This week, Kris returns to the pod smelling of peppermint and burdened with so much toilet paper and toothpaste, you wouldn’t believe it. Together with Tara, they talk about the television finales that have let us down and the rigged reality shows that break our hearts. Finally, they make their moves and recommend what’s been stirring their hearts lately.
Listen to your pit crews, listeners. They might just save your life.
Official Recommendations
From Kris: Make Your Move by Melissa Brayden
Kris’s official recommendation this week is the soon-to-be-released Make Your Move by Melissa Brayden. Taking place in the world of F1 racing, Kris found this sapphic romance to be a fast and furious read. She praises Brayden’s exploration of a new world and how deeply the author delves into her characters.
From Tara: Keep Talking by J.J. Arias
Tara’s official recommendation this week is Keep Talking by J.J. Arias, an age gap romance set in the world of sapphic audiobook narration. Tara adored this book for its writing and its characters, and says it’s the one to beat so far in 2026 for best books. Definitely check it out.
Works/People Discussed
- Game of Thrones (HBO)
- March Madness
- Love on the Spectrum (Netflix)
- Age of Attraction (Netflix)
- Trixie & Katya watch Age of Attraction Season One
- Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles (Square Enix)
- RuPaul’s Drag Race (World of Wonder)
- Extracted (Fox)
- Culinary Class Wars: Season Two (Netflix)
- Intercepting Her Heart by KatDeMedi
- Strap In by Lou Morgan
Support & Follow the Show
Transcript
>> Kris Bryant: Hello everyone and welcome to Queerly Recommended, the podcast where we recommend queer books, films, TV shows and more. I’m Kris Bryant a contemporary romance writer for Bold Strokes Books. And, and this week I’m recommending a soon to be released Sapphic Romance.
>> Tara Scott: And I’m Tara Scott. I review sapphic fiction at the Lesbian Review and Smart Bitches, Trashy Books And this week I am recommending a recently released Sapphic romance novel.
>> Kris Bryant: So some new stuff for everyone.
>> Tara Scott: Uhhuh. Pretty exciting.
Hey, so Kris what’s new? What’s been happening the last couple weeks?
>> Kris Bryant: So I kind of want to talk about and tell you about what I did over my Easter weekend. We had a long weekend.
>> Tara Scott: What happened?
>> Kris Bryant: So I went to my sister’s cabin. Okay. And we did fun dumb things, you know. That’s what you did. Okay. So she has 27 acres of woods and they have like these ATVs that sit like six people and they can like off road and go up hills and over rocks and streams and stuff like that. So that’s, that’s a lot of fun because it’s not something I do all the time.
>> Kris Bryant: And, and then like right before it gets dark, we’ll take it on the the dirt roads. So this is like, I don’t want to say it’s like Deliverance country, but like there is not a lot of like the houses you see. Sometimes you’ll see like a worn down trailer and sometimes you’ll see like a cute cabin and sometimes you’ll see like like there’s this one house, I call it the Murder House. Because Yeah, we, I always joke like, because I’m the only one who wears my seatbelt and I’m like, okay, so if this thing tips over and rolls down this massive huge bluff, like I’m going to have to get out and save you. But I’m not going to this house because it’s a murder house. So it’s really, it’s interesting because we get super quiet when we drive by it. Everybody gets quiet.
>> Tara Scott: The vibes are not good.
>> Kris Bryant: Is not like I like everything in me says run when I go by this house. You know, it’s got like those half like broken down cars that are like missing pieces and parts and like the grass is super tall and you see barrels and you see like plastic stuff and things are like houses kind of falling apart.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah, yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: It’s some scary stuff and like only men live there. That’s not good.
>> Tara Scott: That you can see.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah, that I yeah, exactly. That I Can see.
>> Kris Bryant: It’s pretty scary. But anyway, so we go along, you know, we drive for a couple miles and we count deer. So that’s kind of fun. Just like off in the city, who can like how many deer we can catch? And so then. Or catch deer, we can. Come here Bambi.
>> Tara Scott: Come here Bambi. That’s right. You just want the babies. They’re the easiest to pick up.
>> Kris Bryant: And there’s like a big storm coming that night. So the deer don’t really hang out. They go and get ready for the, for the storm because they obviously know it before we do. And so we only counted 19. But, but the last time the. There’s like a clicker. You click and it counts the deer. Last time it was 89.
>> Tara Scott: Whoa.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah. And it was 19. So we got 19 on that one. We go back to the cabin and it’s bedtime. I’m the only one up because I’m an idol. Everybody else is. They go to bed early.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: Also I hear stomp womp. You know, there’s like storming and everything. And, and I hear the stomp, stomp. And I’m like, what is happening? So I get up and my sister’s fiance is in the hallway and he’s like stomping on the ground. He’s like stomping on the floor. And I’m like, what’s going on? And they’re like, there’s somebody, there’s some critter trying to get in from under the house.
>> Tara Scott: What?
>> Kris Bryant: Yes, yes. And I’m like, well, what do you think it is? So he takes apart like in the hallway there’s the there’s a closet where there’s the furnace. so he lifts it and he takes off all the panels and he’s trying to look underneath to see if, you know, he could see what the critter is.
>> Tara Scott: Did he find it?
>> Kris Bryant: No. So it’s pouring rain, storming. he put peppermint oil down. Because here’s something that you people might not know. Woodland creatures do not like peppermint oil.
>> Tara Scott: Oh yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: So they don’t like that. So that’s, that’s a good natural deterrent for them. Russell just kind of put on some clothes and went underneath the house and whatever it was, it got scared when he was underneath there.
>> Kris Bryant: So it took off. But I mean like that went on for a really long time.
>> Tara Scott: That’s wild. I bet that was not nice after that.
>> Kris Bryant: For sure. Yeah. And one of the reasons why we went down there was because K.B. draper, one of my besties, said, hey, there’s like a big giant flea market that I want to go to.
>> Tara Scott: Okay.
>> Kris Bryant: And it’s not far from my sister’s cabin. So I said, why don’t we pick you up in town? And by town I mean 1200 people in this huge town.
>> Kris Bryant: I’ll pick you up. She was driving in from Kansas City.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: We just kind of parked her car and got into my car because we had a bunch of wagons.
>> Kris Bryant: So this giant flea market, like I walked like 12,000 steps. It’s huge.
>> Tara Scott: Did you make any good finds? Did you get anything?
