Introducing Henry Rollins (QR 125)

January 20, 2026

We talked about this! New year. NEW. Different. Better. Not (waves hands at the world) all of this.

Oh well, at least there’s puppies, blurbs, and recommendations on tap. Pull up a chair, fellow sapphic fiction readers. We’ve got what you’ve been looking for.

Official Recommendations

From Kris: Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid 
Kris’s official recommendation this week is a historical novel set in the distant past of the 1980s, when dinosaurs and other creatures still walked the earth. Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid is the story of a female astronaut coming to understand herself as she prepares to go to space. Kris says that this book helped fill in the emotional gaps that last year’s recommendation of Sally, the documentary about astronaut Sally Ride, didn’t provide.

From Tara: Greta Gets the Girl by Melissa Marr
Tara’s official recommendation this week is Greta Gets the Girl by Melissa Marr. Similar to Kris’s recommendation, this book reaches back to a previous recommendation by the same author, Toni and Addie Go Viral. This book has that sweet, sweet one-night-to-forever trope that Tara craves. The book comes with a trigger warning because one of the leads is a sexual assault survivor, although no assault happens on the page. (Note: Tara forgot about the trigger warning when discussing this aspect of the book and how it’s not mentioned in the blurb.)

Works/People Discussed

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Transcript

>> Tara Scott: Hey, everyone. Welcome to Queerly Recommended, the podcast where we recommend queer books, films, TV shows, and more. I’m Tara Scott and I review sapphic fiction at the Lesbian Review and smart, trashy books. And this week I’m recommending a new Sapphic romance.

>> Kris Bryant: And I’m Kris Bryant, a contemporary romance writer for Bold Strokes books. And this week I am also recommending a new Sapphic romance.

>> Tara Scott: All right, Kris, what is new with you? It’s a new year.

>> Kris Bryant: It is. It’s a new year. We have, I’m trying to have a positive, like a spin to this year, but I mean, it’s downward spiral.

>> Tara Scott: Oh, shit. The world is not helping with that.

>> Kris Bryant: Yeah, this whole, like, I’m gonna start the new year, we’re gonna be positive and then like, nope, the fuck you’re not.

>> Tara Scott: Yeah, nine terrible things happened in the first week or whatever.

>> Kris Bryant: Right? So, yes. So I’m again, barely hanging on.

>> Kris Bryant: But I actually, the publishing company reached out and said, hey, are we gonna get a book from you? I’m like, I don’t know. Can we fix the world? Can we fix the world? Yeah. So I have to get back to them on that. But also, in some good news, I am doing readout the first weekend in February. Did down in, Gulfport.

>> Tara Scott: What is that? I say for other people who don’t know?

>> Kris Bryant: So readout is a. It’s a festival of LGBTQ literature.

>> Tara Scott: Love.

>> Kris Bryant: And this is the ninth event, the ninth year, first time I got invited. I’m pretty excited. So I’m going to go there and be on a couple panels and talk about amazing, sapphic and queer literature that I write. Nice.

>> Tara Scott: So, yeah, if you’re in Florida or can make it to Florida, I’ve heard nothing but excellent things about it. That it’s just like, it’s a little, I guess it’s like a little smaller, but like super vibrant. I guess that, like, the vibes are wonderful.

>> Kris Bryant: I’m a little jealous. I hope that you are because I really need you to be jealous again. To come and do something again. But also, I know the political, climate is shitty here.

>> Tara Scott: I will stay safe at some point. But yeah, things need to. Things need to get better. Especially since they said they’re going to be checking social media profiles of people from other countries as they come in. I just don’t think it’s a good idea for me. But hey, Zoom is a beautiful thing.

>> Kris Bryant: It is.

>> Tara Scott: It’s what’s kept this podcast going for six years.

>> Kris Bryant: I know. That’s amazing. That’s amazing.

>> Tara Scott: Can you believe we’re on our sixth year also right away?

>> Kris Bryant: Yes and no.

>> Tara Scott: M.

>> Kris Bryant: It feels like it’s been a long time, but at the same time I still feel like we have so much to talk about and cover and spread this positivity and this like awesomeness that we’re doing and helping people find queer media. I think it’s good. So we’re gonna keep doing this until we can’t.

>> Tara Scott: I agree, I agree.

>> Kris Bryant: So that’s my news. What say you? What good news do you have?

>> Tara Scott: Okay, I have one bad, one good. And even the bad is like, it’s bearable. But do you remember how in Calgary last year there was this like massive water main break and we were.

>> Kris Bryant: Oh yes, bad shape.

>> Tara Scott: Yeah, we had another one. So it’s back to the like. Use, as little water as possible, take shorter showers, fewer showers, run your laundry or your dishwasher when it’s full. Try not to flush if you don’t need to. but what was weird is I don’t think I knew what was happening for probably three or four days into it. I m think the first time they sent an alert out on our phones, but they didn’t do it this time. And so there’s been like, we have a new mayor who just gives updates via social media. So hopefully by the time this episode goes up, it’ll be fixed. When I talked to my aunt yesterday, I get my Calgary news on my weekly calls with my aunt who’s like, I was watching the news and they said that because I don’t watch the news, I don’t want to know. She also keeps me up to date on all the terrible stuff that my premiere does. Premieres are like governors and so I’ll also ask her sometimes, hey, what Danielle Smith do lately? What dumb thing did you do that I need to know about? so it’s great. And she said, yeah, it’s supposed to be fixed within the next few days. So fingers crossed, we’ll see how it goes if it happens again. Hopefully not.

