Ah yes. The late 1930s. Full of "modern" women, Hollywood glitz and glamour, and....MURDER?! Your co-hosts are going back in time to an era never seen before on this podcast! Listen in as Rachel tells Margie all about Amanda Quick's, Close Up
Ah yes. The late 1930s. Full of "modern" women, Hollywood glitz and glamour, and....MURDER?! Your co-hosts are going back in time to an era never seen before on this podcast! Listen in as Rachel tells Margie all about Amanda Quick's, Close Up
It's cold November night. It's just cleaner at the office here at textual tension Pei getting ready to pack it in into the door burst. My assistant, Zach. He was a tall hunk of man made long brown hair and legs that went all the way up. I could tell right away you had a problem. We've got a problem with it, man. Don't just stand there with your jaw flapping in the wind. It's mean Margie Malone, she found us what half? It seems she went to textual tension part of all the social media platforms. Damn. I knew we should have met herself so accessible. Next thing you know, she'll be going to textual tension pod.com Drop us a line giving us a book recommendation. Well, what can we do? The only thing we can do? Hope. Pray. We thank all of our patrons over at patreon.com/textual tension. With their help, we might be able to make it quick. Go put on all the merchandise you got from the textual tension pod T public store. I think it's time we brought the fight to her. And remember, romance novel wisdom my grandma used to always tell me a picture's worth 1000 words must stick back. Then it's only worth the word. If you got it, boss. Put your head on. Let's go. We've got a date with textual tension episode 57. I need more pictures of Spider Man tearing me apart. Hello,
Rachel:and welcome to textual tension, a love hate relationship with romance novels. I am your co host Rachel and I am your co host Margie. Every other week one of us reads a romance novel and summarizes it for our other unsuspecting co host this week. Margie is listening in. Wait, it's me. Yeah, you're listening baby. Together we unpack what what the fuck just happened happened.
Margie:Let's do that remotely. Well,
Rachel:there's a little bit of a delay on my end. It's kind of strange, but that's fine. We'll fix it in post. Yeah. Yeah, listeners. So listeners if you were around two weeks ago, you know, we had some minor audio issues. Because the Rona almost struck Margie. We had to record remotely. We had some issues. Well, guess what? It's my turn. Don't worry. I tested negative but because I was exposed. We're doing it remotely again, hopefully without the audio issue.
Margie:Yeah. Also, Kyle is like a cesspool of Coronavirus right now, because we're just like, we're it's real bad. We're just hunkering down. Yeah.
Rachel:It's real bad. Yeah. So we're here. Margie is in her little tiny tent. I'm in my very large blanket year that my husband and I made last night because we're adults, it's fine. And we're going to talk about some great romance novels. Oh, fair warning. It is. Yeah, fair warning. It is very windy out. So if you hear that, I'm sorry. There is nothing I can do for that.
Margie:Well, that's, that's not well, all. We're going to talk about the window that we have to talk about the dark spirits that you guys brought forth into the world last night because they're probably going to cost them
Rachel:I was hoping we wouldn't have
Margie:you cute, magic rituals, and you expect nothing to happen. I don't think that you can keep all of those spirits under control.
Rachel:I'm sorry. But when I seem to remember when I was watching MTV as a kid, and they were doing cribs, and they were showing people around their houses, there was always a room where the magic happens. So I thought I had to include one in my blanket year, thank you very much.
Margie:But again, magic, just know you are a very powerful sorceress and things are gonna happen that you don't expect
Rachel:and so on. You know, in hindsight, yarn probably wasn't the best thing to use for my pentagram, but that's fine. Hey, let's talk about a book.
Unknown:Let's do that.
Rachel:Let's talk about a book that I am incredibly excited about and haven't for a while. Margie, I hope that you are ready for a lot of actual like literary talk. We're gonna actually do always book discussion here. Alright, so listeners I've actually been really excited about this book for a while and so far every time that we've gone around to like, Okay, we're gonna record it. We ended up just recording a totally different episodes
Margie:or something completely different.
Rachel:All right. So, this is a book Margie, that we have Never ever covered. telling me
Unknown:about this. We've never got this particular
Rachel:never covered the genre, so I'm gonna send you. I'm just gonna send you the Amazon listing for it on Facebook. i
Margie:Oh, I love the cover. Okay, okay. Okay, so it is called. So it's very cool looking. It's called close up by Amanda quick. And it's a the cover is an image of a woman wearing a very black dress, sitting in a chair like but like in very much like a power pose. Like what I'm imagining is like, she's looking down on someone and being like, huh, but the job was not satisfactory. I don't know. And behind her, like I said, there's like this art deco kind of black and white background and it's very, like 1920s dramatic or like 1920s or 40s I can't remember when art deco was a thing, because history is weird. So it's very
Rachel:cool though. 20s was Art Deco. Alright.
Margie:Yeah. Okay, cool. I'm at a master's degree. It's fine. All right. So and Alright, so here is the description. I'm all over the place today listeners I apologize. Alright, so what the description Welcome to Burning Cove California where 1930s Hollywood glamour conceals little wrinkles color.
Unknown:This is like what I was telling you about before like, I
Margie:want there to be like a nightie novel. I'm so excited. I know it said it 30s But like same
Rachel:look. Okay, keep going. Alright later.
Margie:Vivian breezier. What a name Rossier, Roger Fraser region. brasier Vivian never thought life as an art photographer would include nightly Wake Up Calls to snap photos of grisly crime scenes or headshots for aspiring male actors. Although she is set on a set on a career transforming photography into a new art form, she knows her current work is what's paying the bills after shooting crime scene photos of photos of famous actress the latest victim of the murder the presses dubbed the dagger killer, not a very original man. Vivian notices eerie similarities to the crime scenes of previous victims details that only another photographer would have noticed details that put Vivian at the top of the killers target list. Ooh, Nick Sunder sundridge has always been able to see things quote unquote, that others don't coping with disturbing dreams and visions. His talent or as he puts it, his curse along with his dark past makes him a reckless, but a brilliant investigator as the only one with the ability to help Nick ascend to protect village Vivian. Oh, I have so into this right. Together, they discover the dagger killer has ties to the glitz and glamour of Hollywood royalty in high society. It is a cutthroat world of lore and deception that Vivian and Nick must traverse all in order to uncover the killer who will stop at nothing to add them to their gallery of murders. I love this. I am so excited. I have been so so cool. I
Rachel:have been so pumped to tell you about this book. So it is very much think new are like new our film. Right? That is exactly the vibe that this entire book has. Oh, yeah, it's a very good so I will say and this is what we'll get into it with discussion. There's a lot of discussion at the end that I want to talk about. This book is one of those books that is so close to being awesome. It's just it just sadly falls flat of the mark but the concept is so good that I was still super here for it. So I'm really excited to talk about it. All right. So triggers real quick. So murder murder. Yes, murder. I'll give you two guesses as to what murder weapon the killer uses.
