"Bromantasy" - A Fun Cozy Queer Quest with Big Feelings

A queer quest, a derpy horse, a rolling pin raised like a sword, and one truly important question: is it gay to kiss your BFF while you’re wildly unqualified for monster hunting? We’re Mari, Kelly, Ashley, and Jonathan, and we pick up a stack of bookish headlines before diving into our Pride Month read, Bromantasy by Marie Roche, a cozy fantasy romantasy that had us laughing for real.

We talk about why representation in romance fiction matters, starting with Ruby Dixon sharing the personal story behind a heroine with scoliosis in her upcoming Villain Origin Story. From there we hit more new release buzz, con chatter around Monsterotica BookCon and Villains and Vixens, and the Hot Girls Read trademark fiasco that lit up bookish social media. It’s book community, fandom culture, and the business side of “booktok made me buy it,” all in one place.

Then we get to the main event: Bromantasy’s slapstick humor, self-aware tropes (yes, there was only one bed), and the surprisingly tender emotional core under Juniper and Mo’s chaos. We also cannot overstate how good the audiobook narrator is, and we end with our classic debate on whether this counts as a true kissing book.

Subscribe, share this with your favorite romantasy reader, and if you enjoy the show, leave a review so more people can find us.

Links from the News Segment and Show:

• Ruby Dixon’s upcoming book, Villain Origin Story
  • Instagram Link
  • Ruby Dixon posted about the heroine in the book having scoliosis and her own experience with it
  • Instagram Link
  • Coming out 02/02/27
• Raven Kennedy has a new duology, Played by the Piper, coming out
  • Based on the Pied Piper story
  • Instagram Link
• Heather Fawcett’s The encyclopedia of Faeries books 4 & 5
  • Instagram Link
• Monsterotica BookCon 2027 exhibitor applications are open through 07/22 
  • Instagram Link
• Hot Girls trademark fiasco
  • Instagram Link
• Villains and Vixens panels announced
  • Instagram Link

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Fable BookClub - https://fable.co/club/of-swords-and-soulmates-with-mari-391738504099

Transcript

Disclaimers And Introductions

Mari 0:00

The views expressed in this podcast are solely those of the hosts. All creative works discussed or reviewed are the intellectual property of the creators of said stories and are being used under the fair use doctrine. I'm one of your hosts, Mari, and with me I have Kelly.

Kelly 0:39

Hey everyone, it's Kelly. We also have Ashley.

Ashley 0:42

Hey guys, it's Ashley. We also have Jonathan.

Jonathan 0:45

What's good, everybody? It's JP.

Ashley 0:48

Woo! Woo!

Mari 0:49

I would say everything is good. Everything's good in terms of the tone of the book that we got to read for this episode because it was a lot of fun. So today we're going to be discussing Bromantasy by Marie Roche. But first, as always, some news. And

Ruby Dixon And Writing Scoliosis

Mari 1:04

how do you do we have some news? I mean, there's not huge news, but there's a lot of news. So buckle in, folks. First thing I have is that we got a blurb for Ruby Dixon's upcoming book. We've mentioned this book before. It's the villain origin story. It's like a new series or new world that she's starting. It's not part of the Ice Planet Barbarians. It's not part of any of her other stuff. So it's Village and Villain Origin Story. It's coming out February 2nd, 2027. The blurb is a poor village girl enters her villain era with the help of the resident evil tyrant. And it says, everyone has their limit. Jocelyn just hit hers. Life has never been easy for a poor, uneducated village girl, especially one with a crooked back that has some villagers muttering that she's been cursed at birth. But when things in Jocelyn's life go from bad to progressively worse, it fills her with intense frustration. And it goes on to basically how she's decided to become a villain and how the other character, the Scourge King, helps her. The reason I read that though was Ruby Dixon posted something about this book. I first read it on her Facebook, but that she posted it on her Instagram as well. She was talking about the choices she made for the that Jocelyn character, the heroine in Villain Origin Story, how she describes it as crooked back. Basically, the main character has scoliosis. And then she went to talk about how she was diagnosed with scoliosis. Ruby Dixon at like age five, she had to wear a body brace for like 23 hours a day for like, I don't know, years, 10 years or something of her life. And she still had to have back surgery that fused her back. Which is why, you know, we always hear this throwaway. Oh, yeah, she doesn't travel because she wants to sleep in her own bed. She's got back problems. Well, like, these are the back problems. Um fairly, not fairly. Sounds to me really serious. I don't know. I'm not a medical person, but when they have to fuse your spine, that sounds pretty severe.