>> Kris Bryant: So this is funny. This is a funny storey because they, Debbie and KB they do woodworking together. They go to class classes. They go to like the woodworking college. They do all these weird things. I mean it’s cool things, but it’s not anything I’m really interested in. So they went to there to look for like whittling tools and planes and lathes and things like that. So they were looking for stuff. And that like that was, that was the gold mine right there. Like every, we’re talking like hundreds of vendors. It was, it was, I got lost. Like I had to see where my car was and located where my car was and where I was like, find my car because it’s so much. So they are off finding all these cool tools that they need and I’m stocking up on really cheap toilet paper. So like, Right. So like, let me be, let me do that. Because they had like, you know, Charmin 6 pack mega things for like 3 bucks. Like, like sealed in original.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: And so I’m sure they like fell off the back of a truck.
>> Tara Scott: Who can say?
>> Kris Bryant: Who knows? So I got that and I, you know, I got like toothpaste and like shampoo and like stuff like that. Just like I’m looking for necessities and there.
>> Tara Scott: I would not have guessed that that would be what you would get there.
>> Kris Bryant: I know.
>> Tara Scott: And I mean like the general you, not just like you.
>> Kris Bryant: I know. It’s like most of it was like a lot of tools. Really a lot of tools. And there were puppies, like people had puppies there. Some were free puppies. There were some that were like rescues and some that were like breeders.
>> Tara Scott: How tempted were you to get a puppy?
>> Kris Bryant: Oh, I picked up several.
>> Kris Bryant: I picked up several.
>> Tara Scott: And then put them back down, I guess.
>> Kris Bryant: And then I put them back down.
>> Kris Bryant: No. Not ready for a puppy.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: But it was A lot of fun. Yeah, so that’s, that’s kind of what I did. And you know, we got back in time for the actual holiday, but we just had a lot of fun and I was really tired by the end of it because you’re walking and you’re pulling a wagon. Oh, and they do have a lot of baked goods. Oh, people bake things. So I got some like really good, nice, yummy brownies and some peanut butter cookies. And then I bought a pie that made me so sick. I was sick for days, so.
>> Tara Scott: Oh no.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah, I should just stick to like the, you know, I just should not buy pies from a flea market. There you, go.
What’s new with you?
>> Tara Scott: Yeah, so I think I’ve mentioned before that my job, the whole company is remote. Like everybody, everybody works from home. We have an allowance though each month that. Which I never take them up on, but there is an allowance each month if we want to do the occasional like go into a co working space. Like a wework or something like that. Yeah. So we had. In Calgary, we had like everybody who lives in the Calgary area, like let’s all show up at the. We work together and it was really nice. Like we do tend to get together once every quarter. That’s nice. Yeah, often at somebody’s home and it’s usually like a, any of the areas where we have what they call people pockets, they’ll just like gather everybody together. This was just like a spontaneous actually by somebody on my team who was like, hey, what if like once a month we just got together in the. We work and saw each other in person and it was really good.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah, much better than the last
>> Tara Scott: time I went to a wework and there were some like tech bro dudes who are super weird and just talking about weird shit. But that. It was just, it was I love working from home but it was a good reminder that I actually like. I really like hanging out with my co workers. Yeah. So that was a nice thing.
it also snowed like crazy.
>> Kris Bryant: That is insane to me.
>> Tara Scott: There’s been so much snow in the last week. It’s. Yeah, it’s, it’s quite a lot. It’s melting, but it’s still not gone. Because in Calgary spring April showers are April snow showers.
>> Kris Bryant: See? And it’s like 75 for a high here today. I’m in a T shirt and I mean it. You’re in a T shirt and you don’t mean it.
>> Tara Scott: Well, I have a sweatshirt over it.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh, are you wearing sweatshirt. 39 degrees.
>> Tara Scott: Currently 39. And yeah, the, which is the high for today got down to 26 overnight.
>> Kris Bryant: Terrible. That’s terrible.
>> Tara Scott: Americans who use Fahrenheit.
>> Kris Bryant: Right?
>> Tara Scott: And we are booked in for our summer vacation. We’re gonna go back to visit my parents.
>> Kris Bryant: Nice.
>> Tara Scott: There’s two airlines in Canada. There’s like two main airlines in Canada. There’s like a couple of other smaller ones but like, I’m not super interested in flying with them because I’ve heard some like real sketchy storeys about the planes and the seats and the if they show up or not and if they refund you if something goes wrong or not. So yeah, we were trying to decide because for half the year one of the carriers will or one of the airlines will do direct flights between here and the big city. That’s like a half an hour away from my parents. The other one will never do it at all. Ever, ever. And last time we thought, well, it’ll be easier for the kids if we do a direct flight. But the flights were at such like whack ass times that my one kid spent the whole week completely dysregulated. And so I was like, okay, we’re going to look at all options this time. Even if we have to do a layover. It’ll probably be better if it’s at like better times a day. And here is the thing that was weird. The direct flights are actually at ah, perfectly reasonable times of the day.
>> Kris Bryant: Nice.
>> Tara Scott: The ones with the layover, if you don’t want to pay six or $700 each way, are at the worst times. So we’re getting direct flights.
>> Kris Bryant: Nice.
>> Tara Scott: It’s not gonna be bad.
>> Kris Bryant: Decent.
>> Tara Scott: Starting to plan out what we want to cheque out. So that should be fun. And my my one brother lives there, but my other brother, he’s planning on coming so we can see him too, so.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh, that’s nice.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah, that’ll be good. We haven’t been back in a couple years. I’m looking forward to it.
>> Kris Bryant: I bet. Yeah, I bet you they’re excited to see everybody too.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah, well they better be because we’re coming. It’s already been paid for.
>> Kris Bryant: Right? Happening.
>> Tara Scott: All right, Kris what have you been reading or watching lately?
>> Kris Bryant: Okay, so I finished Game of Thrones and because I’ll never watch it again,
>> Tara Scott: I hear it’s a really happy show.
>> Kris Bryant: I forgot how emotional. No, that’s not true. Not emotional. I forgot how sad the final episode was for me. I didn’t remember it Being that sad. And it was sad seeing it again. I was like, oh yeah, Was I this sad, last time? I don’t remember.
>> Tara Scott: So I just remember people being angry about it.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah, yeah. Because, yeah, there, there’s a lot there that to unpack and, and I just finished it, like two nights ago and I’m still angry. So yeah, I’m sad and angry because things didn’t go the right way. Some of it went fine, some of it didn’t. And still. Yeah.
>> Tara Scott: Okay, that brings up a question because recently, like within the last few episodes, we talked about what do we think is the best finale of all time that we’ve seen in a show.
>> Kris Bryant: It is not Game of Thrones.