Margie:A candelabra Oh shit. You
Rachel:got it in one. God damn it. Actually, for what it's worth it, that description on the back of the book takes up all of about like four chapters, and then it just goes off the rails. So well, you know, right. So murder, definitely a thing and if you were in 19 If you were had had 1930 sensibilities then you might be scandalized by the presence of a quote unquote modern woman. So you know,
Margie:right. Are you talking about a tramp? Yes, a trawl up the trolley?
Rachel:Yes, man. So um, by the way, I didn't actually look it up. So this book makes reference she makes reference to Amelia Earhart having just gone missing. So that puts it in 1937 So fun fact, guys, they think that she was eaten by lobsters. Neat. Yeah. Way to go Yeah, what a way to go. Alright, so, but I did look it up because I was curious. I want to know exactly because it is it's like almost the 40s Alright, so Vivian brasier. So listeners, if you have only ever read the word brasier spelled br A Z i, er, here's your public service announcement. It's pronounced brasier. It's pronounced brasier not breezier, rosier present here. And that way, if you ever have to read it in public, you won't be embarrassed. Because, you know, I did figure that out in my mid 20s. The plight of a bookworm. So she has brown hair is a very modern woman. So she lives by herself gasp in California. And she is and I quote, attractive, but not in the traditional sense. So take what you will from that and imagine 1937 traditional attractiveness. So you know, right? Striking with bold features whiskey brown eyes, oh, I'm sorry, whiskey brown hair, I already said brown hair. It's Whiskey, whiskey, whiskey, brown hair, green eyes, and she has this like, weird ability kind of thing, almost like an empathy kind of thing where she can like, she has this like, sixth sense that she uses to help like, with her photography, and she can kind of read people and figure out what they want kind of thing. So like, it's kind of like an emotional thing. So like, if she's doing a portrait photography for someone, she can kind of open the sixth sense and see, okay, the reason this, this picture isn't coming across just because the modeling isn't working is because they're thinking this. So let me let's change it up. Like that kind of thing, if that makes sense. Yeah. So and then we have Nick sundridge. Nick has, quote, midnight and moonlight as a midnight and moonlight voice.
Margie:Oh, yeah. I thought you were gonna say it. But you know what, I get the bright. I get
Rachel:dark hair cut short, fierce features. I love the description of this book. She describes him as looking like a warrior, doomed to fight a never ending battle day. I
Margie:mean, I guess if he can see the dead though, like Yeah, or whatever. He is kind of like fighting a losing battle.
Rachel:Exactly. So he has a his quote unquote, curse, the family curse. They are called fever dreams. And what it is, is he gets it gets these visions, and you get the sense that he can kind of control them, but other people in his family cannot. And he's worked really hard to get to a point where he can. So it's, it's kind of like a vision of the future in the worst possible way. So he basically gives him the worst possible outcome for the future. But after he gets out of this, he has like this sense of I know what I need to do, and I need to do it now. Or someone is going to die. Like it's the super like anxiety kind of thing.
Margie:Yeah, it's like the worst part of that. So rain, right.
Rachel:Close up. Basically, just That's So Raven.
Margie:19 1930s That's right.
Rachel:If that is not the good reads review that we put up for this book. I'm going to be upset.
Margie:Does that that's the old way. Yeah, that's a basically
Rachel:just like, You know what? That's So Raven. It's like that, but in the 30s. Right, right. Okay.
Margie:So with the murder, don't forget the murder, because there was a lot of murder happening. And That's So Raven,
Rachel:there wasn't a shit. I was watching the wrong show.
Margie:Now I'm trying to think of anybody died. That's
Rachel:a did and I promise you. Okay, all right. So scene one. So Vivian is at the scene of a crime in the middle of the night, with a bunch of male reporters trying to get a photo Thursday more night, trying to get a photo of a dead Hollywood actress. So Vivian, the reason she's sort of on her own is she came from a really rich family. But she decided that instead of marrying the guy that they wanted her to marry and all this stuff, she said, Fuck it. I want to be a photographer. I want to be an art photographer, which is something that doesn't exist up to this point. And so I'm going to just leave so she does. She lives her family in San Francisco moves down to LA and is becoming a trying to become break into the art world. Now, being an art photographer at the time, right? Oh, god, yeah. And being an art photographer. It's so new that it's like, it's really hard to do and people don't think of photography as an art. Yes, right. So in order to pay her bills, she is moonlighting as a crime scene photographer to see She like in the middle of the night she'll sit there and just listen to the police scanners and then rush out try to get a picture and then rush and try to sell it to. To newspapers
Margie:like Peter Parker and spider man. Yeah, but it's very much more of a spider man. She's taking pictures of murder. Yes.
Rachel:And pictures of spider man
Margie:she comes in with spider man.
Rachel:What the fuck is that we're in LA. But so she this is something that one is not exactly viewed as respectable. Because they're seen as like people who chase down sensationalist things and stuff like that. It's definitely not something that a An artist should be doing. quote unquote, right. And it's definitely not something that a woman does. So she is naturally the only woman there but a they kind of like the guys kind of give her shit. But they realized kind of relatively early on that she's doing the exact same work were doing staying up in the middle of night listening to this shit. She's pulling the hours. So she has at least a little bit of respect from these guys.
Margie:So does she have I know this? This is kind of a silly question. But does she have a car?
Unknown:Ah, does she have? Yes. Yeah.
Rachel:I don't actually know that. I think so. Okay,
Margie:I was just curious. Yeah, that's also another thing that would be pretty like, impressive. I feel like at that time for a woman to own a car right. The car herself I'm not sure like a man by for
Rachel:I know. She lives really like close to like downtown. What kind of she lives like near the beach, but I think that I actually could also take cabs. Yeah, the probably that would be my guess would be a cab, but I'm not really sure. Um, but so she does have it's kind of funny. Her nickname among the reporters is Cinderella. Not necessarily. I mean, yeah, a little bit as a discrimination thing, but also because her first job she showed up wearing house slippers because she ran out of the house too fast and forgot to put on shoes. You I know. She's crazy that
Margie:that means that if I ran out of the house right now with my slippers everyone would call me stit because I'm an adult with stitch slipper. I
Rachel:see. No problem with this. I own nothing wrong, but I own slippers that look like whales and they have little tails on the back. So you know what adulthood fuck you.
Margie:Pictures of your. So this pictures of yourself?
Rachel:Hell yeah. Hell yeah. Okay, so she shows up at this new crime scene. It is the newest crime scene of the dagger killer. So the dagger killer is I know BUMP BUMP bomb, is, uh, this guy has been going around murdering high profile celebrities in super dramatic ways. And every single person has been stabbed through the chest with an antique ornamental dagger, super extra. Cool. And so she gets in there. And this is where the first time you see this, like, Sixth Sense come into play. Because all the cops are like, Okay, you all get one shot and then you're gone. And so they let all the photographers in. And everyone's like, going and taking a shot and like leaving and she's like, she's kind of stalking around trying to find the right. Like, like, using the sixth sense to like, okay, yeah, like, what, what story do I want to tell this picture? How am I going to get the best the most eye catching, like really using her skills. She's a really good photographer. And she she gets her angle and it's a really good one that a lot of the other ones like other photographers aren't getting, and she rushes off, you know, to the paper. She sells it to the paper. She gets it Well, sorry. She rushes to her at home darkroom, develops it and then goes to the paper. Yeah. And solve
Margie:it. I used to do Darker, darker because I did it at the end of you actually weren't friends. Yeah. And of high school in my first year of college. So you guys met? Oh, cool.