But the good news is that, since we spoke, yes, we brought the puppy home. Hilariously, yesterday I got a message from Virginia Black voting on the. Because I talked about some of the possible names for the puppy on the last episode and she had an opinion. And what is even better is she was right about the name that we chose. So our little black floofy puppy is named Henry Rollins. Neil, went with our oldest to pick him up While, you know, our youngest and I stayed home to tire out our older dog so that it would be a better first meeting. And when they got in, my oldest said, I think his name is Henry. And I was like, yeah, okay. And then he was spicy within a day or two and it was like, you know what? I think it’s Henry Rollins. It’s not just Henry, it’s Henry.

>> Kris Bryant: It’s the whole name, right?

>> Tara Scott: We’re gonna name him after the punk artist because this dog is a punk. Is a punk.

>> Kris Bryant: Spicy punk.

>> Tara Scott: He really is. He’s so spicy sweet. I forgot what puppies are like. He’s so sweet sometimes, like when he’s chill and he naps on you and he’s only. He hasn’t been weighed in about a week, but when he was weighed by our vet, he was five pounds. So baby, he’s going to be a very little guy. But he is so funny to see him and Ember play because he is fearless. She is four times his size and he will leap on her and just. He will try it and try. He’s also not afraid of any of us. If we’re holding him, if we’re holding him up, say it’s very easy to, like, air jail little dogs, right? You just like pick them up and hold them up and they can’t do anything, right? And he’ll like, snarl and turn his head around to bite at your wrist. And so my nickname for him is Demon Baby because I forgot that puppies are all demon babies or baby demons, however you want to say it.

>> Kris Bryant: They are. They are.

>> Tara Scott: But he’s cute as hell and he’s really popular in me because I do sometimes bring him to. Because I work from home on Zoom, so I’ll occasionally bring him to a meeting if I. If I need to or if I want to.

>> Kris Bryant: Sometimes you need to get one of those like, baby things and just put him up front, you know? Yeah.

>> Tara Scott: Like a Baby Bjorn. So tempting.

>> Kris Bryant: That would be great.

>> Tara Scott: You would fit.

>> Kris Bryant: You could say anything you wanted to. Nobody would care because they would be looking at Henry.

>> Tara Scott: Oh, absolutely. He has a sweet side. I have to remind myself sometimes because there are days where he’ll be in like asshole mode for like an hour or two. And I’m like, how? You’re so little. How have you not run out of energy yet? And it’s also hilarious because he’s so little he can’t jump on the couch. He can jump off if he’s on it, but he can’t jump on. And so When Amber’s done with him or other, she’s like, by fucker and just jumps on the couch.

>> Kris Bryant: If she could flip him off, she would.

>> Tara Scott: Oh, 100% like a good big sister.

>> Kris Bryant: That’s excellent.

>> Tara Scott: Yeah, it’s pretty good.

So, Kris, what have you been watching or reading recently?

>> Kris Bryant: So I have been watching a lot of American football because it’s the playoffs and I’m in it for the money since my team ended up being trash, so we did not make the playoffs. So I have been watching the playoffs and I have been betting on the playoffs. So that’s been fun. Yeah. And I started on Netflix, I started Stephen King’s 112263 series. Like, it’s, from 2018, I think. But then they grabbed it and they’re airing it now. But one of the girls I work with gave away the ending. What? Like, what the fuck, Lynn? What?

>> Tara Scott: Rude.

>> Kris Bryant: Yeah, so I stopped watching. So then I told her, you’re the reason why I stopped watching it. And she’s like, no, I challenge you to finish it. I’m like, that’s not. That works like that. How that works.

>> Tara Scott: So, was it a big twist, too?

>> Kris Bryant: I mean, I. I don’t know the exact details, but I know what I know. And so.

>> Tara Scott: Which is too much.

>> Kris Bryant: I know too much. Yeah, it’s one of those. When somebody spoils a book or movie, you know, you just don’t want to read it or watch it because you know what happens. And then you’re like, like, why do I want to do that?

>> Tara Scott: Yeah, I had somebody. Before I saw it, I had somebody spoil the Sixth Sense. And I gotta tell you, when you don’t know the twist for the Sixth Sense, and I under, Like at this point, like, it’s been, what, 25 years? So whatever.

>> Kris Bryant: Exactly.

>> Tara Scott: But like, when you try to watch that movie and you know the twist, it’s really boring. Like, it was a really, really boring movie. I was like, can we go?

>> Kris Bryant: It, ah, was one of the movies that I clapp. I laughed because I’m that person. Like, oh, you can’t fool me. No, you. I’m too smart for that. And that got me, that guy. I wasn’t even thinking it. It wasn’t in my head at all. So I just laughed because I’m like, they got me like that. Very few movies have got. Have ever done that. But, But yeah, it got me. So, yeah.

>> Tara Scott: Yeah.

>> Kris Bryant: Let’s see.

Oh, also, the traitors started again.

>> Tara Scott: Ooh. Anyone interesting on this season?

>> Kris Bryant: First of all, I’d like to say it’s still queer. Yay. Very clear. And so Taylor Swift’s future mother in law, mama Kelsey, what was on. So what Jason’s mom was on. Yeah. So she’s on the, on this season. So it’s kind of fun. There’s a lot of Housewives and some Survivor people. So they called the housewives and the gamers. And I was like, gamers? Because I’m thinking gamers, you know, Nintendo Switch, all that. But they’re talking like games like Big Brother, you know, reality shows, Survivor, all of those kind of gaming, so they call them gamers. And there’s somebody from the Bachelor, like there’s that kind of stuff.