>> Tara Scott: No. On the flip side, what is. I don’t know if it’s necessarily like, if worst is the right way to put it or like, what’s the, like what’s the worst Valley or what’s the one that made you the most mad? Because I feel like for me, worst and the one that made me most mad are actually two different things.
>> Kris Bryant: I have to think about that because, you know, I watch a shit tonne of television and movies, so I, I’ll have to revisit that. Like, I’ll have to go look and they’ll be, oh, yeah, that’s bad. Or oh, that. I was very angry at that.
>> Tara Scott: I don’t know. I was holding a grudge about the Battlestar Galactica finale and it’s been a
>> Kris Bryant: long time, but I’m still, It has been a long time.
>> Tara Scott: I am still holding a grudge about that one because it felt like there were so many storylines that were being set up across all the seasons and they didn’t all pay off. There were too many that were just left hanging and I. And that really made me angry. But then in terms of the other one that was like so hyped and just didn’t live up to it, I think was the Seinfeld one. That one was really.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh, yeah, I wasn’t, I wasn’t super into Seinfeld.
>> Tara Scott: Icky. Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: Elaine was the only normal one and she wasn’t really all that normal. they weren’t very. To me, like nobody was really likeable.
>> Tara Scott: No. So she’s not likeable either.
>> Kris Bryant: That’s true. That’s why I said she’s the least. But I think I, you know.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah. Least worst, right?
>> Kris Bryant: Least worst.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah, yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: You know, it’s like Friends, you know, everybody watched Friends way back when and watching it now, it gives me the Ick factor. Like, it’s terrible.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah. I remember enjoying it when I watched it before. There’s shows like Friends and Gilmore Girls that I’m just afraid to go back to.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah.
>> Tara Scott: Because I enjoyed them at the time and I know that because of when they were made. There’s too many gay jokes in there.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh, it’s like fat shaming. Gay shaming. Yeah. Sorry. Too many shavings. I was like, what is that?
>> Tara Scott: Oh, yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: Homophobic words. Words are hard.
>> Tara Scott: Yes.
All right. What else have you been watching? What else? What else do you have going on?
>> Kris Bryant: So, like, did I watch any basketball? March Madness? Absolutely no. Should I have?
>> Tara Scott: Yes.
>> Kris Bryant: Because I used to play. I used to coach.
>> Kris Bryant: And I was actually in some of the, brackets. Like, some people are like, hey, do you want to do the March Madness bracket? So I’m sure, like, what do I know? Like, I actually. I came in second and one. I came in last in the other one. So I did men’s bracket and women’s bracket.
>> Tara Scott: Okay.
>> Kris Bryant: And then I think 1. We actually had to do the second chance brackets because we all. Busted. It’s just not my thing. Like, I like playing it. I like watching it or not watching it. I like playing it. I like coaching it. I cannot watch it.
>> Kris Bryant: The rules have changed. Like, people will take five steps and, like, they’re running with the ball and then they dribble. And I like, the rules have changed. I don’t understand. Like, there was also this thing where, I don’t even know what it’s called because it’s been forever. But, like, when you, like, you flip the ball over your hand, like, that wasn’t allowed when I was. When I was way back when. So coaching. And they do it now all the time. And I’m like, I give up. I can’t. I don’t know. I just stopped. So no stop. So.
>> Tara Scott: And then.
>> Kris Bryant: But here’s. Here’s what I’m really excited about. So Love on the Spectrum started again.
>> Tara Scott: Ooh, fun. I’ve heard it’s a really sweet show.
>> Kris Bryant: It really is. This. I think this is the third or fourth season now. And so, it just. It just landed. And like, I was trying to finish up Game of Thrones before I started. I actually watched the first episode and I’m like, oh, yes. I remember why I love this show so much. I just. I absolutely adore it. It’s fantastic. So I’m excited to go from Game of Thrones to something really sweet. Like, Love on the Spectrum.
>> Tara Scott: Have you heard of a new Netflix reality dating show called Age of Attraction?
>> Kris Bryant: Yes. Yes, I have. And have I watched some of it? Yes. But then I. I had to stop.
>> Tara Scott: Okay. So I have not watched it, and I’m not going to watch it. But, what I do recommend watching, and you, especially since you’ve seen some of it, might appreciate it even more. And I’ve mentioned them before, but the drag queens Trixie and Katya, they have that YouTube show called I Like to Watch, where Netflix pays them to watch stuff on Netflix. And they just, like, make jokes about it or sometimes make, like, sweet observations, like, what happened in the boyfriend? But in this one, I think them watching Age of Attraction might be the funniest one, really, that they’ve done. At, least for me. I don’t remember ever laughing until I cried before. And I definitely did it this time. Some of those jokes are.
>> Kris Bryant: So I’ll have to watch it. Oh, yeah.
>> Tara Scott: Good. And I don’t think it’s. I think it’s fine, like, if there’s a. If there’s a Netflix show with a setup that is. That cringe. And for people who are listening going, what the are you talking about? So Age of Attraction is a reality dating show where they get, like, a bunch of men and women into a room. Into a room, whatever. Into a location. And the idea is that, like, you’re free to kind of, like, mingle with whoever you want. And it’s not until you decide that you want to pair up with somebody that you’ll reveal your ages. And so there’s like, some pretty big age gaps. Like, there’s a woman who’s 56 or something. 57. 54. 56. Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: And he’s like, 27.
>> Tara Scott: Yes, yes, yes, yes. So there’s somewhere it’s like older women with younger men, and there’s somewhere it’s older men with younger women. And it’s just. I actually think that was the best way to learn about that show because it was too. It was too cringy for me. Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: And you know me. I am a. I’m a loyalist. And I was like, nope, I’m out. Like, I. I just. No, no.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah. You have to respect that voice inside you.
>> Kris Bryant: Yes. Yes. And it doesn’t come out very often, but, yes.
>> Tara Scott: Good for you.
>> Kris Bryant: Yes. Thank you.
What, what about you? What have you been reading or watching or playing?
>> Tara Scott: Yes. Okay, well, so playing. I’m still playing Final Fantasy Tactics. And it’s funny because last time I was like. I started playing, then I was like, oh, no, I’m boned. Turns out this game is super put downable, which is actually really good. Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah, that is good.
>> Tara Scott: So I’m still playing it steadily, but it means I’m playing in like no more than an hour, sometimes even less than that. I can pick it up for like 10, 15 minutes, do a battle, put it down. And that’s actually really nice to have it be bite sized like that. Of course, I’m still watching RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 18, but honestly, at this point, it’s really kind of pissed me off for reasons that just make absolutely no sense to me. Jane don’t. Who was absolutely the front runner, had the best track record in Drag Race history for, like, performance in terms of not just wins, but being in the top overall.