Rachel:Yeah. I've never like experienced darkroom photography. That's something I was kind of an interested in. Huh. It's way better. That's really cool. Okay. So she gets home after that. It's, you know, it's an adrenaline rush. So she's like, can't go back to sleep. And she said, she pulls out all of her copies of these photos. And she starts looking at them. And she starts to notice this weird pattern in between the photos that she's taken because she like, unlike a lot of the other photographers, she's been taking her time trying to really look at these things. And she notices that everything in these photos are very staged, like really staged, kind of like how you would stage a photograph. So she calls the police and she's like, Hey, just so you know. I think that you're looking for a photographer, specifically someone that is like, well versed in this particular style of photography. They actually go into like different styles of tomography and the history of it, and it's really cool. And like, like she kind of tipped them off to that. And it's kind of neat because she's no one else really would have seen that. Right. So she, she tipped them off. And the police are actually like super receptive to this Milica shit. Okay, yeah, it's a really good tip, we're gonna look into that, which is pretty cool. Um, so she, I should also mention all of these photos that she's getting like that are making the front page news, she is not being credited for them by her own choice, because she does not want a name associated with
Margie:right, she just needs the cat zactly.
Rachel:So a couple days later, she's, you know, shooting portraits, she's doing all these things. And she gets a call from a gallery in downtown LA, that she's been trying to get her photographs into show. And they finally contact her. And this woman that she's going to show it to is like the Hutu of photography, as art. So she rushes down to go show her photos, and this woman hates them. absolutely hates them. So and she's like, she's kind of a bitch about it. Like in that very, like self importance kind of way. And the one she really hates is, Vivian is working on a series that she's calling men. Yeah. And it's basically like, they just you get the vibe that it's like, well, you have all these photos and portraits of naked women. Why can't we do something similar for men. So like, it's like, super progressive, and this lady hates it, she's like it just pornography, like, just totally going off the rails on her. And in the end, like, trashing her on her style of photography, because maybe like, she's the more modern style, rather than the style that makes it actually look like a painting and like all these things. And as she's like, kind of talking to this woman, a guy comes in who is like a big proponent of this classical style of photography, not the modern one that Vivienne does, and he's just kind of really creepy, and and Vivian just kind of gets fed up with everyone there. And she's like, I'm out. This is stupid. I'm gone. So she leaves. And basically, it can be like you can assume based on this that she's never going to get her photography shown in LA. Like this woman is like the who's who she should have just showed
Margie:those pictures of Spider Man it Why didn't
Rachel:you think of that? Everyone goes for pictures of spider man. A mistake Viv. Oh my god. So, um, she goes home and she is goes back into her dark room and is like developing some photos like that. And so this is like the next day. And right. She's just like, all of a sudden in her darkroom, she just gets this weird feeling. Like, you know that like, like, if something moves in your house and you get like your senses kind of kick into overdrive and you're like, wait a minute. Yeah, yeah. And so she kind of like crea creaks open her door, and there's a man in her house. And it's the guy from the photo gallery. Hate that holding an antique dagger. One. Just looks around. He goes, How'd you figure it out? And then tries to kill it.
Margie:Oh my god. Wow, this went from 80 to 1000 real we've
Rachel:seen one. Holy Grail. Okay, all right, go on. She is a fucking badass and throws chemicals in his eyes from her dark room. And like that shit. Well, yeah, and gets away from him and runs out into the serious streets screaming and the dude's trying to run away. And this so this is around the time when Muscle Beach in LA or in like LA is just now becoming a thing. And she was about to do photography for like dude at Muscle Beach. And so the dudes walking up the street and she's like, grab that guy. And so the dude grabs him and she ends up like yeah, right and so she's standing outside was just almost murdered. People are out there watching this dude is screaming on the ground because His eyes are burning. And she's like, oh shit, I got to get a picture. This is gonna be great from pitch material click.
Margie:Oh my god child, that is literally like, I gotta get pictures of Spider Man. Except the way I am Spider Man.
Rachel:Her coping mechanism whenever she like gets in these horrible situations where her adrenaline is going crazy. Her way of coping is I mean, I might as well take advantage of the situation and I'll freak out about it later. Click. Like, that's what she does. So end of scene one. She's almost been killed. Um, so the summary do gets arrested. But he actually escapes from the hospital and ends up going off of a cliff and dies. Oh, yeah. So my first day and this was like in the book, I think it's like a press release or something like that, like you're reading it as like a newspaper clipping or whatever. And my first thought the way it sounded was police brutality. So that was kind of like cuz, you know, like police in that era, you know, to get a confession out of someone's day. So that was my first time. We'll see why I'm wrong later. All right. Oh, my God. I'm sorry. That was
Margie:how someone first ask questions later when they can't answer.
Rachel:Yeah, I'm sorry. That was Scene one, part A Scene one, Part B, we switch over to Nick. Holy fuck. It's actually there's not that many scenes in this. It's just a lot of stuff happen. So I'm gonna do my best here. But we do have a lot of discussions. Well, I mean, it's fine. I'm just like, do a lot of shit happens. So Scene one, part B. MC. sundridge. We jump over to him. Nick is living in. Think San Francisco, north a little bit. Oh, he just got out of a fever dream. And the vision that he had of was a woman was of a woman who had very obviously drowned who was dead with a scarf around her neck, pointing at him saying follow the money. Oh. So no medal.
Margie:Yeah, yeah. Oh, that's so interesting. I and because you kind of expected it to be Vivi or Vivian. Right. That's right. Yeah. Vivian
Rachel:Viv. It's like, like I said, Oh, well, we'll talk about a little bit later. But this book has so much like going for it. There's just a few things that I had some issues with. So but it's so good premise wise, premise wise. Awesome. Okay, so you just got a fever dream. So he has been working a case, and is a case of a man who saw a woman hired him because she didn't trust her niece's new husband or fiance rather. And this, Nick is discovered that this guy is actually married several other people who all they all happen to go on cruises for their honeymoon, and the women all happen to go follow overboard. Follow over. Yeah. And he's just been collecting money that way, right? So he all of a sudden has this feeling of I need to go now because they're leaving for their honeymoon today. So it's always like this rush kind of thing. So he's, like, gotta go. And so he doesn't have a lot of time. And he calls the girls on, let her know what's up, and goes to the house of the woman who's going to get murdered. So he kind of does a little bit of reconnaissance, sneaks around back steals the dude's keys out of the car. Because he he's reading people is his thing. Like, he's like, I think I know what he's going to try to do. So he steals the dude's keys from his car, right? Because in that time, you left your keys in your car. That's how they kind of worked. That's how you did. Yeah. And so he knocks on the door. And they assume he's a traveling salesman. And he's like, No, actually, I have something really important for your wife, you know, so and so sent me like, and like, gives credit, credible info, the dude, or the wife is like, Okay, well, yeah, like, let him in. And the guy's like, doesn't want to. And so he ends up confronting the dude about this whole thing. And is like, like, the woman is like, what do you wait, what? And he's like, yeah, he's has did he tell you he's been married twice before? And she's like, No. And so like, he actually grabs the woman trying to take her hostage. And Nick actually anticipated this because again, he reads people kind of, so he's able to stop the guy. And the cops end up the aunt had called the cops on the way over. So this dude gets arrested, he was able to save this woman's life and prove that this thing was happening. And when the cops show up, they're talking to Nick. And they're like, Wait, you're the one really weird private detective guy. You know that, like with the woman on the roof, and the guy that died? Oh, yeah, everyone's heard about that. And Nick's just like, I need to leave. Like, I just need to leave town. This is ridiculous. So
Margie:is Nick a private detective? Or does he kind of just do this when he gets a fever?
