it. That was great. Just kind of a spontaneous out of nowhere. And then we created the dogs and we packed the family up to go to. There’s a gaming store where you can get all kinds of board games and like card based games. Games and like any kind of tabletop gaming you can think of, they probably have it in their store. And we picked up some games for March break. And so actually after we record this episode, we will do another one.
But there’s one game in particular that was really fun. and I’m typing to look for the name. I think it’s called what’s wrong with you? I hope that’s right. I don’t know. We’ll put the name of the actual game in the show. Notes. I think it’s called something like what’s wrong with you? You can play it in a pair. You can play with up to four people. But the idea is like you’re given all these. There’s cards and there’s four items on them. Like two on two things on one side, two things on the other side. And it’s like just names of things. It could be, you know, like sleeves, it could be tree, could be, it could be anything. And then there’s instruction cards. And so when you’re playing in pairs, you’re basically trying to get the other part of your pair to guess it. And so if there’s a drawing prompt, like every prompt or every set of instructions, like you’re going to draw this one. But there’s always something weird. So I had to do one where it’s like you have to draw whatever the word is and they have to guess it and you have to do as many as you can within a time limit. But I had to draw with only circles.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh, that’s interesting, right?
>> Tara Scott: Or there’s another one where you, you have to draw but not on a table. So you have to like hold it in your lap or your hand or whatever it is to do it. There were some where it was like, you can act but not speak. So sort of like charades. But you have to have your back turned to the person or you can talk it out, but you have to have your, your tongue stuck out the whole time. So it’s really, Sometimes it’s kind of like a, like, especially if you’re trying to get the other person to guess. It’s like, come on, why is this is so hard? Who came up with these bizarre prompts? It was so fun and we laughed.
>> Kris Bryant: It sounds so, so, Much fun. Yeah.
>> Tara Scott: We laughed so much playing this game. Our youngest chose it and it was such a good pick. So definitely it’s not a queer anything, but definitely recommend that as like an activity with friends or family or whatever because it was so much fun. So, yeah, that’s been our, our weekend. It’s been pretty good.
>> Kris Bryant: Nice. But I will say this like you and I have an extreme temperature difference going on right now.
>> Tara Scott: yeah, it’s a little below freezing today. It’s. We’re recording this on Wednesday, March 25th and we got, I think about a foot of snow. Poor Henry. Poor Henry Rollins was bouncing around the backyard and there was like snow up to his chest. He was overheard.
>> Kris Bryant: Did he love it?
>> Tara Scott: I think so. Until he came inside and he had these little snowballs all over his whole body.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh yeah, that’s tough. Those. Yeah. Whereas here in Kansas City, the high is 86 degrees. I’m looking for shorts wild. Like they are packed away and. Yeah, we’re doing that. That crazy swing that we get air conditioner on. No, I won’t do it in March.
>> Tara Scott: Fair.
>> Kris Bryant: That just seems like. No, like a little. We literally. Geez. We literally went from heat. Like I don’t want to go from heat to air like in the same day.
>> Kris Bryant: Not even in the same week. Give me three weeks where I can open the windows and just enjoy the the breeze, the nice.
>> Tara Scott: Right.
>> Kris Bryant: Not super hot temperatures. Yeah, it’s extreme. The swings here are extreme on the jet stream.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah, very much so.
>> Tara Scott: We’ve had some nice spring like weather so far, but it just, we don’t get. And to be fair, this is pretty normal for Calgary. We don’t really get April showers. We get snow showers. We get spring, spring snow showers here. Just saying the ground needs it regardless, so that’s fine. But as soon as I thought of it that way, I was like, oh, okay, I can stop being so bummed about it. Snowing so much. Like, yeah, it’s annoying, but yeah, whatever. That’s how we get it.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah. I would just hibernate if I lived in Canada. This is a true story. I would.
>> Tara Scott: You can, retire and hibernate up here. Yes. Later. Someday.
All right, Kris, what have you been watching? Recently. Because I’m guessing if you’ve been so sick, you probably have not been reading, right?
>> Kris Bryant: I have because I was on the couch for five days. I decided I needed to watch something that would take a very long time to get through.
>> Tara Scott: Okay.
>> Kris Bryant: So I decided to watch Game of Thrones again.
>> Tara Scott: Oh, like the original series?
>> Kris Bryant: Not watching the original series. Yes. It has been seven years since the final episode aired.
>> Tara Scott: Uh-huh.
>> Kris Bryant: So I was like, well, I’ll just watch it again. And there are two things that came to light.
>> Tara Scott: What’s that?
>> Kris Bryant: One was I forgot a lot.
>> Tara Scott: Oh, okay. Yeah. Well, you do watch a lot of tv.
>> Kris Bryant: And it rings differently now because of the Epstein files.
>> Tara Scott: Tell me more.
>> Kris Bryant: So, I mean, we all know, like in history books you’d hear about, oh, the King or the Queen got married at age 9. And like the whole show is just basically about like, rape, young women. Like, it’s, it’s like the whole show. I mean. I was super aware of it. Super hypersensitive to it.
>> Tara Scott: That’s why I didn’t watch it.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah. I mean, it’s, it’s, it’s a hard series. A very good series, sadly. But if you take all that out, it’s a great series. And I just didn’t realize how it’s always been around. Like, it has always been around. M. And it’s just like, God, that
>> Tara Scott: was one of the things that was really annoying about some of the justifications for, like, there being so much in there and George R.R. martin saying, well, there’s a lot of rape in history. And it’s like, okay, but there’s dragons. Can we dream? If we can dream a world with dragons and ice giants, can we dream of a world where we don’t have sexuals? Salt.