>> Kris Bryant: But of course I like it. They, they dropped the first three episodes, you know, just to kind of tease you and like m. Because nobody can do the weeklies. It’s so hard to do weeklies anymore.

>> Tara Scott: Yeah.

>> Kris Bryant: But when they feed you a bunch at once and then you’re just like nibbling every week, that’s good. So they did it just right. So I think it’s on Tuesdays or Thursdays. So I’m very excited that that’s back because that’s very entertaining.

>> Tara Scott: Nice.

>> Kris Bryant: So that’s about it. What about you? What have you been reading and, or watching?

>> Tara Scott: So many things.

Okay, so Canada’s Drag Race season six almost over. By the time this goes up, the finale will be up. It’s actually really good this season. The production value, of course, is not as high as it is, for the main, like RuPaul’s Drag Race, but it’s being made by Bell Media in Canada. It’s not being made by like Paramount Plus MTV or VH1, like, who have all been making it. So it’s kind of more like back in the old Logo TV days. But the queens have been really good this season and some of the challenges have been really, really interesting this season. They brought back one from last season two where they did a design challenge. And like, there’s always design challenges in all the drag races, but it’s one where they’re not designing for themselves to wear. They’re designing for the host to wear.

>> Kris Bryant: Oh, damn.

>> Tara Scott: Right. Like, it’s a really, really cool idea. And it’s just, it’s been a fabulous season. I think it’s the best season of Canada’s Drag Race so far. So I’m a little sad it’s almost over. But I didn’t have to stay sad for long because season 18 of RuPaul’s Drag Race is back. It is so good. So far I’ve seen two episodes. I am loving this batch of Queensland. And honestly, like, I don’t think there’s anyone bad in the group. Not that anyone’s ever like, bad bad. But like, I have no idea who’s going to be in the top. Oh, it could be literally anyone. I cannot make any predictions.

>> Kris Bryant: They had.

>> Tara Scott: Cardi B was the guest judge on the first episode. She’s a good judge. She did not pull her punches. That was very fun. The other thing that I thought was super interesting is there’s something like five or six queens from Florida this season. And I kind of wonder if it’s a bit of a fuck you to the Florida government, for how hard they’ve been going after drag queens. I don’t know, maybe I can’t prove it and possibly there have been interviews with producers that said it. But yeah, like, I’m kind of hoping that’s what they’ve said. Like, oh, yeah, you’re going to say that drag isn’t welcome in Florida.

>> Kris Bryant: Guess what?

>> Tara Scott: We’re going to spotlight what drag queens are doing from there. So just, it’s. I think it’s on track to be a fabulous season.

I’m very excited about it then in terms of also on tv. So I’ve started a rewatch of the Good place because my 14 year old wanted to watch it. And it is so fun rewatching it with somebody who’s never seen it before. Did you watch it?

>> Kris Bryant: I started it during COVID and then, you know, you know, when I get all, tangled up and like that whole we’re gonna all die and this is the end of everything, I tend to not watch television. And so sadly, I started it. I probably got through half the first season, so I would like to go back to it. It’s one of those I always forget. I’m like, oh, yeah, that’s right. I really wanted to see that series.

>> Tara Scott: It was pretty funny to see my kids reaction. So there’s this character that gets introduced as a Taiwanese monk who never speaks.

>> Kris Bryant: I never got. I haven’t gotten there yet.

>> Tara Scott: So he could speak.

>> Kris Bryant: Okay, all right.

>> Tara Scott: And when he does, watching my kid like that, like the huge gasp and the.

>> Kris Bryant: Oh my God.

>> Tara Scott: What the was so fun. And there’s a twist at the end of the first season.

>> Kris Bryant: Don’t tell me.

>> Tara Scott: No, no, I’m not going to. I. I don’t want to ruin it for you, but people have seen it, know what I’m talking about, and I Thought, well, the reaction to the other twist was so good that this should be a, lot of fun. It blew their mind so hard that there was actually almost no visible reaction. And I was like, what happened? And I talked to them about it. They’re like, I, I don’t actually have any words.

>> Kris Bryant: And I was like, oh, this is fun.

>> Tara Scott: so we’re almost halfway through the second season now. There’s four seasons and the seasons aren’t that long. So like, it is like the, it’s, it’s the 22 minute sitcom format.

>> Kris Bryant: Oh, okay.

>> Tara Scott: But I think it’s only 12 or 13 episodes a season.

>> Kris Bryant: That sounds like, a long weekend for me.

>> Tara Scott: Yeah, yeah, exactly. And honestly, like, oh, the comedy is so good in it. The timing for some of them is excellent. It’s interesting watching it again and seeing all the people and trying to see like, okay, who’s my favorite? And like, honestly, I think Darcy Cardin is so good and so versatile. Just in this series alone shows so much versatility.

>> Kris Bryant: That’s a good cast. Oh, for sure. Yeah. I have to remember that because now I have finished everything that I was watching and somebody actually recommended his and hers, so. Or his, I think something like that. So I’ll have to look into that. But I’ll keep the good place in mind too because I always forget until you start talking about it. And like,

>> Tara Scott: Dang it, pork. I know. I love it. What’s also kind of fun is that now my kid thinks I have good taste in sitcoms. And so we’re gonna watch Brooklyn Nine Nine after this.