Rachel:He's a Pio. He is a private investigator. Yeah. So he kind of uses it to make his living basically. Because you you kind of talks about it with his uncle a little bit later, where it's like, you have to have the fever dreams, the fever, dreams will come and so then they like, why not use them? Right? That kind of thing. Right. So it kind of it kind of cuts off with him just being like, I need to get out of town. Maybe it's time to leave because everyone like he can't escape this thing that happened in his past, which you will learn about later, right? Also, he has a dog. And the dog though is super sweet. And his name is I think Rex and he is great. So and oh doggo chose Nick. Because they like he literally was like doggo chose Jaga chose Nick because he was at a gas station and the dog just was sitting there and you just got up, jumped in his car and was like, Alright, let's go. You get a sense that the dog was a lot smarter than you would think. Like there's something else going on there.
Margie:Speaking of pets Kima is playing with her favorite toy of a cork. So it was rolling across the floor just
Rachel:after my own heart. Carlos is currently laying on the weighted blanket in front of me passed out and Bitsy is laying on her furry blanket behind me passed out. Oh, all right, we're finally into fucking scene to Jesus. There's only like 14 So you know, it's okay. Okay, so Vivian is taking pictures of men from Muscle Beach because she took that picture of the guy from Muscle Beach, holding out like holding the dagger killer. And as a result of that picture, that guy got discovered by a Hollywood ad or Hollywood agencies, so everyone for Muscle Beach wants her to take his picture. Oh, it's like headshots. Yeah. So she's like getting good business. Right? And after this last picture with this guy, there is a knock on her door. So she goes to answer it. And it's Nick. She's never met Nick before, but is Nick. And you definitely like you kind of get these cutscenes between the two of like, Oh, hello. Like instantly like, you're like I love there. So she thinks he's a traveling salesman, which is quickly becoming an ongoing thing. In this entire thing. And
Margie:the ad she sells pictures of Spider Man, I am going to die all bad joke. Okay, I am taking that joke to my grave
Rachel:as you should honestly. It is the dagger that will take you to your grave. So I'm gonna get a spider man. Okay, because at some point during this episode, I have to work in Ouch, oof out of my bones choke. Point. Alright, so, Nick. Oh, and also side note, Rex loves Vivian. Oh, he just Yeah, cuz he just walks up to Vivian and just leans against her like, yep, this one's mine. Very cute. So Nick is going to be her bodyguard. So Nick basically comes in and tells him Hi, you don't know me. I'm a private investigator. I've been sent by these people that you trust and that you can call to confirm all of this information with. We think someone's going to kill you. We've discovered evidence to this fact. And I'm here to be your bodyguard. And she's like who? Who hires. So Nick has an uncle. That is a codebreaker, essentially. And this is what all comes out as conversations. So. Okay, great segue. Look, we're professionals. So all of this comes out that basically there is they found a book, and is a book of code. And Nick's uncle used to be a code breaker in World War One. So he finds this code and he starts, starts decoding it. And it's a book of poetry. But all of the poems are laid out in such a way where it's like person's name and where they live. And like all this information about them, and then poems about how they died. And he looked into how these people died. And they all looked like accidents. But it turns out, like they think someone was setting up these accidents. And it's this guy who will hunt their person for a month, just to get as much information on them as I can and then kill them in a way that looks like an accident. And the last entry in this book was Vivian's name. Oh, right. So I told you that dagger killer stuff was like the first chapter like couple chapters and then Rome.
Margie:You're right, the premise of the premise of this book is so good.
Rachel:It's so good. Um, so Okay, so that all comes out in their conversation. And they they kind of end up using this ruse, where Nick is going to be her assistant, because she has been doing a lot of portrait photography and stuff like that. So he comes in. Now, the other thing to mention is that this this book, he always this killer always seems to kill the person a month after they make the first entry in this book. It's been about a month from this first day. Yeah. So there's great on a lot of time, talk about that rush, you know, right. Um, oh, and I should also mention, so they they discuss a couple times a little bit about Nick's background. Because they're talking about like, what you're a woman living alone and you're having a parade of men coming in or single men coming into your, your house to take pictures of them, okay, and she's like a second whatever. And Nick had, wow, that was a kitty cat, wasn't it?