>> Kris Bryant: Right.
>> Kris Bryant: And it was just. And the whole time we just like, like, yeah, it was, it was hard.
>> Tara Scott: Did you watch all of it?
>> Kris Bryant: I am like in season four, the. Almost towards the end of season four, I looked at Deb and I’m like, look, I just want to watch Arya Stark. I want to see Jon Snow and I want. There was three things that I wanted to see and I can’t remember what the third one was, but like everything else. Oh, Daenerys Hell, like, for sure, Khaleesi. I wanted to see that, you know, how she came about and that kind of stuff. But it was like, like every single woman in that feared rape. Every single woman, every single child. Like, it was just like, ah, like this is so hard because, like, now it’s. It’s going to be everywhere. I’m going to notice it more. A lot of the movies I’ve seen in the past, they’re going to hit me differently. And I was surprised by how differently it hit me watching it again.
>> Tara Scott: That’s interesting. And it makes a ton of sense. I mean, I will say that the way I went from being easily able to read workplace romances with, like, a boss and an employee before and after. Me too. It was like a switch flipped. Like, really seeing the discussions about. I mean, it was mostly about these, like, terrible men who were doing terrible things to women, but also realizing, like, oh, when there’s that big of a power imbalance. And I can still. I’ll still read it sometimes, but it’s mostly because I want to see how do they handle that aspect of it? How do they deal with it? How do, like, what do they do to make it okay? And even then, it’s not even just boss employee stuff. It’s kind of anywhere where there’s, like, a real ethical. This isn’t right. Whether it’s like, a lawyer, like, tempting Olivia. Olivia is the divorce attorney for Kate. I haven’t read it. Harper Bliss has a new one where it’s like, a patient and a therapist. And I’m not. I don’t know about that one. I don’t know if I can read that one. That one feels too far.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah.
>> Tara Scott: Out. And she’s known for her, like, writing about taboo subjects. And maybe she did do a good job with it because I’ve enjoyed many of her other ones that fell under that sort of, like, a taboo situation, which is usually like somebody falling for their best friend’s mom or whatever.
>> Kris Bryant: But that’s true.
>> Tara Scott: But I don’t know, it just feels like there’s something different about therapists. So this is also, like, no shade at all to Harper Bliss. Like, you know, write what you want, do your thing. That’s awesome. And I’ve been, like, a huge fan of many her books. It’s just one of those, like. Yeah, seeing some of these things play out does make it harder.
It is interesting, though, because I feel like I can see what you mean about the Epstein files, changing how you look at. Because I think what we saw through that is. And this is really mostly via the email. So these are the things that people were willing to say over email, knowing that they could eventually end up in lawsuits or, like, in courtrooms or all that. So there’s a lot not being said, but that there was this like large scale, coordinated effort.
>> Kris Bryant: Right.
>> Tara Scott: To shape the way the public views certain things. You know, a huge part of why we ended up with the incel movement. We see in there. He was counseling people on the whole me too thing. Like, it’s. It’s wild to realize that so many of the beauty standards that you and I grew up with, M were because of these people who really did just want to like little girls. That’s what’s attractive. And it’s like, fuck off.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah, Let me age.
>> Tara Scott: Let me become the crone. As long as I can be employable. I don’t care about M. The wrinkles on my face.
>> Kris Bryant: I don’t either.
>> Tara Scott: M. Anyway, did you watch anything else?
>> Kris Bryant: Yes. So. Because again, I’m on the couch forever. And so, you know, I’ve talked about extraction in the past. The series. Extraction, TV series. God, I can’t talk.
>> Kris Bryant: So I’ve talked about extraction in the past. And it’s where family members, like, there’s like three family members and one gets dropped off in the woods and they have to like, survive. And so, like, the family members are in what’s called headquarters, or I think that’s what it’s called. And so they have to play a social game to get their loved ones who are out in the woods, like food or like shelter, blanket. So they have to work together or against each other to get supplies to their loved one. That’s how it’s weird. It’s how it works. Okay, but you know how I, am. I love.
>> Tara Scott: Sounds intense.
>> Kris Bryant: It sounds intense, but it’s really not. It’s not that bad. Okay, first of all, I would like to say that if you’re going to be on a show like this, at least spend one night in your backyard outside by yourself, you know? Or hey, maybe even learn how to make a fire with just like some wood and like rubbing sticks together and
>> Tara Scott: watch an episode of Alone.
>> Kris Bryant: Exactly. I mean, learn a little bit before. I mean, we. These people, they have probably never touched grass in their life. And so they go out there and like, after two days, they’re done. Like, people are like, pull me, extract me. I can’t do this. Like, it’s only had two seasons and both seasons have had people tap out, like the first day. Like, did they make it 24 hours? I don’t think so. So that’s what I said. Like, if you’re gonna sign up for a show like this, even Survivor, like, sleep outside. Just sleep outside. See what it’s like. Can you handle it? What If a bug gets on you, you know, that kind of stuff. Yeah. It’s always interesting though, to, to see like people and they have bears. They’re up. They’re up in Canada. They’re up in Canada somewhere.
>> Tara Scott: I recommend that.
>> Kris Bryant: So yeah, I know I may, look,
>> Tara Scott: I may live in Canada, but I do not hang out with the bears, so.