>> Kris Bryant: I love that. Do you know that that is still my ringtone? No, I haven’t changed it yet. It’s Brooklyn Nine Nine. If somebody calls me, if I don’t have the, the silence.

>> Tara Scott: Oh, that’s fun. That’s very fun. So yeah, I’m thinking through some of the other, like, it’s kind of like, well, if you like that and you like that, then I think maybe you know, like Parks and Rec or the early seasons of Arrested Development before they brought it back. Or Community. Like, there’s some really good choices from before.

>> Kris Bryant: So nice.

>> Tara Scott: We watched with our friends, Amanda and Tania. We watched a Japanese gay romance film called 10 Dance.

>> Kris Bryant: Okay.

>> Tara Scott: I think Neil liked it more than I did. It was good, but I got mad at the end. It’s, it’s not a bad ending. It’s not an unhappy ending. I was like, but, but why not show this kind of thing? And so it’s these two competitive dancers One of them does ballroom dancing, the other one does Latin style dancing.

>> Kris Bryant: Ooh.

>> Tara Scott: They both want to get to this competition called the 10 Dance, where you basically have to do. Now I’m trying to remember, is it 10 or is it 20 numbers? But like, you have to be able to do both styles of dance. And so they’re going to teach each other. And of course, you know, the ballroom dancer is more serious, more quiet, more rigid. very structured, very. This is exactly how we do it. The Latin style dancer is more of a, you know, he’s more of a bad boy. He’s more laid back. He likes to party. And they kind of learn and they fall for each other and they actually, like there is actual kissing between them. Wow. So I did have a good time with it. It was good. I don’t feel like I know enough to responsibly, review, it. So I’m mostly just saying like, it’s out there. Check it out. It’s a good time. It’s on Netflix. That’s. That’s where we saw it. Nice.

And then I played Baldur’s Gate 3 again. Was it not enough that I played it twice before? No. And I did another Sapphic run. I played as Shadowheart romancing Lae’zel because I had romance Shadowheart on a different run. I wanted to see how it changed the game. None of this is going to make sense to you, so I’m just saying this for the people listening who know about this game. But I wanted to see, does it change Shadowheart’s story if you play as her? What does change is there’s all these incidents where her hand flares up and it’s like, what the fuck is happening? You get to see what’s happening, which is very cool. It’s like she has these memories almost like come to her mind. Like something is happening with that. So you actually know what that is. And then I chose to romance Lae’zel because I hated her in the other playthroughs. I would never take her when I’m running around doing missions, killing people, doing whatever. And I actually think it might be the best romance of the game. It’s very interesting because the way it starts with her is like there’s this sort of big party scene after, at the end of the first act, and she comes in, propositions you. And so when she had done that before, I was like, what? You’re a bitch. Why are we.

>> Kris Bryant: What?

>> Tara Scott: I don’t like you. Why are we doing this? What is happening? And this time I rolled with it. And it goes from this, like, I’m not interested in romance. I’m not interested in loving anybody. I just want sex for. Fine, I’ll be your fuck buddy. Okay, that’s fine. All the way to this, like, really beautiful, emotional wow. Change. It’s. Oh, it’s so good. Well worth it. It was well worth putting in another 90 hours to that game.

Anyway, Kris, what’s your official recommendation this week?

>> Kris Bryant: So, my official recommendation is Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid. So look, we all know that I love the Seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo. Like, I snot cried during that whole thing the three times I listened to it on Audible. What I got from a secret Santa this year from work was this book, Atmosphere, and I was like, oh, okay, well, yeah, that sounds cool. So let me read you the synopsis. And this, we’re gonna have so much fun with this. It’s gonna sound familiar. Atmosphere is a 2025 historical fiction novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid, set in the 1980s NASA space shuttle.

>> Tara Scott: No, sorry, what? 1980s historical? Fucking rude, frankly.

>> Kris Bryant: I know, right? Following astrophysicist Joan Goodwin as, she trains to become one of the first female astronauts and navigates a secret romance with fellow astronaut Vanessa Ford, all while dealing with personal challenges and a looming space disaster. Okay, so that kind of gives a lot away, but, like, do you remember? I’m sure you do, because we do this podcast. I, recommended Sally, the documentary about Sally.

>> Tara Scott: I do remember.

>> Kris Bryant: And that wasn’t that long ago.

>> Tara Scott: No.

>> Kris Bryant: Okay. So because I had watched the documentary, I remembered that everything that Sally had to go through just to become an astronaut. And this is like in the late 70s, NASA did a call out for women to apply. So a very small group of women got picked to go through the training for years and eventually go to space. And so reading this book, it felt like the author was filling in the emotional gaps of the documentary. It just filled in the gaps for me. I don’t want to say it was very similar. I mean, it does sound like Sally’s experience, more or less, with the exception of not falling in love with another astronaut, but falling in love with somebody else and trying to keep everything a secret, to keep the career, all that good stuff. So the documentary, you know, also had the, the struggles of having, like I just said, like having a relationship with another woman in a male dominated field and people warning them, you know, you can’t have, you know, you cannot be gay in this. This is all about being, the best of the best. Literally, like you can’t have any sort of. You can have a criminal record, you can’t have any sort of sexual. Well, I don’t even know what the word is, but anything probably. Right.

>> Tara Scott: So.