Margie:I know she was like losing her mind out there when she gets really playful. She meow Oh
Rachel:yes, but so we learned a little bit like it's reference to Nick's background he has had an annulment. And in this time he was married at one point he's I don't know, man and nomads are super not the norm, what a sludge I know and reasons for having an annulment. And this is something that he always gets, like people instantly jump to the assumption that he's impotent. Because that's one of the possible reasons for an annulment. Oh, no, this this becomes an ongoing joke throughout this entire book. And it's honestly one of the funniest fucking thing. Because it's just like, people just look at him like might really you've had an ailment, huh? He's like, not demon know how to look over
Margie:like top to bottom. Like,
Rachel:he's like, no. It's honestly hysterical. I love it. It's, it was such an interesting thing that we don't usually see in romance novels of making like a joke about the man not being able to do something. Right. Like that's right. Yeah, that's so interesting. Yeah. And it was really funny. So that does come up. So that night Nick is sleeping on her couch. And he's like a really light sleeper, but it's that that fever dream thing, right where he wakes up and he's like, something is wrong. Something is definitely wrong. And so he starts walking around the house and like Vivian like hears him because she's a light sleeper. Christina, she has to listen to the police radios. And so she gets up and he like, Rex is like growling at the back door. And so he like looks out and he thinks he might see someone outside but he's not sure. And all of a sudden, a Molotov cocktail comes flying through a window. Oh, and sets the house on fire. They barely get away. They they make it out and the dog up okay is fine. Dog is fine threat. Okay, I'm sorry. We should have heard that out in the beginning. The dog is fine throughout all of this very important the dog. But so they make it out and Vivian The only thing she's able to grab if she grabs like this like lunchbox looking thing and her like small camera cuz she's a big one. And she has that small travel camera. So she grabs Spider Man, right? Yeah, I mean, it's her livelihood, right. So they
Margie:joke is I find that it is I realized that that horse is dead and I at
Rachel:best life. So so they leave the Get out of the house. She has a camera and this lunchbox what you find out has her negatives in it. All of her work, which is her livelihood, right? It's her livelihood. So she grabs them they make it a clever
Margie:way to keep your negatives especially if there's not develop right
Rachel:and so she they make it out of the house and there's like a crowd forming the house is totally on fire engulfed in flames and then the fire department ends up showing up and the police do and they're like so what a fire started in your in your darkroom. Which sounds like an accident, doesn't it? So,
Margie:oh, no,
Rachel:chemicals aren't actually that flammable. And they're like a hot right? And she's like, right? Yeah, so naturally, she's sitting there watching her entire house burned down. Next to a man she just men and a dog in her nightgown. Wearing a trench coat right? No, she starts taking pictures of her house on fire. Nick is just living her life. How are you not freaking he's never experienced a woman that right in a situation like this hasn't just freaked out and she's like, fuck you. I have to live I'm losing my house right now. click click click. I need money. Yeah. And he's, he's like in the movie like way way no photograph the crowd. And so she's like, Okay, fine. And so she starts photographing the crowd. Oh,
Unknown:right. Yeah,
Rachel:he's a smart he's a smart been. He's a smart cookie. He's a smart cookie. So they end up being able to go because she can sell the photos but she doesn't have a darkroom anymore. So they go to the newspaper. She's able to develop at least the photos for the newspaper. And Nick kind of realized he's like, Okay, we need to get away we the guy knows you survived. We need to sort of disappear for a little bit. We need to cover we're going on a honeymoon. So
Margie:So wait, but they're not okay. So they're gonna think they're very
Rachel:uneven. So they end up going to this island and it is an island just off the coast of LA and it is like think like, like Hollywood, Alcatraz. The Elite go to the
Margie:Alcatraz is also in San Francisco listeners. I know.
Rachel:I mean, she's from San Francisco, you don't know. But so they go to this island. At the island is like the playground of the rich and famous kind of thing like all the all these Hollywood actors and actresses. So they're very good at discretion. So they hold up in this hotel that like, they will, they will tell people will tell no one that they're there, don't worry, they have experience with this. And the island also just happens to be under control of the guy who is like, he's like one of those CD like kind of has mob connections, but he's also using it to like, catch people in the mob. He's the one that found this notebook originally with the code in it. So he's kind of like
Margie:a Raymond Reddington character. I don't know who that is. Yeah, sure.
Rachel:But he's, he's the one that originally found the coded notebook that had Vivian's name in it. So he's like, kind of in control of all this anyway, so they go to a place that he can kind of protect them, just so they can, like, catch a breather. Okay, and so now they're, they're there, they get there, they make it there in order to kind of lay low for a little while, thus begins the fake honeymoon of these two. And all throughout this entire thing. There's kind of like, it's not traditional romance novel sparks. It's way more along the lines of like two people just having honest conversations and learning about each other. Right. It's not like the steamy almost kisses and like shit like that. It's just like, oh, yeah, what's your background? Cool. What's your background? Hey, we have that too. It's kind of nice. Um, so they check into the hotel scene three, and end up having to go out the next day to get Vivienne close, because she definitely showed up wearing a trench coat over top of her night dress. As long as you do, as you do, yeah. And they end up they're able to borrow the dark room of a local newspaper, which is actually run by another modern woman, who happens to be like, the newspaper is run by this woman, which is super cool. And it's actually the wife of the mob guy. Right? So there's like, all these connections happening. It's kind of crazy. And they're able to get the photos of the crowd developed. So they start putting some things together when they're looking at the photos of this crowd. One dude, hell assess supersaas Oh, man, the bloopers are gonna be so good because there's just gonna be a segment of Rachel describes among us. Gonna be great. Okay, so yeah, so one guy in the crowd looks hella says because he, he's dressed like a utility worker. But he's not moving, like a utility worker, if that makes sense. Like he's like, the way he like leans to one side and like, kind of lounges is it's like totally different body language, like the body language is just off on this guy. So Nick's like, Okay, I think that's our guy. And we kind of get, at this point, a little bit of doubt started again, essentially, honestly, yeah. So we get at this point. So this is all happening over like a couple days. And at this point, we get a little bit of an insight into Nick's background. So one night, so Vivian knows that he's been married before, and knows that he kinda is keeping something to himself. But she wakes up one night, and she goes to like, she's like, kind of gets this weird feeling. And she goes outside, and Nick is just standing outside. And he looks like he's like, their fever dreams, right? So he's, he just came out of a fever dream. And he's like, kind of sweaty, he looks almost like he has a fever, obviously. And she's like, Are you like, she's like, are you okay? Are you sick, like all the stuff and he just up and tells her the whole story about his fever dreams, and like this background, because she's kind of referenced to this, like, Sixth Sense thing that she has a couple times. So he just like, feels like I open up to her, I guess. Right? This is where we're starting to get into some of the issues I have with the button. So but he fully explains to her so he's been a Pio for a while a woman came to him. And they kind of started like, hitting off a little bit, but mainly she needed to get away from her husband because her husband was like, going to try to kill her. And so he Nick like, had these fever dreams and like figured out what needed to happen and everything. And so there was a showdown on a roof and on like a foggy night or whatever. And he used this like people reading fever dream kind of ability of his to end up tricking the guy into not tricking. It wasn't necessarily intentional, but the guy essentially fell off the roof. And this woman that he ended up marrying was there for all of it. So she saw everything happened. So she's already in this emotionally fragile state. They get married completely consensually, they both are on board for this. And okay, she ends up walking on him during a fever dream. And he comes clean and tells her about it and she thinks he's crazy. And she's like finding the needle like yeah, so that's why they got an enrollment is because she couldn't handle it and you he definitely like they kind of actually have a really good conversation about like, she's like, you know, that wasn't you Right? Like that was not on you. That was her probably reaching out to you as someone that she thought could protect her and then realizing it wasn't what she wanted, like like, they have like a good heart to heart about it. But he just like here that he's never heard that from someone before. And he just has this moment of like, did you just accept me? All of me? Oh my god and then the makeout Yeah, um, yeah. And she's also like, and they, in my notes, I have an A kiss because she's all like dude who gives a shit your grade. It's what it boils down to honestly. And this is where I kind of start having issues with this book only because this is such a cool concept. I love this fever dream thing was like weird kind of paranormal stint two things, and it never shows up again. Hmm. Oh, it's gone. Yep, never again. I know. So that's, that's kind of a theme in this book where a couple things like will happen and it's super good. And then it just never shows up again. Like when you meet the dog. It's like the super like intriguing. Like, something is going on. Like this dog has way more intelligence than a dog should. And it never really happens. Yeah, it's very much like, oh, kind of falls into too much information sometimes or unnecessary information. Sometimes I feel like, right, especially if you're not going to follow. Exactly. So I had a couple. Right. Those were some of my issues with that. Um, okay, so, let's go on a quick sidebar. All right. So one of Vivian's coworkers is in a lot of debt. And she's like, helped him out a little bit. He has a gambling problem. And this is one of the guys who like is is the the photographer like a crime scene photographer. And so he has like a lot of gambling debt. And she's helped him out a couple times with giving him like extra film and all that stuff. But he needs money. And he he either needs to get money or leave the country because he's in debt with some not great people. And they're about to come for him, right? Well, someone approaches him, right? And is like, Hey, your money. I will give you money. Half now, half later. I need you to find out where Vivian is because they can't find Vivian.