>> Kris Bryant: But they have like those big loud horns, you know, that you can blow and like at sporting events, really loud. Yes, they have that. And that noise scares the bears. So this one bear had her two cubs and they’re like, this guy’s sleeping like 10ft from them and he like. And they’re yelling like headquarters, you know, they can’t hear, but they’re yelling at, this guy, wake up. Doug, wake up. It’s middle of the day. And so he like hears something and he kind of rolls over. He’s like, oh my God. He reaches for it and he like, honk, honk. You know that. And the bears run. They run immediate. I wish I would have known that like when I was in Alaska instead of like bear spray. Let’s do some loud noises.
>> Tara Scott: So next time you go to Alaska
>> Kris Bryant: now you can do that. I will be an expert. I will have slept outside.
>> Tara Scott: When you write book two set in Alaska.
>> Kris Bryant: Right? I do need to do that. I do. I need to get back into writing.
>> Tara Scott: I mean, what if there was another book set in that area? People did love that book a whole lot.
>> Kris Bryant: I did like that book Breakthrough.
>> Tara Scott: I heard it was reviewed well.
>> Kris Bryant: Ah, it was reviewed well.
>> Tara Scott: I don’t know who did that.
>> Kris Bryant: It won an award. So. I mean, all the books that you read of mine and review, they win awards.
>> Tara Scott: And then I had to start a podcast with you, so I couldn’t review your books anymore. Sorry, friend. Cherish won though. I didn’t review that one. I love it.
>> Kris Bryant: That was a cute book.
>> Tara Scott: I gotta reread that book. This has turned into the, Kris Bryant fangirl. Yay.
>> Kris Bryant: Let’s do it. I need some more of it. I need it because I need to get back into writing. Like, I’m sure people. I look at that. I’m so ego. Oh, I’m sure people miss my stuff, but I’m sure that there are people are like, when are you going to write again? Yeah, especially my boss. When are you going to send it a book? I don’t know. M. When the world stops imploding and
>> Tara Scott: Yeah, I mean, there are still some people who are putting out, books for sure, but it is Also interesting to see I did a big thing. Actually. Here’s what I could have said in my update. I. I went into my Kindle account and I cleared out, like, seven or 800 files.
>> Kris Bryant: Wow.
>> Tara Scott: Including even, like, there were a whole ton of harlequins that I bought, like, over a decade ago, back before I discovered Sapphic fiction. It’s like, I’m never gonna read these again. And, like, my Kindle was just chugging. It was acting weird. I think I’d had too much stuff downloaded. And, like, as I was checking, like, I was clearing things out. And I was also had to clear out duplicates because clearly, sometimes I would send myself the same review file. Like, because as a reviewer, I get. I often get free copies, in exchange for an honest review. But there were times where I must have forgotten I’d already sent it to myself, and I would just send it again. And I was like, let’s get rid of the duplicates. And seeing some of the authors who used to do a lot of books that aren’t public, that haven’t published in years. Like, Nell Stark. Yeah, she was awesome and did a ton of them. Jove Bell. Haven’t seen her in the community in a long time.
>> Kris Bryant: Heather Blackmore.
>> Tara Scott: Yep. Ray Magden. Like, oh, yeah. It was interesting to see some of the. Like, it was. It was almost this, like, little time capsule of Sapphic fiction that I have in my Kindle account that. That’s, like. It’s really special. And I. And I love it a lot. So.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah, I mean, there are, like. We talked about this in Gulfport. on one of the panels, people were talking about how, like, I personally can’t write right now because, like I said, everything’s imploding. It’s just too much for me. It’s. It’s. There’s just too much for me. I can’t. I can’t be creative. And there are some people on the panel that are like, I have to be creative right now. I have to let people know that they’re still, you know, we’re still here. Our stories are important. And, like, yeah, it was almost said in a way that made me feel bad about my choice. Like, I cannot produce good stuff right now. I mean, I’m still a member. I still love everybody. I still. I mean, I’m still a part of all of us. And it’s just. It’s. I’m crawling out of this hole, and it is a slow crawl, but I will get there because there’s too much in my head that I need to get out, but it’s just going to take time.
>> Tara Scott: I think it’s a tough one because, I mean, there’s so much information all the time of, like, horrible things happening.
>> Kris Bryant: Right.
>> Tara Scott: in your country, specifically. And it’s not only happening in your country, there’s bad things happening in every country.
>> Kris Bryant: Right.
>> Tara Scott: Like, that is kind of. To go back to the whole no Kings protest thing. It’s by design that your country’s nervous systems are meant. Like, everybody’s nervous system is meant to be on edge so that you’re numb and so that you can’t.
>> Kris Bryant: Right.
>> Tara Scott: You can’t do things like get together and protest. And it’s a tough one because I don’t think there’s. I don’t think there is a right or wrong reason. And I understand the, like, wanting, like, feeling like we need to continue to show up, especially for our little sapphic fiction community. I mean, I’ve talked to people here and there about how I’ve been writing a lot fewer reviews in the last several years. But also, like, I was talking to Neil about it the other day, and it’s hard because a part of me feels like, oh, I should try to do more because it’s the thing I can do right now to help support our community. And it’s also like, okay, when and how it’s not fun. Talking about books right now is still really fun, which is why I love that we still do this podcast, because I am giving audio reviews of books every two weeks, and that’s still important and it’s still meaningful. But, I mean, how many books have you written now? You say in the intro, over 20. It’s probably over 25 at this point.
>> Kris Bryant: I think it’s 24 book books. I mean, they’re short stories and novellas, but, like, if I’m new to you, I have a big backlist, and hopefully that will keep you busy until I can finally produce something new. Knows me. you know, they’ll wait.
>> Tara Scott: I’m trying to remind myself that I’ve probably across, like, at the beginning of every episode, I say that I review at the Lesbian Review and Smart Bitches. Trashy Books. I also was a staff reviewer at Curve magazine before and at, Lambda Literary. And across all four publications, I’ve probably reviewed almost a thousand books.