>> Kris Bryant: So that kind of is the story of Sally and it’s also very much the story of this.

So one thing that I do with books is when things get very technical, I’ll skim.

>> Tara Scott: Yeah.

>> Kris Bryant: Because I’m in it for the romance or I’m in it for the story or whatever. But because I had that background of seeing Sally, like I knew everything that was going on, I’m like, oh yeah, I remember that. Oh yeah, I remember that too. So I was really into the book the whole way. Like every word I read. I didn’t skip, I didn’t, I didn’t stay out of anything. Like, give me the romance. But also now I know, like how the mechanics of a robotic arm work. You know, when you’re out, when you’re in the space shuttle and you’re trying to do something out in space, like, okay, yeah, it makes sense. I know what you’re talking about.

>> Kris Bryant: I’m so glad for the people who haven’t read this book. I think it might be fun to watch Sally the documentary and then read this book. It worked for me. Whether or not it works for other people, I don’t know. But it really did help fill in the gaps. So let’s get to the good stuff.

>> Tara Scott: Yeah.

>> Kris Bryant: So Joan is very smart. Like they said. She’s an astro, she’s actually an associate astrophysics professor. She keeps her emotions, very close to her chest. She doesn’t like to rock the boat. She’s kind of a wallflower and she’s very smart and her sister is a total dick. But her sister, like, it happens to be, they happen to be in the same room. And the commercial comes on where NASA says, hey, if you’re a woman and you’re smart, you know, apply for the astronaut program. And so her sister kind of flippantly says, hey, maybe you should do that because you don’t have a life. Anyway, I mean, her total. I, like this, I can’t like this sister. And I would have gone rounds. Like just the way that she treated her and talked to her. It was terrible. Anyway, the one thing that she did was she, the sister did give Joan a niece. Like the perfect kid, niece, loved. They had the best relationship. Like her niece is her world. And that is such a sweet relationship to read in the book. Even though her mom is a total asshole.

>> Tara Scott: Her mom being Francis, as is often the way.

>> Kris Bryant: Right. Yes. And so, you know, it’s just a story of like Joan always being there for her niece and trying to help her in any way she can and not really like rocking the boat with her sister, like, and not saying, hey, you’re a terrible mom. Why don’t you, you know, why did you leave your kid outside locked? You know, you left and why did you leave your kid at school? And things like that. Like, she does never call her out.

>> Kris Bryant: You know, and I don’t know if it’s just because, you know, she’s just like got this quiet strength and it’s like, I don’t want to rock the boat. I want this relationship with my niece. And my sister knows that it’s so important that she might take it away if I, if I call her out on anything, you know, because people are like that, they’re very spiteful. So sometimes. Yeah. So. And her sister just had that. I could take this away from you in no time. And you know, it would just destroy you.

>> Kris Bryant: Anyway, back to Joan. She’s really focused on the stars and she has this really cool philosophy that we are humans are a part of the stars and everything that make up the stars because we’re all made from the same things.

>> Kris Bryant: You know, it’s very deep and it’s kind of like her religion.

>> Tara Scott: Yeah.

>> Kris Bryant: And it’s beautiful and how she explains it. And I love her. I mean, I love it. I was like, girl, you do you, you believe that? It’s, it just made sense, you know, especially for doing that. Everything she does. And she knows all the constellations, she knows all the stars, what they’re, you know, it’s just so smart. And so she helps even the other astronauts, like, hey, I don’t know what I’m looking at. Can you show me where this is in the sky? And stuff? So she’s very helpful and that that’s where she thrives. She shines when she talks about that in her life. So basically her goal is to be an astronaut, be closer to the stars and the planets and do something that, you know, she’s always maybe wanted to do and learn more about since she’s always had such a fascination with space.

>> Kris Bryant: The problem is she is of course, a woman in a man’s world.

>> Tara Scott: Yep.

>> Kris Bryant: Yep. And she doesn’t really connect with the people that she. At first, she doesn’t really connect with the people that she works with because she’s never really learned to express her feelings. And she’s never really had a friend before. But she finds her friends and her family at NASA, which is really cool because you think about it like everybody’s a super nerd. And she’s finally found her people. So she starts to. She learns what it’s going to take for her to get to space. Like what she has to do and how she has to do it. A couple guys hit on her and she’s like, hm, you know, I just don’t. I’m not interested. It just, it’s not for me. Like, my life is the stars and everything about it and I don’t want to kiss you and don’t kiss me again. You know, when she does kiss a few guys, she’s just like, I’m not liking this let’s not do this again type thing. Yeah, it’s not till they all go to a strip bar. And so then like, something inside of her just like, oh my gosh, maybe. Maybe I’m gay, maybe I’m gay. So this whole thing, there’s the thing, like everything just kind of makes sense. Then like, everything snaps into place when she finally realizes who she is and, and accepts it. So everything ramps up and life is perfect. Everything is going well until it doesn’t.

I will say there are things kind of off about this book.

>> Kris Bryant: And I know I haven’t read. I’ve read zero reviews on this book. I literally just finished it yesterday. And I’m like, I’m going to talk about this. I don’t know what people have said about it, but here are my thoughts. It jumps pov even in the middle.

>> Tara Scott: Of chapters, like with no warning.

>> Kris Bryant: Like no warning. All of a sudden I’m like, wait a minute. Yeah, I don’t love that. So there’s head hopping. And then of course it bounces around. It goes from like 1980 to 1984 to 1982 back to 1980. So there’s a lot of time jumps in the story.