Unknown:Oh, no. And he agrees
Rachel:to do it. And he ends up it so he agrees to do it. And then it cuts to him. He's on this abandoned Street. He is at a payphone. It's Misty, it's dark, and he's like, I, here's what I'm getting. I have to do this. And then I'm going to run I'm going to do it. I'm going to run and he calls the hotel and is like, ask them he's like, I know Vivian's there, I know you're not going to tell me she's there. But she needs to meet me at this place in I'm gonna be here for 20 minutes. And if she doesn't, I'm leaving. It's a matter of life and death. So he tries to warn her. Okay. Okay. And as he is he does that he hangs up and as he's trying to like, go back to his car to wait for her. He gets run over. Hit and run. And he's murdered. Okay. Okay. Yeah.
Margie:Yeah. All right. Yeah.
Rachel:So is intense, right. Yeah, the body count of, I guess. Oh, we should have counted. Okay. Well, we'll say the beginning. We have
Unknown:the
Margie:dagger guy,
Rachel:the dagger guy. We have the dude that fell off the building in Nick's backstory. We have this guy. Right. That's four deaths right now. And we also have the dagger killer tried to kill Vivian. The other dude tried to kill Vivian.
Margie:I guess you don't have that guy. He didn't. You're not even including the guy also who tried to cute killed his wives off of the cruise ships.
Rachel:Yeah, that's two more. We're at like six deaths and two murder attempts. In a week.
Unknown:All right. Yeah, it's really it's really trying a hell of a time,
Rachel:man. All right, isn't it? Yeah. And so they they do like Vivian hears about this and they end up like she's really sad. Obviously. This is a do that she knew and like, yeah. And so it also who was trying to raise so it's like little little bits, the killer. They now know the killer knows where she is. Basically, that's what that shakes out to big problem. So right, we're getting into the last couple scenes here. But I need to go on a quick backpedal into something that I haven't addressed yet. Vivian has a sister and sort of on the side throughout this entire thing Vivian's sister has been engaged to marry a guy and has been like worrying about her sister and all this stuff. And Vivian sister has decided packet and has showed up at this hotel where she knows and Vivian's just like Okay, fuck, well, you're here so I guess I have to tell you everything because I'm trying to make you not worry. Let's go back to my room. So they tell she tells her everything and this is just like, okay, cool. I actually ran away from the dude that was gonna marry me because I walked out on him sleeping with another woman. So fuck it. Let's have fun in LA Uh huh. Okay, so there's the Cliff's Notes version. And she is going to start helping them figure things out as well. Also, she meets Nick. And Vivian is like kind of telling her like, as Nick goes inside to take a call or whatever, telling her like, Nick, you know, she's like, Oh, he's hot, like all this stuff. And she's like, well, you know, like, he was married before they had an annulment. And, and naturally, her sister's like, Oh, do you think he's impotent? She's like, Oh, I don't think he's impotent. And he's like, and he you just hear from like, the doorway. I mean, I don't think I'm in but it's great. It's a very, very funny thing. So they're just kind of like trying to now that they know that the dude knows where she is. They're just trying to make Vivian visible because they're like, You know what, he knows he's gonna try to make a thing for it. Let's see if we can make him force his hand, right? Because he's definitely starting to get sloppy. Okay, so they're walking around the actual city. Vivian actually was able to go to a gallery throughout all of this and show her photos to the to the the woman who owns the gallery there who agrees to like sell them. So Vivian's actually like, doing good work and all this stuff. And they end up Oh, and while she's doing that Nick is standing outside and guess if she guess who he sees supersaas Gay? Ah, ha, yeah. So they end up that night, they go out to a club, again, to try to be out more out in the open and kind of forces me open. Yeah. And her sister ends up catching the eye of a movie star. And he's like, dancing with this movie star is having the time of her life. Good. And her and Nick. Go ahead and dance. And things are getting steamy. And afterwards, they deposit her very drunk sister off at her sister's room. And her sister just looks at him and goes, have fun. You too. And leaves. And then there's some fuckin Yeah, and I gotta say, I guess he's not no, oh, no, he's not. And I gotta say, I'm actually really excited about under the covers, because there's some really interesting stuff in this in the sex scene that I'm very interested in talking about. Okay, so scene five. last scene. This is where shit hits the fan. So buckle the fuck up. We're gonna try to get through it. So they start to formulate a plan about how to get this guy. This guy really wants his diary thing back his notebook. So they are going they they've set up but should
Margie:never have sold a super secret diary with a key on the side?
Rachel:Absolutely not.
Margie:How did they figure out the secret path?