>> Kris Bryant: That’s, amazing.
>> Tara Scott: So, like, it’s okay if other people want to step up and do the written reviewing. I’m still committed to talking about books here. I will keep doing it until you get Sick of talking to me about this stuff on this show.
>> Kris Bryant: I love it.
>> Tara Scott: Oh, my God.
Do you still have something else that you’ve watched recently? We have. We are going all over the place.
>> Kris Bryant: We are.
>> Tara Scott: ADHD wore off hours and hours ago.
>> Kris Bryant: Go. This might be a really long podcast. The only thing I’m really excited about is the, Bridgerton the next season. Like, they’re just starting to film it. I mean, but we have sapphic leads. And I have watched Bridgerton since the beginning. You know, I mean, Bridgerton, I love it.
>> Tara Scott: Yes.
>> Kris Bryant: I love it so much. And then all of a sudden I was like, so there is something for everyone. And it was like, people are getting. There was somebody on threads and they said something like, hey, I’m not homophobic, but I don’t think I’m gonna watch Bridgerton because I don’t really want to watch women. Oh, no. Somebody said something about because there’s a black woman. I wanted to watch it, but then I found out that it’s two women. And I’m not homophobic, but I don’t want to watch women kiss. And so. Oh, yeah. No.
>> Tara Scott: Was it everybody?
>> Kris Bryant: Yes. And everybody schooled her and like, just dragged her. And it was because I was like, I don’t know, like, I didn’t get to know this person. It was just like, I saw it and like, and I should know better because my threats family have m already covered this. But I went into the comments because I was ready to blow it up and like, no, the family showed up and they like, boom, boom, boom. This is exactly what homophobia is. This is exactly, like, listen to yourself. Like, you know, and some people were nice about it. Like, maybe she just doesn’t know and we’ll teach her. Like, you can’t say stuff like that because that’s what it means. But Bridgerton has queerness on every season. And Benedict Bridgerton, which I just recommended not too long ago, like that whole season, last season. Yeah, bisexual. Like, he’s making out with a man at the very beginning, but he ends up, you know, oh, shocker. He ends up with the woman at the end. Surprise. I just ruined it.
>> Tara Scott: But that’s fine, I’ll forget.
>> Kris Bryant: Exactly. But you kind of know that’s what’s going to happen. I mean, with every Bridgerton kid, there’s going to be a love story. And. And everybody knows ahead of time that this next season is with between two Women. I’m very excited.
>> Tara Scott: Very exciting.
>> Kris Bryant: So that is. I mean, I’ve watched so much more but that’s. That’s just sums it up in a nutshell.
So what about you, Tara? What have you been reading and watching or playing?
>> Tara Scott: All of it. It’s all been happening. Okay, so RuPaul’s Drag Race UK versus the World is Over. It was a fabulous season. I recommend for anybody who was interested in that. Also, RuPaul’s Drag Race, the main U.S. season. They’re in season 18. Last week was the makeover episode. And I think I told you before, I love, love, love.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh, yeah.
>> Tara Scott: Makeover episode.
>> Kris Bryant: Right.
>> Tara Scott: And I thought my favorites were when they got to makeover their own family members, because it’s usually like, a parent or a sibling, and especially when it’s the parents. And in the more recent seasons, how they’re like, I’ve always. You know, I’ve always been supportive of my. Of my child. You know, these, like, beautiful stories. No, this time they brought in cowboys from the gay rodeo, and it was fabulous. It was such a fun episode. Even if you only watch that one episode, it is so fun to see, because that means they were. They, were only making up these men who were gay. In one case, they had a former drag queen, which was very interesting. And she talked about how she walked away from drag because she felt like she had lost connection with her. Maybe I should be talking about him with he. Him pronouns. Usually when I talk about queens, it’s with the, she, her, but she, her.
>> Kris Bryant: Right.
>> Tara Scott: So he was talking about how he quit drag because he had lost. He felt like he had lost connection with his masculine side, and he wanted to refine that connection. And so there’s, like, a whole storyline just around this person, and what did it mean coming back and, you know, walking the main stage, and what did that mean for their journey? And it was really cool. And then there was another. There was another one who was talking about how he had been in the military, and he had been in the military during Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell there. And he had a friend who had a girlfriend who was trans, and he ended up being beaten to death in this, like, how, like, it was so sad, like, and it really sat with him and how he’s never felt like he could allow himself to connect with a feminine side. So being put into drag is this, like, really beautiful. I mean, it’s such a good episode, and they have, like. And it’s just. It’s so fun. It’s so good.
On my Nintendo, I did not finish Moonstone Island. I’m enjoying it very much. But for some reason, out of nowhere, on, I believe it was the power outage day while the power was back at that point. But I was like, you know what? I picked up Final Fantasy tactics over the holidays and I should start playing it. And that is a game from, I think like the. It’s from like the 1990s. Yeah, it’s been remastered a couple times. I think I played it for about an hour that night getting started. But it was the next day and I was playing and I was like, oh, no. And I texted one of my best, like my best friend from work because he’s also played it. And I was like, oh, I think I fucked up picking up this game. I’m gonna be in trouble. So that’s been very fun. And the best thing about not having the best memory is, is I don’t remember. I don’t remember the story because I haven’t played it in almost 20 years. It’s great. I get to experience it all over again. Nice. Taylor Tomlinson has a new comedy special.
>> Kris Bryant: Yes.
>> Tara Scott: Prodigal Daughter. Yeah, I would absolutely have it as an official recommendation, but I don’t know how to review some standup comedy.