>> Tara Scott: Like, had not had almost no low placements or lip syncing until the end. Was sent home on an improv challenge. And it’s been interesting watching some of the reactions to it. The fans are furious, myself included. I was actually watching it getting like mad as I was watching it, because it felt like the show, for whatever reason, it was one of those episodes where you just feel the heavy hand of the producers. and for whatever reason, they just decided she wasn’t going to win. And so it was an improv challenge where each of the queens got to improvise a scene based on the whole idea of, you know, all those Karen’s videos. Yeah. So they’re. They’re each supposed to have a different scenario where they’re a Karen and they’re improving with RuPaul. and for whatever reason. And, you know, improv. Like. Yes, it’s not. It’s not the only principle, but the idea is that, like, you have a motivation and you’re going after that motivation. And M. RuPaul was not working with this queen. Oh.
>> Kris Bryant: it was not.
>> Tara Scott: You know, she shows up with a motivation, and he’s just like, no, no, no, no. And I’m like, why? What is the point? Like, it just felt like the person who was supposed to win got sent home and then there were, you know, four left. And to be fair, in the lip sync, she was not as good. But also, how many people can do a cartwheel? Immediately followed by like a, backflip.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah, I can’t ever.
>> Tara Scott: Right. Most people. Most people cannot. So, like, I don’t follow that. But you know, what track record? Didn’t matter. She lost the lip sync. And I’m like, okay. And then the following week, they did an acting challenge. And even in the judges deliberations, RuPaul was just like, yeah, this one, she’s just not ready. And so they do the lip sync. She dances better because she’s an incredible dancer. And she gets sent home.
>> Kris Bryant: Wow.
>> Tara Scott: And so it’s one of those, like. Okay, so the lip sync counts one week to send home the best queen, and the next week it doesn’t count. It’s about the track record. And I’m like, rigged. What? It feels very rigged. And it doesn’t feel fun. And I’m still gonna finish it because there’s only two episodes left, but it feels gross.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah. Yeah.
>> Tara Scott: Thank you for letting me rant.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh, no, no, no. That’s.
>> Tara Scott: That.
>> Kris Bryant: That’s. That’s what we’re here for. That’s what I’m here for. That’s what we’re listening.
That’s what happened with Extraction. It felt so staged the last two episodes. I’m like, I told Debbie, I said, I’m never watching this show again. Like, the first season was cool, you know, it felt.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: A woman won, and it felt like she deserved to win. And there was like a race at the end who could get through it the quickest and felt like, ah, I really like this show. This is. This is a great concept.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: And this season. Oh, no, absolutely not. Like, I didn’t even like the, most of the families there. Yeah. It’s just bad. So I’m like, okay, yeah, so I get that. Like, but I was. I had to finish it because I had to see who won. And I’m like, you gotta be shitting me. And I was done. So I’m not watching it again.
>> Tara Scott: I can’t blame you. That’s terrible.
Also, though, speaking of reality shows, I. I think I mentioned, I don’t know, like, last month or something, how I had been watching Culinary Class wars season two on Netflix.
>> Tara Scott: And it was one that I would almost, like, forget that I was watching. I would just, like, watch an episode for two weeks.
>> Kris Bryant: I’d be like, oh, wait, oh, yeah, I haven’t finished that yet.
>> Tara Scott: And so finally, on the weekend, I finished this show. And it was so good because again, it’s the one where it’s like, it’s going from a hundred chefs down to like, who’s the best chef in Korea?
>> Kris Bryant: Oh.
>> Tara Scott: And the reason they call it Culinary Class wars is because there’s like, the black spoons, which is there’s like 80 of them, and then there’s the white spoons, and there’s 20 of them. And the white spoons are supposed to be the most elite.
>> Tara Scott: But this year with season two, there were some people who absolutely could have been white spoons and said, I think I’ll actually have an easier go of it if I decide to be a black spoon. Oh, some of those people got their asses handed to them. But the thing that I loved. So the last episode, it’s the final two. There’s a white spoon, there’s a black spoon. M. And the person who won, I’m not going to say who it is necessarily, but the person who won, I was so struck by, like, he was so humble because some of the other chefs were talking about their, like, many, many, many, many years of experience or their awards or they’re all that. And. And he’s a guy, like, he won MasterChef, oh. One year. So, like, he’s. He’s good.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah.
>> Tara Scott: And he’s like, there’s not actually anything special about me. I just, I. I do this to serve other people and I just keep trying and I just keep learning. So for the final challenge, they’re told, you need to cook something for yourself because they’re going to actually go and eat the meal with the two judges. Oh.
>> Kris Bryant: That’s kind of fun.
>> Tara Scott: It was really cool. And so he made some. Something basically that they had like, no frame of reference for. And they’re like, tell us about. Well, they. Yes. In the sense that it was a soup and there were vegetables and there was. But like, there hadn’t been anything quite like that style. And he said, I don’t cook for myself. I always cook for other people if I’m cooking for myself. I think he said he just has like, instant ramen. So he said, I really. I know, it was so funny. I was like, what this, like, highly acclaimed chef? And he said, I sat down and I really thought, what do I want? What am I gonna do? The one time I actually cook for me, and it was just this, like, beautiful. The other chef was like, too nervous to eat with the judges, but he actually sat there and he ate with them and he talked about. And again, just this, like, I’m just some guy. I’m just some guy who cooks. Yeah. And wins the show is what you are. I loved it. it was beautiful. Of course I read because I’m still in a fanfic that’s not going away. And yeah, it doesn’t help with all the promo for Devil Wears Prada too.
So this time I read a novel length one. It’s 91, 000 words. It’s called Intercepting Her Heart by Kat Demetti. And the fun thing about this one is same characters, different circumstances. And the idea, ah, the premise of this one is what if Andy Saxon was a professional soccer player and she meets Miranda Priestley on a dating app that’s specifically for celebrity. And honestly, I really, really enjoyed it. I’m trying to remember. I think it’s all told from Andy’s perspective, if I recall correctly. And it’s one of the icier Miranda Priestleys because I’ve been reading so much of it that it’s interesting to see the spectrum. Like some people make her like much icier and more like what’s in the, in the movie. And there’s some where it’s like you wrote about a lady and you named her Miranda Priestly. This one, honestly, like, it works so well that it gave me a book hangover. Oh, I think if people are looking for something a little different using those characters, that’s a great one. And then I read another book. I got it for $3 on Kindle. so I paid for. And the reason, so how I found out about it was there was a post on Instagram from Carrie Bird asking what she’s reading. And she had two books and one of them was When She Flies by Lee Winter, which I recently recommended. Her, most recent release. And this book called Strap in by Lou Morgan, who is an author out of the uk. And so this one is about like a, late in life. Oh no, holy shit, I might actually be a lesbian situation.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah.