Rachel:How did they ever so they set up a, a bi kind of thing like so they sort of put out feelers in the underworld and they're like, like the underbelly of society. And like, this is up for sale, this guy and they set up a purchase with them. So they're going to sell him his diary back, essentially. And that's when they're gonna get them. Well, this guy is starting to put two and two together that maybe Nick isn't just a random fling that happened to show up when he was gonna kill Vivian. And then maybe Nick is actually like, figuring shit out on his own. Right. So they end up this is another one of those things were nicked us his like his human, like figuring out what people are going to do kind of thing. And on the way to, I guess that is a little bit of the supernatural, but it is a little bit. It's just not as like, the actual The only time you actually like get anything from one of us fever dreams is right at the beginning. Otherwise, they don't do anything really. But he's still good at like figuring out what human people are going to do. So on his way to the meetup where they're going to catch this guy. His car breaks down on a very abandoned stretch of road. Yeah, but it's definitely been tampered with. On fact. And there hands up. This guy has figured out that Nick is the one you know, that is exactly so they end up having a shootout and Nick get shot in the shoulder. Because he miscounted his bullets, rookie mistake, and the guy ends up going over the cliff and dies. That dies, but don't worry, we're not done yet. That's how he dies. We still don't know how any of this like happened and why it happened. But that is how the guy dies. He straight up jumps up okay, because he's like no and later, so let's figure out what the fuck just happened. Right? Yeah, some background so they're able to get this guy's name and they're able to get some of his documents in everything and we find out that Nick finds out rather. This dude was the brother of the dagger killer. So I hope you're ready. I hope you have your corkboard with all of your red yarn, because shits about to get really convoluted and crazy. I'm good So this dude that was trying to kill Vivian was the brother of the dagger killer. So this guy kills for hire. But in this last entry with Vivian's name, it was missing a lot of the information about the person that hired him and all that stuff. And it's because this guy wasn't hired by somebody to kill Vivian. He blamed Vivian for his brother's death. So this was his revenge. Okay, does that make sense? Yeah, so much. So, throughout all of this, um, Nick isn't really 100% happy with things. So he's still like, he, uh, Vivian kind of have this heart chart of like, I like you. And like, this is really cool. And so they end up you know, they're they're still kind of seeing each other and everything, but he's still kind of investigating on the side because something just isn't sitting right with Him. And the thing that's not sitting right with Him is the her coworker. Right? Like there was something going on there that he feels like he's missing. So coworker, the one that got run over a worker that tried to warn her, okay, so she ends up going, Vivian, like they're go, they're back on the mainland and LA, they feel Vivian feels like everything's fine. Like, everything's wrapped up. She's got a new house or whatever, and all this stuff. And it's like a little bit later, and Vivian gets a call from that original gallery that hated her artwork. And she's like, look, I'm supposed to have a gallery. Some dude, like this guy that you know that you had a fling with in the past. He canceled he's not going to show you this photographs. I need something to show. So I guess, bring your stuff in. I'll show them. So she's like, Okay, I mean, I'm not gonna look a gift horse in the mouth. Right? So yeah, she goes to this place. And she ends up this woman is like, well, I guess I'll show these but she's still being a bitch about it. And Vivian's like, you know what, right now? I don't need you to show this at a pair like charity. Like, fuck you. I have this stuff being shown in another gallery. And they love it. So I don't need you. And she walks out on this woman. And this woman is like, but Oh, good. That kind of thing. So as she leaves, she's like, sitting in her car. She does have a car. I'm sorry. She does. I'm just remembering. She's gone. She's just sitting in her car and something again, strikes her is really off. She's like, something's weird. And she notices this woman leave. And instead of getting into this woman has this like red Sportster, kind of like speedster kind of car. And she doesn't get into this car. Like she ends up taking a cab. And she's like, this is like this woman's Hallmark. If anyone knows this woman, she's in her little red sports car kind of thing. That's weird, right? Wait a minute. Car, my buddy got run over, hang on. And so she decides to do a little bit of investigating on her own. And she just on a hunch? Totally. She's like, I bet it's nothing. But I just need to know, she walked her into the back of this building with the garages and she looks in the door or in the window. And there's the car and the front, including the hood ornament is just, like, broke into shit. Yeah. And she's like, Oh, shit. Oh, and she has a click binder. And behind her is the woman holding a gun. Oh, totally wasn't done yet. This woman is like you just couldn't leave well enough alone. And also I blame you for a lot of bullshit. This is dumb. Like, she like blames her for all of this stuff that's been going on in her own life, including the fact that you know that how the first time Vivian met the dagger killer was in this woman's gallery. Right? Well, it turns out there wasn't one dagger killer. There was too. Okay, so this woman brings her into the back of this back room, where there's huge portraits of all of the like, dagger killer murder scenes. And the way it worked was this woman. And this guy. The guy did the killing she set up the scenes and took the pictures. And it was like this form of art and it was real visceral art is what she wanted or whatever. She's fucking crazy. Like so. Yeah, yeah. And and to be fair, and so this was reading this kind of felt like it came out of left field. I was like, wait, what? But at the same time, right looking back, you do kind of get a weird vibe between these the dagger killer and her when you first meet them. I don't know if it's enough to carry this plot twist, but it is their right credit where credit is due. So at the same time and another side of town, Nick gets the breakthrough. He's been thinking he needed and he's like, Oh, shit.
Margie:This will also though this would have been the point have a few 100 Was it a fever dream here? Right?
Rachel:That's what I thought that just Yeah. He gets the evidence you needed and he's like, oh fuck and rushes over to the gallery because he knows Vivian is there. And Vivian is currently being held up at gunpoint in this thing like in this gallery or whatever. On a second, it's a it's relevant. It's on the second floor. Okay, so Vivian has her camera with her and is in a relatively dark room and this woman is holding up a gun. She just keeps talking to this woman distract her distracting her and then flashes the camera flash at this woman's eyes. And Vivian just goes is a full badass doesn't need no man to save her. And they end up fighting over the gun and this woman goes over the balcony and hits her head on a statue and dies. Right as Nick shows up, people
Margie:are falling over in this book. A lot of people really gotta buy cares or
Rachel:high places. So Nick shows up at the bottom of the stairs, right as this woman goes over and she's like, Oh, fuck, and Vivian's like, I'm fine. It's fine. I'm fine. Oh, no, she has her camera. Don't worry. Okay, so she's, they're both standing there. And he like, she does like have a little bit of a mini meltdown. Because she's like, Oh my God. And so he's like, holding her and everything and like police show up. And she's standing there. And she's like, wait a minute click takes a picture of the thing. And that is so there's a little bit of an epilogue where they're going to a gallery showing of her portraits in that gallery on that island. And her sister's there with the one movie star that she had danced with. And cute, because she's talking and Vivian's like, Oh, I'm so glad. Like, just be careful. There's gonna be a lot of you know, press and everything with this. And she's like, No, we're just having fun. She's like, I know. She's like, you don't you don't get it. This guy. Yeah. I'm not exactly his type. And she's like, well, but she's like, we're just having fun. I'm not his type. Vivian. I'm not his type. Oh. Oh. She's like her. It's real cute. Oh, and that's what they really are just having really are just having fun. And so they're at this thing that she gets, Vivian gets to give a huge middle finger to a another guy in the art industry that's been like, bashing her art for years. And Nick helps and it's it's just it's real cute. And then they get married. And it's real cute. The end?
Margie:Yeah. Oh, Nick and Vivian. Just to make that clear. Yes.
Rachel:Nick and Vivian get married. Okay, so this book like okay, so I definitely want to talk about it just a little bit. Because premise wise it's fucking awesome. I love this like slightly Lovecraftian a little just a tiny just a touch of supernatural horror but set in like a noir film style. Such a cool right yeah concept. It's just there were things that I feel like either it's like the author put them in because they wanted to use them later and either just never did. And it's like if you do that you almost have to like take out the initial reference because otherwise you're just throwing something out there that never comes back and it's like it's just confusing right? It's like the thing with the dog and then like thing with his fever dreams which just never do anything useful outside of that opening scene. Right and I think because it was like this weird push and pull of like too much information in some ways and then in other ways not enough because that like ending came out of fucking left field man
Margie:right right yeah
Rachel:did it did feel like it was as out of left field as you like as I felt it
Margie:I think that you phrased it in a way that in the beginning that was well that the bodies the bodies of the beginning that the dagger killer was telling what were done by photographer that's right isn't it is very hard because on the keyboard now my god and I'm like, I think that that tracks that made it track for me more however I can understand if you are reading the whole book, and like you hear okay,
Rachel:she has thoughts and they must be
Margie:sitting on the keyboard her ass is on if I lose you I know why she's had enough of emotion. And I think that like she I think what the problem was was that she wasn't she didn't seem to be an important enough character through that plot. Yeah, no. And also it would have been kind of cooler if she had actually been like a decent seem to be a decent person. Like, and then turned around and been like oh, sorry actually I really like murder. It's pretty chill although the Spider Man pictures are really
Rachel:got to admit your men series where it's just a bunch of naked men in Spider Man hoods. Great. Great stuff.