>> Tara Scott: Is that at least labeled?

>> Kris Bryant: Yeah, it does. It will tell you. Like, you know, December 29, 1984. It does, tell you certain things, but sometimes in the middle of the chapter you’re like, wait, what? What? And the punctuation’s a little weird, but I don’t care. Like, rules are made to be broken. And this doesn’t really follow a lot of rules because, like, this is an incredible writer and she tells a great story and it’s just, it’s beautiful the way she describes things and I just, I love this book so much. Like, I’m there for the poetry of mashing up words to like, really like, pull at the heartstrings. And not very many writers that I’ve read do that.

>> Tara Scott: Yeah.

>> Kris Bryant: Like a good example that I think who does this in our genre is Anna Burke.

>> Tara Scott: Oh, absolutely.

>> Kris Bryant: For sure. So I totally thought of her when I read this because like, oh, yes, these words. This is Anna Burke. This is the way she would describe things.

>> Tara Scott: Yeah.

>> Kris Bryant: I didn’t plan to read the synopsis, of the book and actually I don’t think I read the synopsis. I just kind of read this little thing and I shouldn’t have read it. I should have just left it alone because I didn’t want to ruin anything. Because honestly, like, I did not know, like, who she was gonna love, who she was gonna fall in love with. I had no idea, no idea until I got in the story. I actually thought it was somebody else. The whole time I’m thinking she likes those other. Or she maybe has feelings. I don’t think she knew she had feelings until like, she went to this club and everything. Just like, the dam broke.

>> Kris Bryant: And the whole time I thought she was interested in somebody else the whole time.

>> Tara Scott: Oh, wow.

>> Kris Bryant: Yeah. But it was so blatantly obvious. Going back through it, I’m like, what am I? Of course, like, all the signs are there. I was trying to force her to go to this other person. Like the whole time I’m like, oh, this person’s gonna be the one. Because there’s so much emphasis on what a bitch she is. And so I’m thinking, you know, this.

>> Tara Scott: Whole thing, we do love anemones to love.

>> Kris Bryant: Yes. So I’m like, that’s her.

>> Tara Scott: It’s her.

>> Kris Bryant: And like, what? No, it’s her. So like the whole thing was just like.

>> Tara Scott: No, some people are just mean.

>> Kris Bryant: So there’s this, there’s this one paragraph, but I’m not going to read the paragraph. I’m just going to read the final sentence in this paragraph and kind of see where this is like, what she’s saying and how she’s writing it. So this is from Joan’s point of view. She said she had not cut off parts of herself to fit so much as she has learned to make room for somebody other than herself. M so I kind of like that. I mean, I like that she learned to love this way. It wasn’t any sacrifice on her part. Like she fell in love and it was like everything all at once type thing. and I just, I love this. Just. There were a lot of deep thoughts and really great language, like I said. So we’re going to talk about the ending. But we’re. But after you all, after everybody reads the book, we’re going to talk about it. Like somebody’s going to send me a message and say, let’s talk about the ending of this.

>> Tara Scott: Okay.

>> Kris Bryant: So I have mixed feelings about the ending of this book. I have very mixed feelings. And it’s a very. It’s an unusual and abrupt ending. I mean, it’s a great ending. It’s a good ending. It’s not a bad ending.

>> Tara Scott: But the ending you wanted more like.

>> Kris Bryant: I had to like run. I had to run a lap after I read the last two pages. Like, literally it was just like so like my blood pressure was. Yeah. And then it was like, boom, done. I was like, are you kidding me?

>> Tara Scott: That’s like me with 10 Dance.

>> Kris Bryant: There you go. Okay, so maybe, I don’t know because.

>> Tara Scott: I haven’t read it, but I’ve heard it’s good. one of my friends at work said last year, I read this book, it’s amazing. You should read it. And I said, okay. And then I forgot.

>> Kris Bryant: Yeah, it’s good. I still, like, Evelyn Hugo will always be like anything that this lady writes. Ah, Evelyn Hugo. It really is. And there’s a part of me that I wish I would have listened to the audiobook of this instead of reading it. Because the audiobook had such a. Of the seven, husbands of Evelyn Hugo. It had such an impact on me. Yes. And for me to think about this book all the time. And I really think it was the audiobook listening to that rather than read.

>> Kris Bryant: So I still loved it. And like I said, it so helped that I saw the Sally documentary and I learned so much in that. Just about how life was during that time for women astronauts. Like how hard it was and why did they do this? Why did they invite women to space? What was the reason? M. So I have all that background and then I read this book. I’m like, oh my God, it’s amazing. So I didn’t want to put it down and I read it in like a day and a half, so.

>> Kris Bryant: Actually, yeah, I read it. Yeah, I think two nights in a day.

>> Tara Scott: Nice.

>> Kris Bryant: Yeah. So it was. Yeah, it was good. It was. And it’s like 300 pages. It’s. It was good. It’s very good. So I recommend it. And that is my official recommendation. What about you, Tara? What is yours?

>> Tara Scott: So mine is Greta Gets the Girl by Melissa Marr. I don’t know if you remember, last year I recommended a book called Tony and Addie Go Viral about the Victorian history professor and she. Oh, yes, a one night stand with an actress. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So remember that this one is about Kayleigh, who is like her TA but also has become kind of like a little sister slash close friend and also her editor because Tony is an author. And so Greta Claiborne is Tony’s editor. She’s doing very well. Cause she’s ed, you know, she’s editing this series. It’s selling a lot.