>> Kris Bryant: Right.
>> Tara Scott: And like, to be able to talk about it for more than 30 seconds. I really enjoyed it. Although it was interesting watching it with Neil. And it really does feel like she said, here’s a show for all the religious trauma babies. Because there were a lot of jokes that I found hilarious.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh, yeah. And that it was held in a church.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah, yeah, it was held in a church. And so our oldest was with us for part of it and ended up leaving because it was boring. And the reason it was boring for them is that they didn’t know anything to do with the Bible, the church, how the church works, any of that stuff. But because I was like, in it, in it until my mid-30s, I was dying, there were some jokes that were so good. And it’s not all just about religious trauma, but I’m good. but I’m saying, like, if you have it, M. That’s very good.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah, we watched it too. It was hilarious.
>> Tara Scott: and then I finished a novel. Oh, the blurb, like at the very bottom of the blurb on Amazon. Because you know how sometimes, like, they’ll do a blurb and then there’s like a tagline of, you know.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh, yeah, this is who it’s for. Right.
>> Tara Scott: And so the book is called Of Potions and Honey by Kara N. Delaney. And it says it’s a cozy sapphic Romantic fantasy for fans of the Spell Shop and Stardew Valley. I have no idea what the Spell shop is, but I will say if you are a fan of Stardew Valley, you. There’s a really. You’re going to like this book.
So Mira is the main character. She lives in a city. She receives a letter finding out that her uncle died and he left her his potion of Ember Glen. And she’s like, you know what? I’m just get. Fuck it. I’m going to try and make it work. Because she hates her day job. She works at what seems to be like a department store or something like that. And so she’s trying to like, okay, how can I make this work? She used to visit her uncle in the summers when she was a child. And so, like a kid that she used to play with, she bumps into him and they get to know each other all over again as friends. And she has a grumpy but attractive lady neighbor who just happens to be make. Making, growing, growing a lot of the plants that she needs for her potions. You know, at the same time, there’s also. So the. The company that she used to work, work for, they’ve set up a small version of shop in town. Like those guys, they’re the worst. down with capitalism. But, like, she’s trying to make friends and all this. But there’s, sort of a bit of a mystery around. Ember Glen has a, There’s this spring out in the forest, and there’s something special about its water. And it’s something that, like, you know, the water is just. It makes the honey so good. It means that, like, any of the plants in the area, there’s just something special about this area. And it’s all to do with this spring. But it’s drying up. No, what is happening. So, yeah, I would say it was. It was very cute. And when it says that it’s like a cozy, sapphic romantic fantasy. I would say it’s heavier on the fantasy, lighter on the romance. There definitely is a romance there with her neighbor, whose name is Yoni, but it’s not. It’s more of like a B plot, if you will. Like, it’s more. It’s more of a subplot, thing than, like, this is not a romance novel. I would say this is a fantasy novel that has a romance to it. It really is mostly about Mira. She’s trying to make that new life work out. She wants to be a potion maker. She doesn’t know how to do it, she has his recipe book, but it’s like, wait, I’ve never made a potion before. And so we kind of follow her through, you know, messing up some batches and trying to find local suppliers. And so this is where I say, like, if you’re into Stardew Valley and the little like the day to day of growing the vegetables and talking to the neighbors and all that, you are going to love this book. I think it needed an extra chapter or two at the end is kind of my main complaint, about it. It’s sort of. It feels like there were certain things that could have been wrapped a little more. But also I got to the end and I was like, that was cute.
All right, so like an epilogue might have helped this one. I know there’s like epilogues in every book and maybe we need to, as a literature community, talk about, does every book need an epilogue?
>> Kris Bryant: Yes. I mean, I learned that readers want epilogues.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: Remember, I got in trouble because I didn’t read prologues. You were mad at me.
>> Tara Scott: You didn’t read a prologue. Why was I mad at you for that?
>> Kris Bryant: I don’t know. It was a while ago when I confessed that and everybody.
>> Tara Scott: So it wasn’t our first fight in the last episode.
>> Kris Bryant: I mean, it was our first fight maybe like in a long time because.
>> Tara Scott: Oh.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh what?
>> Tara Scott: I’m ready to start a fight. Well, not start a fight, but you’re gonna get mad at me and I gotta tell you.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh, you read the ending.
>> Tara Scott: No, here’s the thing. No, here’s the thing. I’ve noticed that I. So I don’t read the endings anymore.
>> Kris Bryant: Good.
>> Tara Scott: Unless, there’s like really something that’s triggering my internal fight or flight if something is making me fight or.
>> Kris Bryant: You shouldn’t be reading it.
>> Tara Scott: Well, yeah, I could quit the book, but so I’m not. I don’t do that anymore. But what I do look for is when does the first kiss happen?
>> Kris Bryant: Stop it. You know it’s gonna happen.
>> Tara Scott: I want to know when that is.
>> Kris Bryant: Being greedy. Go on the journey with the characters. I am shaking my head at you. I’m so disappointed. Just, you know, ride out. Ride it out. Just.
>> Tara Scott: I knew you. All right, all right. How about to distract yourself, Kris, from your deep disappointment in me, how about you tell me what your official recommendation is?
>> Kris Bryant: Okay, so my official recommendation, thanks to Claire Ashton with her threads, comments, is Deadloch season one.
>> Kris Bryant: And season two is out now. So I’m going there next. But I’m just specifically going to talk about season one.
>> Tara Scott: Okay, let’s go.