>> Tara Scott: So Jean is a woman who, she thinks she’s straight, she’s in her early 50s, she lives in London and she’s been a partner at a law firm for a long time. But she’s very close to becoming the managing partner at the law firm. So being in charge of the whole thing, you know, on an app, she’s found somebody who looks decent enough to go meet up with, at a pub, maybe, you know, have a one night stand or something. He doesn’t show up. And so she ends up being hit on by this younger woman who’s in her 30s. And she’s like, I’m straight. Like, what’s happening? And she walks away from it though, like kind of intrigued, and comes back to the pub. Another time the bartender does her salt and is like, hey, just so you know, this is the day she comes for happy hour.
>> Kris Bryant: Ah.
>> Tara Scott: finds her again and just says, like, maybe I’m Intrigued by the offer you had to make and is, like, shocked at what the sex ends up being. Ava is the, other woman. And she’s like, look, I too, like, I am also focused on my career. I don’t want a relationship. But, like, we can have, like, a fuck buddy situation. And she’s like, we’re not. We’re not friends. So there’s a phrase that they use throughout the whole book that’s so funny, where they refer to themselves as sex acquaintances because she’s too refined to say same buddies. And Ava teases her with the term sex acquaintances, which I think is, like, really cute.
>> Kris Bryant: That is.
>> Tara Scott: But, like, Ava is also a lawyer, but she’s more of, like, not a. She’s not like a corporate lawyer like Jean is. And she’s actually setting up a nonprofit. So, like, how can she make sure that people in underserved communities get really good legal representation? Like, she’s just a really, really good person. And then they start small, spending time together, not just having sex, but they’re just friends, right? Like, they’re just friends. So I really enjoyed this one. It was interesting, the promotion for it. Like, when you look at. When you go on Amazon and you look at the. The blurb, it really tries to push the whole, like, it’s a super spicy romance. I’m like, yes, it’s. It’s spicy, it’s explicit, but I think, you know, it’s all told from Gene’s perspective. And it’s a really beautiful storey of, her realising, no, she hasn’t been straight all along. And having to, like, reconsider who she is as a person and all of her experiences and who is she going to be if she’s able to accept this of herself? And I have to admit, I was kind of, like, shaking my head and laughing at her at times because it’s like, you are in a relationship right now. You spend that much time and that much sex, you clearly care about this woman. Like, you are in a relationship, you just don’t know it. Also noteworthy, Ava is biracial. She’s half Nigerian, half Scottish. And it’s not just like a minor. Like, it’s not that she just happens to. To be black. Like, it’s actually shows up in kind of a more meaningful way. I will say this one does need to come with a content warning and I was a little surprised that maybe I need to go back and cheque the Amazon page. If I missed it, then I apologise.
But this is definitely like a story with major Major me too themes. one of Jean’s employees is nearly sexually assaulted at one point. And it goes through, like, her having to, like, basically rescue her and. And what happened sort of through that. And also in Jean’s past, she was basically, like, sexually abused by a former boss at the firm. And so we don’t see an assault happen on the page, but there’s, like, some extremely heavy implications of what Gene had been through at certain points. But, like, if that’s. Like, if you can get past that, I. I will say I was surprised, but it was okay. Like, I was able to read it without a problem. I got really sucked into this book. I had a really hard time putting it down, and I stayed up too late finishing it the other night.
>> Kris Bryant: I love that it was a good one.
>> Tara Scott: And honestly, it would probably be my official recommendation. But I read something else that. Well, you’ll see why. I just loved it so much. And sometimes you just gotta pick. So, Kris Yes. what is your official recommendation this week?
>> Kris Bryant: I read a book.
>> Tara Scott: Yay. What is it?
>> Kris Bryant: I read Melissa Brayden’s F1 book, Make youe Move. And it is released on April 24th. And the, ah, audiobook comes out June 16th. So there’s a bit of a wait for the audiobook.
>> Tara Scott: Okay, so do I. But fine. Is it gonna be Quinn Riley again?
>> Kris Bryant: Yes.
>> Tara Scott: Nice. Yes. Yes.
>> Kris Bryant: At least that’s what I think. I’m pretty sure I saw that. That it was. That it was hers. I was gonna read the blurb, but.
>> Tara Scott: Hm.
>> Kris Bryant: You know, because that’s normally what I do, but I don’t think I want to because there’s so much in this book that I feel like, yeah, discuss. Because I feel like sometimes it gives it away.
So we have the main character. There’s two main characters. And of course there’s pov Switch. Rhys Maddox. She is kind of a. She is a young driver. She’s in F2, which is like, before F1, F2. And she is very impulsive. She doesn’t listen to her pit crew. The very beginning of the book, she’s injured. Not injured, but she does have a little bumper incident. And so they decide to send her to this academy that trains drivers to,
>> Tara Scott: Listen to their pit crew.
>> Kris Bryant: Yes.
>> Tara Scott: Basically, those people keep you alive. I don’t know a lot about. I don’t know a lot about formula racing, but I know.
>> Kris Bryant: Listen to your pit crew. Yes, exactly. And so. And she was always like, no, I know. I know better than the person who has been doing this forever. So that’s kind of thing. So.
>> Kris Bryant: I don’t know that it was a humbling experience, but it was a good experience for her. So Reese Maddox and then we have, we have Sloan Foster. And Sloan Foster was an F1 driver. She is pro, I think she’s 11 years older than Reece. And she is asked to come in and train with these little fledgling drivers.
>> Tara Scott: Okay.
>> Kris Bryant: You know, we’re talking hot M. You know, and sure of herself. You know, she’s been there, done that. She’s also like. She comes across as very reserved, but she’s smart.
>> Tara Scott: Confidence porn.
>> Kris Bryant: Yes, exactly.
>> Kris Bryant: So everybody kind of crushes on her. And it’s great. I mean, the relationship from the very beginning, how they meet is made me laugh out loud.
>> Kris Bryant: And I love it when that happens.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: This book is so different from Melissa because it starts off very fast and it doesn’t slow down.