>> Kris Bryant: My dream.

>> Tara Scott: Popular. That’s the word I’m looking for. it’s this very popular series. It’s been adapted for television.

>> Kris Bryant: Nice.

>> Tara Scott: So everything at work is doing great. You know, she lives in New York City working in publishing and that’s going great. She is not interested in relationships though she was engaged a couple of years prior. Her partner had badgered her to like, let’s move in together, we should get married now. I’m going to cheat on you a bunch and then move out. And so she’s like, nope, I’m not doing it. So there’s basically like a hookup app called the Sappho’s Kiss Society. And it’s just for these like casual meetups.

>> Kris Bryant: Yeah.

>> Tara Scott: and when she’s visiting Washington, D.C. she tries to go there because she’s also, you know, acquired a book. She, she’s editing for Kaelee. She’s editing Kaelee’s book and she says, hey, let’s meet up. And, and Kaelee completely blows her off because Kaelee is also on the app under the name Lee. Ah. so neither of them knows it, but they have, you know, a hookup at Greta’s hotel room. She’s, she’s using a different name. She’s using the name Marie. So like neither of them have any idea that like, hey, you’re my book editor. Hey, I’m editing your book. They just know that like the sex is incredible. They think it’s going to be one night and that’s it.

But you know, maybe that’s not the case because Lee has to go to New York for something which turns out to be Kaelee has to go to New York to meet with, you know, the, her team at the publishing company because this is going to be, it’s one of the books that they’re making a big bet on that year. It’s a sapphic romantasy and you know, meets up with Marie, quote unquote, who is actually Greta, meets up with her again. They have this incredible night. They’re like, what if we did a friends with benefits thing? Neither of us wants a relationship, but, like, we could be friends with benefits, right? Until, of course, Kaelee shows up at the office. And their hearts fall out of their buttholes because they’re like, what? What? Oh, my God. And, you know, it’s kind of heartbreaking for both of them because, you know, the sex is so good, but they’re like, well, maybe we can just be friends. But the other thing that most people don’t know is that Kaelee has a lot of secrets, I guess is kind of the best way to put it. She is not in touch with her family. She’s changed her name. She has a trust fund that she doesn’t use and is supporting herself through, you know, working on a PhD. She has been writing this book. She actually has the second book in the series already written. She teaches, and anytime she’s stressed, she goes to the gym. She’s ripped as shit because she’s stressed all the time. so there’s a lot going on kind of for each of these characters. Neither of them has wanted a relationship either ever or in a long time. Now they’re really interested in each other, and they can’t have it. And, you know, so it’s a question of, like, well, you know, if it leaks, well, how did Kaelee get the book deal? And can Greta possibly be a good editor anymore? And then on top of all that, Kaelee’s family, who she hasn’t talked to in a decade, shows up and tries to say, like, don’t publish your book. It’s gonna embarrass the family that you’re writing. This, Sapphic book will give you money to kill it. And so, you know, they both have to figure out, what do they actually want out of this? Can they do this in a way that works for them? And Kaelee has to decide. You know, she’s. She spent the last decade trying to pretend she’s not from this, like, wealthy, influential, horrible family. Can she actually, you know, accept herself and move on? that’s a lot. That’s a lot of story. And also, if it sounds like I’m giving away a lot, I’m not, because that’s all from the blurb. I didn’t read the blurb, but that’s all in there. I was actually really impressed.

>> Kris Bryant: That’s, such a deep Blurb.

>> Tara Scott: I know.

>> Kris Bryant: 150 words is our max for blurb that is way more than 150 words, I gotta say.

>> Tara Scott: Actually, I can tell you how many words it is because I copied and pasted it into my outline. Let’s find out.

>> Kris Bryant: It is.

>> Tara Scott: You’re right, it’s more. It’s 236 words.

>> Kris Bryant: Yeah.

>> Tara Scott: But one of the things that I appreciated is that it really is like it’s true. Because sometimes I’ll read a blurb and then I’ll read a book and then I’ll think, well, that was a lie. And I did not feel that way about this particular book.

>> Kris Bryant: Which is nice.

>> Tara Scott: You know, we see Tony and Addie again. So if you read and enjoy Tony and Addie Go viral, we get to see where they’re at later on as they’re getting ready to get married. And I really enjoyed that. Like they’re not a main focal point or anything like that. But you know, Tony is one of Kaelee’s best friends and really is like a big sister and is lovely. I thought this was a really, really good one night to forever romance. But it was also interesting because often when I read, you know, the one night to forever ones, it’s like, okay, we have one night and it’s like, oh no, you’re my boss. Or oh no. And I thought it was going to be like that, right? It’s like, oh no, you’re my editor. But it wasn’t just one night. It was like one night and then maybe some text, like a little light texting and then one more night where it’s like, oh, we like to talk to each other as well. Maybe there’s something here. We still don’t want a relationship but oh no, we have a commercial relationship too. This is a problem. And I thought that was really interesting and worked really well. And you know, they both have really strong and interesting and important character arcs. you know, with Greta, she got burned really hard by her fiance with the, you know, being pushed into this like, let’s get engaged. You know, let’s move in together. Let’s get engaged. Haha M JK and also you see other examples along the way of how like her ex had been kind of shitty to her in ways that two and a half years later still comes up in her reactions and how she expects things. And also Greta doesn’t really have friends because all of her friends were mutuals. And so when her ex took all the friends and she always had this almost like a firewall between her work life and her personal life and so, you know, with this story, she’s kind of learning, okay, maybe it is safe to fall in love again. But also maybe I can be open to friendships again. And maybe I can be open to friendships from within the industry, which is great. And I mean, it is normal to make friends at work. That can be a thing.