>> Kris Bryant: So this is a series that is on Amazon prime and I want to say you can see it on Apple too, but I watched it on Amazon, so I’m going to read the blurb and then we’ll get into it. On the eve of the Deadloch winter Feastival. Feastival. The body of local football slash rugby, because football there is rugby. Club coach Trent Latham is found on the beach. Sergeant Dulce Collins takes charge, but Detective Eddie Redcliffe arrives to take over the investigation, causing friction. It’s a whodunit series and keeps you guessing until the very end. So there is lots of queer rep in this series, like the lead detective, Dulce. She’s a lesbian. She has a devoted, almost obsessively too sweet and too clingy wife named Cath.
>> Tara Scott: Okay.
>> Kris Bryant: There’s another sapphic couple and several gay men. And also has a lot of positive women who are strong and heroes roar type moments like that that happens throughout the whole series. So this series is absolutely hilarious. And it’s not like slapstick American comedy, it’s Australian. So the, comedy, it’s a different type of comedy and it hits you differently. So it’s like, yes, very quirky and also very indirect. And it’s one of those where it catches. Your mind’s still kind of working through it and as it’s moving on and you start laughing because it’s like it hits you a little bit later. And maybe I’m just not used to that humor yet, but it’s perfect. I love it.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: The thing about this is there’s a lot of character growth and, you know, how about character growth and relationships and all that good stuff.
>> Kris Bryant: So Eddie is actually a female. A woman. Eddie Radcliffe is a woman. Yeah, she comes in and she’s very loud and crass and she’s fuck this, balls everything. She tits out. Like she says everything all the time. Whereas, Dulce is very like classy, quiet, reserved, very tall. And here comes this little dark haired, fiery woman, you know, just like knocks over, puts her feet up on everything and, and she like, she has to take over the investigation. And Dulce doesn’t like it because the way she’s treating everything, it’s just like, oh, it was the brother. Oh, it was this person, you know, just no evidence, like, let’s just arrest them. And Dulce’s like, you have to like, we have to go through the proper channels to do this. You just can’t like arrest people. That’s not how it works here. So there’s this town Deadloch only has like 2400 people. It’s kind of a small town.
>> Kris Bryant: And everybody in this town is terrible at everything. Like they are terrible at everything. So the constables who work with Zelsea are terrible. Like Sven, he’s a great guy. He’s hilarious in this show. He just doesn’t give a fuck. Like it’s something important. He’s like, oh, by the way, you got a message. And oh yeah, the report’s back on this. Like he just, it is not his career choice. He made a decision and he hates his decision. So he just like reads magazines and clips things. And it’s just funny because like Dulce’s like, I just, I need to. The first murder in forever and we’re trying to solve this and I don’t have any help. Like she has another constable, Abby. I mean, Eddie calls her Big Eyes because she’s always like, like, what, am I doing? What am I supposed to do? Like, yeah, so her constables don’t care until they do. Until they realize, oh my gosh, I’m helping with something. And they, they themselves have character growth too. So it’s fun to see them go through the changes. And like Abby, she goes from this very timid person too. She gets a backbone. She starts standing up and, and asking questions and doing things on her own. And so it’s very cool to watch all these characters grow. Like I said, the women shine and most of the men are misogynistic. No surprise there. Like, no surprise.
>> Kris Bryant: Like the commissioner who has sent Eddie down to help Dulce is like, you’re doing a terrible job. How come you don’t have a name yet? How come nobody’s arrested? We’re just going to come down there and we’re going to take over because you’re crappy at your job. And so he comes down with a bunch of cops and they’re like, step out of the way Mrs. We’ll take over this. And you could tell he just like, like, yeah, it’s, it’s terrible. And so the best thing is happening is that you know, you, you want Dulcie to speak up, like, speak up against these people. Say like, I’m doing everything, you know, and she just kind of lets it happen. But she’s still doing her own investigation. Her and Eddie are starting to, to click better because before they were just like at odds and they’re clicking better, they’re working better and so they’re solving Everything. And you see all the cops, the, the men in the background, like just flub it up completely. Like they’re running on wrong leads. Like they just like head first into everything without even giving it any thought. So it’s hilarious to watch them fail.
>> Tara Scott: Nice.
>> Kris Bryant: Like a couple of funny things happen throughout the whole entire series and it is there. Brilliant. I absolutely love this.
I loved this series. Absolutely loved it. The ending is just hilarious. So that’s my recommendation. It’s either eight or 10 episodes
So there’s a bloodthirsty face eating seal named Kevin. So he’s really not like he’s the town menace, but he’s really just a big old misunderstood seal.
>> Tara Scott: Oh yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: And so I know he’s just so big and he’s just a lug and you just kind of want to jump on him and just hug him. Like he’s on the bridge. Like there’s a footbridge and they’re like somebody come get Kevin off. How are we gonna. Don’t feed him. If you feed him, he’s gonna stick around. So this whole thing with Kevin and so he’s very sweet. So he’s. He comes throughout the series or the talk of Kevin throughout the series is really sweet. And then this is so funny. So do you remember the song I Touch Myself? And I think it was by the Divinals.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah, it is.
>> Kris Bryant: So they have an acapella singing group and Dulcie and her wife are in it and they’re. They’re singing this song and it’s going to be at this feastival that’s happening during this whole murder investigation. So it’s absolutely, it’s hilarious. It’s just great. Like if you’re stuck on the couch like I was, or even if you just want something, you know, to watch at night, a couple hours here and there like this. I think it’s 10. It’s either eight or 10 episodes. But yeah, perfect. Loved it. Absolutely loved it. The ending is just hilarious. Like the last scene I just, I just laughed out loud. It’s just such a good series. I’m like thank you Claire for putting this out there on threads and giving me something to, to actually recommend this week because it was very, very good.