>> Kris Bryant: It’s almost like the setting is a character of itself. You know, just the whole entire circuit. The F1. I knew nothing about racing. Absolutely nothing. And there was information available in the book to read as you’re reading it and. But it didn’t feel like it was an info dump. It was like little breadcrumbs and you’re like, oh, I get it. So this person does this. Okay, great. Oh, so they’re supposed to do this. All right, that makes sense. But it was never like info dump. But I didn’t like, you know, go through skim pages, skim chapters, anything like that. Kept my interest. And it was actually very fast and fast and furious. There you go. Fast.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah, yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: You know, like I said, it just gives you just enough information to bump the storey along, you know, and not feel like, okay, this is. This is way too much. It is a very long book. I didn’t realise when I started it that when you get a book, like a digital book. I’m not used to digital books, so I never know how long they are.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah. And there’s not really a great, like older Kindle models used to give you more of a sense. Because there would be like this. Because it has like the title and author or whatever. And then there’d be this like little line under it that would indicate like, roughly how long. And it. Not that it would say like, oh, it’s gonna take you this long to read it this many pages. But I could see visually like, oh, okay, this is probably a really long book. Or like, oh, okay, this is a really short one. And now they what? Yeah, sort of kind of have that. But it’s shitty and not actually helpful because it’s not enough of a differentiator.
>> Kris Bryant: Right.
>> Tara Scott: Like, there’s not enough differentiation between say, like something that’s 20,000 words and something that’s 50,000 words. When, like, that’s a big difference. Right. Like that’s a really big difference. I should visually know what I’m getting into. And they don’t do that. So you almost ended up reading 400 words.
>> Kris Bryant: So, it was, it was 375 pages and it’s over a hundred thousand words.
>> Tara Scott: Yep.
>> Kris Bryant: So I’m like, buckle in, let’s go. Here we go.
>> Tara Scott: Yep.
>> Kris Bryant: So Reese is, like I said, she’s younger. She’s like really into social media. She’s always promoting herself and she’s always doing interviews and she’s adorable and she’s sweet and everybody loves her. So she is constantly on, like she’s just on all the time. You know, you think that might make her shallow, but she does it for a reason. And the reason she does it is just. It’s very heartwarming. You know, it kind of tugs on the heartstrings a little bit, like why she doesn’t. And Sloan comes in and she’s like, look, you know, you would be such a great. You have all the instincts to be this incredible driver. You just need to like, focus. You need to do your simulations, you need to, you know, go work out at the gym. You need to do these things because it’s just going to help you be a better driver. And so she does. And all of a sudden, like, she’s starting to climb. She’s doing really well. And so Sloan is helping her. And at the same time, there’s some flirting. I mean, Risa said, look, you know, she is definitely interested in Sloan. And Sloan is like, oh, you know, we have to maintain this. There’s no rules that we can’t date, but we shouldn’t date. It’s not right. People might think I’m playing favouritism and I’m not.
>> Tara Scott: But is she?
>> Kris Bryant: I don’t know. We got to read and find out. Who knows?
>> Tara Scott: Who can say? Like I said, by the end, probably yes.
>> Kris Bryant: Probably yes by the end. I mean, I guess I can give that part away.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah, it’s. It’s, a very good storey about caricature growth. You know, I’ve talked about that before and like I said, it’s a long book. So you get to see them in all different situations and how they handle the relationship. As Reese’s Popularity grows. And, how slow handles it too. I mean, there are tropes in this book. I love tropes. I mean, we have the age gap. I mean, 11 years. Is that an age gap? That’s an age gap. Right. Okay, so, age gap, financial gap. we have kind of like different personality gaps, you know, like I said.
>> Kris Bryant: What’s her face? Reese has to be in front of everybody to maintain. Yeah. Her popularity. And Sloan has this maturity, but she’s learning because when she was an F1, she actually had a really bad accident. And so sometimes she has like, panic attacks and sometimes when things happen, she like, she doesn’t know how to handle it. So Reese is real good at calming her down. It’s just. It’s a very sweet relationship and you see them grow and you see what kind of person Reese really is. She’s not like just surface. She’s, you know, actually very caring and she’s just waiting for somebody. And. And she’s never had a really solid relationship because she’s travelling. She’s always been travelling. And whether it’s F2 or whatever she’s doing, because I didn’t know this, like F2 apparently races before F1. Oh, see, I didn’t know that. Look at that. So I learned so much about this. And here’s the interesting thing. I think I mentioned this before. Like, I watched the movie F1 when I was stuck on an aeroplane going to Gulfport. So there weren’t a lot of options. And so I was like, okay, I’ll watch this. I don’t know anything about F1 racing. And it was a really good movie. I was like, oh, I was surprised, you know, because Brad Pitt’s in it and you know, you know, I don’t
>> Tara Scott: know anything about it.
>> Kris Bryant: Okay, so I guess it was maybe up for some awards even. I don’t know if it got anything, but I know it was nominated for something. So here’s what I want to do. Here’s what I want to do. Okay. And you know, we’ll see if we get the permission to do this, but I’m going to read something to you.
>> Tara Scott: Okay, sounds good.
>> Kris Bryant: So instead of, doing the blurb, I’m going to read this scene to you.
>> Tara Scott: Okay, here it is.
>> Kris Bryant: Rhys and Sloan are in an elevator. Boom. There’s the scene.
>> Tara Scott: Okay.
>> Kris Bryant: Not only that, but the elevator’s stuck. Of course it’s stuck. It gets stuck.
>> Tara Scott: Uh-huh.
>> Kris Bryant: Also a trope.
>> Tara Scott: Stuck in an elevator.
>> Kris Bryant: You’re right. Stuck in an elevator. I didn’t think about that. Okay. Stuck in an elevator. Their lips met in a soft, startling collision. Not urgent, not practised, not anything Reese had expected. Just real carnal. Amazing. This should have been the moment. The elevator burst to life, stealing this very important moment. But it didn’t. They were left to explore it, deepen it, breathe in the shock of how right it felt. Sloan’s hand came to Rhys’s jaw. Tentative at first, then certain, guiding her closer. Rhys melted into the touch, into the kiss, into the way Sloane kissed. Like she had been holding herself back for far too long. The world narrowed to warmth and breath and the soft press of mouths leaning into each other in the dim, humming quiet of the elevator for a suspended, perfect moment. Nothing existed outside the two of them. No rules, no roles, no impossible lines drawn between who they were supposed to be. Just this. Just them. Ah, there’s your first kiss scene.
>> Tara Scott: First kiss. She does really good first kisses. She does really, really good ones.