Margie:Great. Great. I can't you know I cannot fault you for that one. Uh huh.
Rachel:Oh, my God. Oh, Gods. Yeah, I just, there's just, it was really good. It was just Not it's one of those things where I don't actually know how much how many books the author has written. But
Margie:I was thinking though, I would be willing to read not necessarily that book, but
Rachel:what it feels like is it feels like the author is kind of getting her feet under her and that like, like, keep an eye on her because it will be all the way amazing in the future. It's her great
Margie:she she is great. Exactly. It's like, you know, do
Rachel:you remember the the winery book that we with the FBI agent? And like that whole thing? That book? Yeah, very Yeah. So I went on a fucking rabbit hole the past couple weeks, and I read all of her stuff. Because legitimately, I actually have a book rack for you from one of her books that's in that same series. That is incredible. It's so good. But, um, I read her stuff. And I read one from kind of even just a couple years, like, it was like 2008. And then the one that I loved so much was from like, 2012 or something. So not even that far apart. But it was that same kind of feeling where that first one that was earlier it was good, but it wasn't there. And then I read this other one was like Baroness she got it like she's like, just haven't quite hit her stride, if that kind of makes sense. That said, this is a really good book, and there is actually some stuff that I didn't have time to go into. So if you were interested in reading it, I would say it would be worth it. Okay, but it is pretty freakin good. Um, yeah, I recommend it. What's right, this bitch? Do you bleach so people wise? Vivian, was interesting. And I think that Vivian and Nick fall into that same category of I wish they done more, right? We're like, they both have these cool abilities and everything. And Vivian definitely, she definitely explored her ability more than Nick did. But there was like, a lot of potential there. And I really liked I did like their backgrounds, because their backgrounds were very well fleshed out. But I think like, they just needed a little more to push them over the edge to great characters. So I'd say I'd say three and a half for her three for him. Probably. either. She actually so she would have a three and a half, four, he would have a three, three and a half, like kind of in that area. Um, okay, we're the plot. But I still think that last shit like came out of left field. So Oh,
Margie:it did. Yeah. And that that's, you know that that's difficult to pull off. But I think it's like you said she just needs to hit her stride. He will be she'll be able to do it. But at
Rachel:the same time, the premise isn't amazing. So I think that it kind of balances itself out. So I would put it at like a three, three and a half because event. The smell was fine.
Margie:She's now hitting the mic.
Rachel:Thoughts. She has them
Unknown:with her tail. So I just want our listeners that child
Rachel:tail never stops moving.
Margie:It never stops moving. My goodness child. Yep. Okay. All right.
Rachel:So the sex was fine. There was only one sex scene. And there was definitely some interesting things in it that I actually like, enjoyed, will get away with like, lurid as you'd think. I don't know it. It was fine. Well, it
Margie:is still no war, and that time they couldn't even watch it on. So like, maybe the author was trying to cut the author. I was at the doctor. The author was like kind of being coy. Yeah.
Rachel:Definitely still discussed the sex. It's just not like, like Lisa clay pass levels, sex description it was, but at the same time, it didn't use it didn't use phrases like soft, moist, feminine core, so I was down for that.
Margie:I don't I never ever, ever want to hear you say
Rachel:you don't like the term soft, moist feminine core. I don't understand.
Margie:What's the call the stuff that spider man sprays out of his web
Rachel:Sheezus remind you of any? No, actually it doesn't. I'm very good. Listeners we had to cut back in because Kima decided to sit on the keyboard and completely lock Marty
Margie:logged me out. Are you little brat and now she's looking her milkshake belly as if she's done nothing wrong. Yeah, everything's fine. Let's go on.
Rachel:All right. So. So sex, I would say I like to two and a half.
Margie:It's fine. It's not anything like.
Rachel:And then overall, I want to give this book a say so just because like premise wise, I was super duper into it. But I really think it could have been I
Margie:think that it would I would have given it a middle of the road. I would have given it a five but you're the one to read it. So.
Rachel:Yeah, well, yeah, five, six, like in that area, that middle of the road. It was fine. I mean, again, the premises are awesome. It was wonderful. Read
Margie:some thing in this genre like this very film noir, like you said, 1930s Art Deco, all those feelings drop like, genre, it will be just like a fun weekend read. But you know, don't put it at the top
Rachel:of your list. Yeah. Well, and the thing I find interesting is that there's just not a lot of, yeah, there's not well, there's not a lot in this genre. Right. Which is unfortunate. I now like it's a cool genre. Yeah. I mean, if you can make a sexually liberated Victorian era woman, you can make a sexually liberated 1920 slash 30s. Hell yeah. Hell yeah. Yeah. It was pretty good, though. I do recommend it. It was a fun book. I will say. Okay. And it was reading.
Margie:Yeah, that's what I was about to ask you. What are you reading? What are you consuming?
Rachel:Um, so I am finally out of the past several weeks, um, Americans will know have been stressful. So when I yeah, when I get really stressed not add into that literally on election day, I found out I had been exposed to COVID. And like, all this other shit, right? I just started stress reading romance novels. So last week, I think I read five of them. Maybe? Hey, yeah, um, listeners, have you ever wondering like, how we get through so many books and like, all this stuff? Well, I read romance novels very quickly. Especially when I'm stressed horror
Margie:reads.
Rachel:No, they're not. But the one I will recommend and Margie, I recommend it for you. Because as well, because it is that one that I was telling you about? That's so good. It is called something about you by Julia James. Oh, and it is very good. Like, really, if you like, if you like a protective dude and SAS and to people that don't really like each other, but then like, understand, like, realize that they really do that kind of deal. Super here for Okay, okay. Yeah. So that's mostly Nick. But I finally I feel like I'm out of that phase. I don't feel the compulsive need to read romance novels over and over and over again. So I'm doing better mental health wise. Yeah. Hey, hey, y'all. Thank you for listening. Yeah, this was a really fun episode.
Margie:And also, thank you, just FYI, to the people who have been sending us books. It has sent us a book, and I'm really excited to read it. So
Rachel:I'm so excited. Well, thank you so much for listening. And hey, I hope you guys are doing well too. I hope you aren't feeling the need to binge read romance novels
Margie:are very healthy coping mechanism.
Rachel:It's true. I mean, all the ways I would rather go hard in the escapism than do something self destructive. So although with how rapidly I consume those books, some would call it self destruct. Yeah, well, hey, we love you guys, you guys and if you're a patron patron Patreon if you are a patron patron ah ha I want to stick around for under the covers there's some real fun stuff in this one so well some interesting stuff right stick around. Well, hey, thank you, Eleanor you for the use of your song. Oh, love off the album be held and we'll see you guys in two weeks.