>> Tara Scott: Nice. Okay. I’m really glad to hear we’ve talked about maybe watching that. So it sounds like we should push it up the list.
>> Kris Bryant: Right. Like the first note. Obviously not for kids, I’m telling you that now. But like the like Eddie’s very not likable. And the first couple of series, in the first couple of episodes because you know, she’s playing a game. She’s trying to be this detective, this great detective. Hey, I’ve solved all these things and we’re gonna do it my way. But it’s like, it’s just a mechanism. You know, she has a wall up and she doesn’t want people to get close. So again, character growth. And, you know, they start off at complete odds and, like, they just want to kill each other and they end up, you know, best friends. So, yeah, it’s. It’s good to watch that. There’s so much happening. Not just trying to solve the murders, but you’. So. Oh, solve the murder or murders. Could be more than one. I don’t know. Watch it. Find out.
>> Tara Scott: Uh-huh.
>> Kris Bryant: And just see how everybody grows, like, because of this. I mean, you think about it, 2,400 people, you know everybody. Everybody knows everybody. Yeah. So that’s my recommendation.
What is your recommendation, Tara, for this episode?
>> Tara Scott: Okay, so mine is Margin of Error by Rachel Lacy. I really enjoyed this one. It’s funny you were talking about prologues earlier, because there is a prologue for this one. The prologue is set in Manhattan. Charlotte is getting on, I guess it must be a bus, because I don’t think there’s like, an above ground rail situation in New York.
>> Kris Bryant: No, no.
>> Tara Scott: And she ends up striking up a conversation with her seatmate, and they’re talking about horoscopes and this just kind of, I don’t know, something sort of clicking there. And somehow she ends up talking about, oh, yeah, you should go to my hometown in Vermont and whatever. And it’s just this, like, great conversation. The woman gets off the bus and she’s looking out the window at her. The woman looks back at her and is hit by a car. And so she, like, gets off the bus and goes. And she’s like, holding her hand and, like, talking her through, you know, an ambulance ends up coming and taking her away. It’s this, like, deeply traumatic thing for Charlotte, of course, to see this. And then she reads in the news that a woman died. No. And so it picks up. Two years later, she’s back in her hometown because she wants to solve the 30 year old mystery of what happened with her mother. Because her mother just disappeared one day when she was about 10. She’s 40 now. She’s a real estate agent. She’s trying to repair and build a relationship with her dad because they haven’t really had, like, she just got the hell out of town when she was 18 and didn’t look back. Her parents were both faculty at, North Shore University, which, if the name Sounds familiar. Yes. This is set in this. At the same university as Learning Curve. So she goes to do a showing at a house one day and guess what? That other woman did not die that day in Manhattan. Her name is Maren. She basically the accident completely shook off, shook up her life. she left her husband. Like she and her husband have been married for over 20 years. She wasn’t. Not particularly happily. She knew she was a lesbian all along. But just you, that was just what you did. You went along, you married a guy. She’s left this like, job that. Well, no, she. Because it took so long to recover. Like her job wasn’t there in Manhattan anymore. She was used to like doing stats and all. So now she’s teaching stats at the university and she’s finally ready to date a woman for the first time.
>> Kris Bryant: Nice.
>> Tara Scott: Of course, because they both went through this like, holy shit, life changing experience together. They just have this immediate bond. Like. Yeah, they sort. There was some kind of a connection there on. On the bus. But like, it’s just this like instant absolute best friend situation. Marin comes out to her and she’s like, this is amazing. I’m so happy for you, Charlotte. She thinks she’s straight until Marin starts to go on dates and then we’re jealous. She’s not as straight as she thought she would be. so yeah, that’s them. That is kind of how they get together. So like I said, it’s where Learning Curves was set. And so Michelle and Audrey do show up because Marin ends up volunteering with the not called the queer club. But you know what I mean, Whatever. Whatever it is. Anyway, she becomes the, Marin becomes the faculty sponsor of this. Like maybe it’s a gay straight alliance or something like that. M. And that’s how she bumps into Audrey and then she becomes friends with them. And so this really. This one was really interesting because it’s not one, it’s like a two for the price of one Coming out at a later age story. Except in one case we have Marin, who’s known for decades that she’s a lesbian. And she’s finally able to have the life that she’s wanted to have. But in Charlotte’s case, she’s coming out to herself as being like, she’s still attracted to men, but it’s kind of that. And with her, that was the. Obviously that’s the one that I identified with because there was this like, moment as an adult going, oh, wait, oh. So that’s what that and that and that and that. All Meant in my past. It’s like you get to look at your life through totally different lens now. And I really appreciated getting to see that. And I think, And because we have these two different types of journeys with sort of a similar theme, I think it could be helpful to people who have found themselves coming out later in life, you know, regardless of whether you’re figuring yourself out or you’ve known and you just haven’t been in a situation where you’ve been able to do something about it. And it was interesting and quite sweet because in that way too, it was also like, when they finally get to the sex scene, it’s the first time either of them has been with a woman. And I think there was something really special about that.
>> Kris Bryant: I think it was really.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah, like, it was really lovely. And the other thing that I thought was great was it didn’t get into example. Like, you know how sometimes, somebody will be reading a sapphic romance in a story and they’ll mention, like, they’ll name drop an author that they wrote about in a different book, or sometimes they’ll, like, borrow a real life author’s name. It didn’t do any of that. But it did make it very clear that sapphic romance novels have been an absolute lifeline for Marin in getting to this point in her life into staying connected with that part of herself. I will say this is a slow burn. M. Like, it is a slow burn.