>> Kris Bryant: And I read it and I thought of you because we just had this conversation about how you cheat and you go to the first kiss scene. So there, I gave it to you. And so another thing I wanted to point out is, like, Brayden really does go deep with these characters. You can tell she is so invested in this. And this is going to be a series like she is.
>> Tara Scott: Oh, fun.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah. So they’re different characters and it’s a series and she really goes deep with the relationships.
>> Kris Bryant: And I love that. Like, you know, there’s a lot of her books, you know, she does have the, like, whimsical dialogue sometimes, you know, and we all know and love that of Melissa. But this is deeper. I mean, sure, there are some conversations and. And it’s just. It’s a deeper level. And, I really appreciate that. She kind of pushed herself and I don’t know if this is because she has more freedom now being an indie writer. I really don’t. I don’t think she was held back or anything. I just feel like maybe she let loose a little bit more. It feels a little different than a typical. And it could also be the subject matter because it is something different than what she’s used to writing.
>> Tara Scott: F1 is a little bit grittier of a setting than, say, a whimsical small town with doughnut shop.
>> Kris Bryant: Exactly. And coffee shops or whatever. Yeah, and wineries and things like that. I mean, all those are fine, but like, this is something different that, you know, isn’t in our Sapphic community. There’s not a lot of it I mean, there’s been. I know that, like, Dina Blake wrote a book about racing, but I don’t. I think that was,
>> Tara Scott: I think Gun Brook did one. And here’s the funny thing about that. The thing that I remember best about the fact that Gun Brook has written a. A, racing book was how enthusiastically Rebecca Weatherspoon recommended it on Goodreads. It was so. It was just this, like, here’s what you’re gonna get. It’s amazing. It was so. There was just something kind of, like, funny and charming about that, I think. Was it called Speed Demon or something like that? I don’t know. I haven’t read it in more than a decade. Like, it’s been a long time. so, yeah, we can think of three books total, right?
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah, exactly. So. And it’s. It’s gonna be fun to.
To see the other characters because I’m curious as to who. Who it is. So here’s something.
>> Tara Scott: Yeah.
>> Kris Bryant: I’m reading this and I’m like, well, all these characters kind of seem a little femme. And so, I reach out to Melissa. I’m like, hey, like, I’m thinking F1 racing. You would think a little bit more mask. And then I looked F1 race. You know, female race car drivers, however you want to call that, they’re all femme real.
>> Tara Scott: So it’s not soccer. It’s.
>> Kris Bryant: It’s.
>> Tara Scott: It’s not soccer or basketball.
>> Kris Bryant: Ah. So I was shocked. I mean, it was. You just type in F1 female drivers. You look at all the pictures. They’re like, almost like some of the, drivers of the past were more mask presenting, but nowadays, oh, my gosh, like, the long, flowing hair and everything. So I texted Melissa. I’m like, here I was. I was going to give you a hard time, but it turns out, like, they’re all, like, femme.
>> Tara Scott: so interesting.
>> Kris Bryant: Yeah, I was really. I. I really did like this book. And I think anybody who either has not read Melissa, this is a good book to pick up and start with. And I think that the people who have been reading Melissa are going to be impressed with how she handled this. A whole new subject, a whole new, Like a deeper emotional connection with her, with her characters.
>> Tara Scott: Nice.
>> Kris Bryant: I really liked it. So that is my official recommendation. Make your move by Melissa Brayden.
>> Tara Scott: You know what’s so funny? I forgot that was the title of the book, and I thought you were about to challenge me on my recommendation.
>> Kris Bryant: All right, make your move. What’s your recommendation? I love it.
>> Tara Scott: Okay, so my official recommendation is the most recent Release from JJ Arias. Keep talking.
>> Kris Bryant: Hey.
>> Tara Scott: I loved this book so much. It’s not even reasonable.
>> Kris Bryant: I love it.
>> Tara Scott: Vivian Del Castillo is a former child actor and she was a sex symbol and now she has like, now she’s almost 50 and she has this like very small, very quiet life, life in Miami. She’s an audiobook narrator and she’s really like built this life that’s deliberately, very far away from the spotlight. She’s also like, very popular, very well sought after narrator and she’s very annoyed because an author insists that she re record like completely redo this sapphic duet audiobook that she had done with another narrator and has said, nah. So you’re gonna have a different narrator that you’re doing this with, somebody that she has to bring into her home studio there in Miami.
>> Tara Scott: Bryn Garbo is nearly 30. She’s trying to make a name for herself as an audiobook narrator. She’s juggling a bunch of jobs like delivery driving and stuff like that. And she also has an alter ego as a voice talent on an erotic audio app under a different name. And she’s like the most popular kind of person doing it there because you
>> Kris Bryant: got to pay the.
>> Tara Scott: And so this book could make her career. But working with Vivian is so intimidating. And it doesn’t get better for a while because like, Vivian is barely talking to her. This is like, it’s interesting. I, think she probably counts as an ice queen, but I. There’s just a vibe that’s different than any other ice queen I’ve seen before. So I hesitate to apply the label here, but maybe I’m just wrong. Like, I’m very open to the possibility that I’m wrong. And like, feel free to tell me if you, you want on social media this time. But as they’re spending more time together and like, Bryn’s just like, she can’t help but be herself because she’s so lovely, she’s so bubbly, she’s so like, okay, well, I’ll just keep talking. Like, I can’t not talk. I mean, the book is called Keep Talking and that’s what Bryn does all the time. And so like a little bit at a time, Vivian starts to open up and their chemistry is really real. And so the question is, can Vivian let someone in in her life for the first time? And so Vivian has this incredible, just this like, massive character arc. She has a really rich backstory. So like I said, she was a child actor and she was a really popular child actor. On a hit sitcom. But she was, like, so objectified in this, like, really creepy way. So when I say sex symbol, it’s like the, yeah. Like in the 80s and 90s, how it was so common. There was, like, this countdown for her to turn 18.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh, Jesus.
>> Tara Scott: And it was interesting just after I finished reading this book. Danielle Fishel, who played Topanga on boy meet. Oh, yeah, yeah. I remember she was on Nicole Byers podcast, why won’t you date me? And she talked a little bit about this, like, how she was a sex symbol when she was the child actor and how there were. There was the same. You know, there was the birthday countdown for her to turn 18 and the Olsen twins and all this. So it was interesting to see that it was that, like. Oh, yeah, no, this was a. This was a real. This was a real thing for sure.
>> Kris Bryant: Wow.
>> Tara Scott: And in Vivian’s case, too, because there was some financial mismanagement, which often happened to child stars.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh. yeah.