>> Kris Bryant: Yes.

>> Tara Scott: That’s where a lot of my adult friends came from. Same. I appreciated seeing that.

But then Kaelee has this whole other, you know, she has to learn how to trust because she completely rebuilt her life when she was 18. Like she was 18 when she walked away from her family, from her old life. And like I said in the blurb, actually, I’ll read this, I’ll read this one line because I don’t typically read from the blurbs, but I think it’s worthwhile. So in the blurb it says when Kaelee’s wealthy and influential family shows up to put a stop to the, embarrassment of writing Sapphic fiction. And I think with that, even just that one line, you kind of sort of get a sense of, of what her family is like. Right? they’re bigots.

>> Kris Bryant: Right.

>> Tara Scott: Really, they’re rich bigots. They also happen to be rich bigots from North Carolina. Now, is that, you know, fair to this? Obviously it’s not about everybody in North Carolina, but it is about a certain type of Republican profile. Like some of the impacts of this extend to not just how does she let people into her life. She also wants to protect people in her life from her family because these are deep pocketed bigots. These are like real powerful assholes who fund some horrible things and have a lot of influence and also extends to her relationship, sex and this deep need for control that she has there.

Like I said, the blurb gets into a lot of what actually happens in the book. But this is where I’m going to say the one content warning for it that it leaves out and I actually think is really, really critical for people to know she is a sexual assault survivor. And this also connects to this terrible, bigoted, religious family because after she came out, she was assigned a fiance. Damn right. Like, this wasn’t somebody that she dated and, you know, whatever. No, no, this was her dad saying, you’re going to marry this guy and this guy assaults her. There is no assault on the page. We never actually see that fiance guy in the book, but it’s clearly something that she lives with forever and she has been living with for a long time. And, you know, I think seeing a sexual assault survivor as a protagonist in a romance like this where she’s still living with some of the trauma of what she experienced. I actually think the representation is very, very important. It’s really well done. I think her journey is really beautifully written. But also, if you don’t know going into it that that’s happening and that it is kind of in this almost corrective type of assault.

>> Kris Bryant: Oh, okay.

>> Tara Scott: I think that could be really jarring and really hard for someone to read, especially if, you know, they came from a deeply religious family who never accepted that they’re queer. So I think that’s an important call out. But for me, like, I’m actually. I really enjoyed this book. I’m glad I read it. It was really nice to revisit characters that I enjoyed before. And I think when I talked about Tony and Addie go viral, I talked about how, like, Tony really ran hot and cold on Addie. And, and a lot of it was because she was so messed up from her parents relationship and what they were like. And it was one of those books where I was so thrilled to see in the epilogue, oh, she’s going for therapy. This is wonderful. And it was really nice to see they’re more settled in. You can see the impact of her doing the work to work on herself to do some healing and that they were happy too. So it was great to see them again. It was great to get to know Kaelee better because, like, she was in the first book, but, like, not very much so, like, really getting to know who she. She is and getting to meet Greta and, oh, her was fantastic. And now I’m hoping so there’s another character named Emily. Oh, Emily is Tony’s best friend and she is also her agent and Kaelee’s agent. Selfishly, I’m hoping we get a book for Emily. I hope we’re not done with this group of characters because I’d really love to see her settled because Emily is wonderful and I’m greedy, so I’m not afraid to say so. Yeah. I think if anyone is open to, like, a really beautiful romance, that, yes, some of the subject matter is difficult, but it pays off really well. And the ending is really good. I absolutely recommend this one. So it’s called Greta Gets the Girl by Melissa Marr.

>> Kris Bryant: Yay.

>> Tara Scott: That is all for this episode. Thank you so much for listening. If you’ve enjoyed it. If you have not subscribed yet, please subscribe on your podcast app and you will know when we have new episodes. If you have a friend that you think would like the show. And if you think they would be interested in any of what we’ve recommended, please send them the link. Tell them all about it. And if you want to support us, we do have a link in our show notes to our Ko Fi.

>> Kris Bryant: Right. And you can find all of our links to social media sites in the show notes. You can also just search for us or you can email us@podcastearlyrecommended.com Goodbye everyone.

>> Tara Scott: Goodbye.

>> Kris Bryant: You know one of the things I forgot to talk about? No, what was, was when you were talking about RuPaul’s Drag Race and you mentioned MTV and NVH1. You know how that was? You know where all the money comes from there. Did you know that they’re shutting down mtv? Excuse me, in different. But do you know how they’re shutting it down? They’re playing video Kill the radio star for 24 hours. That’s how they’re shutting down. I’m like, bravo, Bravo. I love.

>> Tara Scott: Way to go, out.

>> Kris Bryant: Exactly. I mean, think about. That’s like our. That was our. That’s how we grew up. That was childhood. MTV was. I Learned everything from MTV.

>> Tara Scott: So sad.

>> Kris Bryant: Least not here. I turned it on and m. Here, we can turn this off. I turned it on mtv. yeah, it’s funny. There’s a cat that’s like banging the door, trying to get in, hearing noises. What is that? It’s orange kitty. I’m sure. so anyway.

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