And like, the chemistry is there from the jump, right? Because, like, that friendship chemistry is there, which is great. But also because Charlotte has to figure out that she’s queer at all. I think it’s paced well and in a way that makes sense. But I know that slow burn is one of those, like, some people love them and some people cannot stand them. I liked it. I liked it. I thought it worked for me.
There was tension driven from a couple of different places in this story
The other thing that I thought was interesting was seeing what happened here in terms of. I think the romance itself is relatively angst free. It’s not like I didn’t find it very angsty, but there was still tension in the story that was driven from a couple of different places. And so for Marin, she knows. So her parents. Marin’s 47. Her parents are gone, but her. Her siblings are all older than her and, like, quite a bit older than her. She was a surprise fourth. No, fifth. She was a surprise fifth baby. And so, like, her next oldest sibling. I forget how old it said he was. I think he was about 10 years older and oldest. Oldest is like 60s probably. So she has to come out to all of them, or she wants to come out to all of them. And she’s nervous about how that’s going to go because she doesn’t know. And she does know that her oldest sister in particular is very conservative. And so there is some of that tension there about, like, this is the story you’ve all known about me for the last 47 years, but actually there’s some new information that I want to share with you. And I can see how that would be something that’s kind of scary, especially when, like, she’s left marriage. She’s, you know, these are, these are her people. And then on Charlotte’s side, what’s driving a lot of tension is this what happened to her mother 30 years ago. truly, it was like this woman just vanished off the face of the earth. And so we see her, you know, obviously talking to her dad, talking to some of her mom’s colleagues at the former colleagues at the university, even tracking down her mom’s old best friend. And along the way it’s this, like, is she gonna find her? Is she still alive? Is she not still alive? What happened? Could she be somewhere else in the world? What’s going on? And she learned some really hard truths. And in the end, that also includes, like, oh, how did that shape who she was as a person?
>> Kris Bryant: Do we find out what happens to her mom?
>> Tara Scott: We do. Okay.
>> Kris Bryant: We definitely needed to know that.
>> Tara Scott: And that, I mean, even that, like, we find out what happened to her mom.
And then that also does some things that drive tension in the story as well, which I thought was really interesting. So I appreciated seeing, because there’s been like, there, there has been a bit of a conversation in the community around, like, well, do we need angst? Do we not need angst? Do they all have to be warm and fuzzy? Not necessarily. Like, I, I wonder if I’ve. I’ve probably praised too many books for being warm and fuzzy just because the world was shit on and off for many years.
>> Kris Bryant: Right. Like, for the last.
>> Tara Scott: sorry about that.
The question of third act breakup has become kind of an interesting one
But I think the question of the third act breakup has become kind of an interesting one because they still happen, but they don’t necessarily happen as often. And so I appreciate in this story, seeing how an author chose to navigate, should there be a third act, breakup? Yes or no? And if there’s not going to be one, per se?
>> Kris Bryant: No.
>> Tara Scott: Well, how can we still maintain enough tension to keep a story interesting? Because that is still important. Right? Like, we still need there to be, like, a pace happening to bring us through the story.
And so there’s one other thing that I haven’t mentioned, But I kind of mentioned it. There’s a very important third character.
>> Kris Bryant: You didn’t hear me. I whispered it in this story, and I didn’t know about it. Look at me talking over here.
>> Tara Scott: Because it’s not even in the blurb. And I think if it was in the blurb with the name, I would have lost it and been like, well, why am I reading anything else ever? As soon as it came out?
So Marin also has always wanted a puppy, and she’s never been able to have one before. And so she adopts a puppy and names. And her name is Ember. What? I love it. Of course, I was sold because I have a dog named Ember. So reading this whole book, and I was like, I don’t care how this is being described. I know how I imagine Ember looks in this book. She looks like mine.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh, see? So, like, when, When you mention the town, isn’t it town? Yeah. I said, oh, Ember.
>> Tara Scott: The other book. Emberglen. Yeah. Okay.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh, but in this case, that’s so funny how I just.
>> Tara Scott: Like, there’s a little puppy named Ember. I will say sure. Seemed to have fewer accidents than our puppy had.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah.
>> Tara Scott: When she was a baby. Oh. The other thing I forgot to say about marin that was really interesting Is because she was in the accident, and obviously it was very, like, it was very, very bad. Like, the way she got hit by that car.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah.
>> Tara Scott: And, like, bad enough that it made sense to Charlotte that, like, that she would think that she was the one who died when it happened to be, you know, somebody else. So in the book, we also see, like, she has. She has been through a ton of physio, and also, this woman is going to live with nerve pain for the rest of her life. And so, seeing her negotiate this disability and how Charlotte supports her with that, I really loved it. I really, really loved it. I thought it was really well done. There was just. I had such a good time with this book. I think it took about a day and a half to read. I loved it. I had, had a great time. It was nice getting to revisit Audrey and Michelle. But really, like, this couple was so good. I hope it does have an epilogue. I enjoyed the epilogue, but also, I would kind of love it if there were more books in the setting, Because
>> Kris Bryant: I think there might be more books.
>> Tara Scott: I hope so.
>> Kris Bryant: I’m just guessing, but I hope so. But that.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah, that is it. Margin of error. Which also I think is such a cute name for a book where one of the leads is a statistician. Adorable.
>> Kris Bryant: That makes sense. Yeah.
>> Tara Scott: So that is all. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for listening to the episode. If you know somebody that you think would be interested in anything we’ve talked about today, please pass the link on to them. And if you want to support us, we have links in our show notes to our Ko Fi.