>> Tara Scott: To figure out a different life. It’s not a mistake that she’s in Miami and that she’s living this secluded life, you know, now she’s living life on her own terms. She’s taken back the Cuban last name that she was born with, but she didn’t use in Hollywood because her mom wanted her to be successful and popular. she has this beautiful home that gives her a lot of privacy. It’s set up in a way she doesn’t really have to leave and she doesn’t really have friends except for this one woman who works as kind of her. I don’t know if she’s, like, a cook slash housekeeper, I guess, sort of like that. But as Bryn’s there and. And even invites her when she finds out that Bryn’s, like, at, like, way over the other end of the city, she’s having to drive, like, almost 100 miles a day to get there.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh, my gosh.
>> Tara Scott: Right? So she’s like, why don’t you just stay, like, in, like, a little guest house or something like that. So she’s like, why don’t you just stay on my property? So she’s spending hours with this woman who’s, like, ugly and curious and warm and cute. And we get to see, like, slowly, despite her instincts and what she wants, we see some of those edges soften. And one of the other things I loved is Bryn is not afraid to tease her, which really throws her for a loop because she’s so guarded that, like, nobody would dare. Right. And it’s really fun. There was One example, because her name is Bryn Garbo. And Vivian thinks that Bryn chose the last name Garbo, that it’s a pen name, it’s actually the name that she was born with. But Bryn pretends to not know who Greta Garbo is and says she influenced her. Like what era is she from? YouTube or Insta? And I actually laughed out loud because it’s like, oh my God, you little shit. That’s amazing. Bryn’s arc, I would say, is a little smaller and it’s more with like growing in confidence, learning her craft, being able to establish a career. So it’s not going from like, I am, all the walls are slammed down in a fortress kind of situation, but more like, how am m I going to pay these bills and can I do it the way that I want to? And oh my God, I’m working with like my gay awakening right now kind of thing. But it does make her this like, really great contrast. And so it’s funny, like you were saying about like all the tropes, like, there’s actually quite similar tropes in between these books because there’s the age gap, there’s the financial gap, there’s the. They’re both working in the same industry and they have wildly different personalities. M. And the perspective does shift between these two. But I love that some of the best lines about Bryn come from Vivian.
And so this is what, here’s the thing. I love the writing in this so much. I pulled like six quotes for this episode. So get into it. It’s making up for all the other episodes I’ve never planned for.
>> Kris Bryant: Okay, I’m settling in. Let’s go. Let’s do this.
>> Tara Scott: She says Brynn was radiant. Radiant in the nearly literal sense of the word. She was light, burning inside a gemstone, bright and mythical and real. And it’s just, I think what I love about this is because it’s coming from Vivian. She’s not used to people like this. She’s not used to this level of authenticity and how being able to live that authentically can really allow for that brightness. And so. Okay. Also, again, the age gap romance.
>> Tara Scott: You know, I love these.
>> Kris Bryant: Yes.
>> Tara Scott: I, I just, I don’t know. I can’t, can’t help it. I really love them and I think I especially love them when it means something. Because there are, sometimes with AGF romances where. And especially in this case, like, there’s nearly, there’s like a nearly 20 year gap in age between them. So when that happens, I think it needs to have, like, some kind of actual stakes in the narrative. I think if it’s like 10 or 11 years, I don’t really care that much. If it’s like a, Oh, but you’re so much younger than me. It’s a decade. Who cares when. But when it is, like, 20 years, like, it needs to matter.
>> Kris Bryant: A couple of decades.
>> Tara Scott: yeah, yeah. Like, in this case, it does really matter. Like, there’s a m. There’s a really big gap in their life experiences and their status in the world, and it is directly addressed. And it’s not just something that gets brushed aside, because even Vivian herself, you know, terrified of what’s going on, she brings it up as a potential obstacle for them. And I like how that worked because in her case, and this is just my take, I felt like she was looking for obstacles because she didn’t feel like she. Like, it was this. I’ve had my life. Your life is ahead of you. You’re a beautiful, radiant diamond. Don’t let me drag you to the bottom of the emotion. And Brynn’s just like, fuck you. Like, this is. No. And she would never say that because she’s the sweetest. She would never say that to Vivian. But I really like how that was handled.
So, like I said, I’ve done a couple quotes already. I have three more that I pulled that I’m just gonna bang, bang, bang with them.
>> Kris Bryant: Do it. Let’s go.
>> Tara Scott: I really loved the writing style with this. This is the first book from this author that I’ve read that wasn’t like, I read Breakup Buddies over the Holidays, but that was one that she wrote. That she wrote with Bryce Oakley. So this is the first book I’ve read of hers that was, like, only by her. And I was really blown away because some of the writing, like, it’s. She. She just has this really visceral way of showing what Vivian’s feeling. And so, the first one is. These are all from Vivian’s perspective. The first one is the question slipped out of her before she could stop it. Small bear, a knife held by the blade and pointed at her own carotid. And I was like, oh, okay, that’s pretty good. That’s pretty good. And then there’s another one that comes. I think it’s. It’s not. It’s not to do with the first kiss. I think it’s to do with the second kiss because there’s a big time break between those two.
>> Kris Bryant: Oh, really?
>> Tara Scott: Which is significant. And she was terrified to find out there was something worse than drowning. There was the intolerable relief of floating. Oh, right. And then the last one. Bryn’s smile was a sledgehammer to Vivian Sternum. It was cracking bones and more unbearable tenderness. That’s very good.
>> Kris Bryant: Come, on.
>> Tara Scott: Just. Come on. It was just such a beautifully written book. The journey was so satisfying. I was really happy with how it all went. And then if you sign up for her newsletter, you get a bonus short storey at the end. And it’s on Kindle Unlimited and.
>> Kris Bryant: Wow.
>> Tara Scott: I got it on Kindle Unlimited because a friend. So this came at the recommendation of a really good friend and I’m so glad I listened to her because, like, honestly, this is my favourite book of the year so far for sure. Hands down.
>> Kris Bryant: Nice.
>> Tara Scott: And she’s like, I really think you’re gonna like this one. And I said, okay. And to be fair, this is a. This is a friend that I made at GCLS who knows my taste because she followed my reviews. She followed enough my reviews that it’s like, what a privilege to have a friend who can just say, this book was written for you. I promise. You need to know. And so I read it on Kindle Unlimited and I loved it so much that I paid for a digital copy and I will probably pay for a physical copy.
>> Kris Bryant: Nice.
>> Tara Scott: Yep. So, yeah, keep talking. J.J. arias. Absolutely beautiful romance. So well written. And I’m definitely going to be reading more. I can’t believe it took me this long to finally like.