Jonathan 3:00

Yeah, that's definitely a tough one for sure.

Mari 3:02

Yeah, yeah. And so she said, um, uh, fusing your spine doesn't magically fix it, it just stops the curvature from progressing. My spine is still crooked, my shoulders do not align, and I still struggle with back pain. Certain chairs are miserable, hotel hotel beds are awful. I've sent my back into spasms over something as small as stepping off a sidewalk. Um, it's expected to grow worse over time, and as the dicks that discs that aren't infused are doubling their workload and are wearing out faster. She goes on to say, this is why I wrote a heroin with scoliosis. A few years ago, I was having back pain and laid up in bed, so I was thinking about my spine, and I looked for reads on scoliosis, and I looked for adult characters, I looked for anything that represented what I dealt with. And she was basically saying how she she didn't find it, so she wrote it. You know, she didn't find what she was, what she was looking for, the representation that she was looking for, so she ended up writing it. She says that the experiences of the main character are are hers, but that you know, her version of scoliosis or her experience of scoliosis isn't everyone's version or everyone's experience of scoliosis, so she's still got like sensitivity readers and other people with scoliosis to like you know put in their two cents of it. I thought it was interesting um that she spoke up about that. Like if if she had ever done that before, I'd never seen it. And it makes me more interested to read the the the book and the character.

Jonathan 4:21

Yeah, I agree. I think um I think one of the one of the touch points that I that I picked uh that I'm picking up on still as a as a as a reader as as we go down this this journey of romanticy is that you know when I got into it, I just thought, oh, here are these kissing books. But really, they're they're outlets and representation for people who are experiencing all sorts of different journeys. So when you say like she was laid up and she started looking for reads that had that included uh some uh representative characters uh that she could relate to, people uh it's uh it it's it represents empathy.

Ashley 5:09

Mm-hmm.

Jonathan 5:10

So I think that's I think that's that's uh it's it's a uh a window of literature that I really that was foreign to me.

Mari 5:18

Yeah. Well, and that's what a lot of studies have said that like people who say that reading fiction is a waste of time, you know, studies have actually shown that reading fiction makes you more empathetic. You know, you you can't possibly experience every aspect of the human condition, but you can read about a lot more than you can experience yourself. You know, and it gives you a little bit of like a touchstone of what other people might be going through that are living in, you know, walking in shoes that are not your own. So yeah.

Ashley 5:48

Absolutely.

New Romantasy Releases Worth Watching

Mari 5:49

Next bit of news. Um, Raven Kennedy, who wrote the guild series, has a new series coming out uh called Played by the Piper. And it's a duology, and it's based off the story of the Pied Piper, which never thought I'd be saying that there'd be a romantic based off of the Pied Piper. But then again, her guild series is based off of like King Midas. So she's got she's got these weird myths that she picks and rolls with. The first one is gonna be called The Sweetest Fiend, and it's gonna be released this year, September 22nd, 2026. The second book is not yet titled, or at least the title isn't released, but it's gonna be coming out in 2027. That sounds super interesting. It does to me too. I'm curious to see where it's gonna go and how she's gonna turn that into like a romanticy type story. But like I said, I I I really enjoyed Guild the Guild series overall, the Play to Prisoner. I'm sorry, play Play to Prisoner series overall.

Ashley 6:45

So it was such uh so I just finished this series after starting it like 6,000 years ago.

Mari 6:52

You started it before me.

Ashley 6:53

Yeah, like like pandemic days, right? Or just post. So I actually went back, reread, caught up, because I didn't even know where I'd stopped. And so I admittedly the series itself was very like like entrancing. I was I was devouring it at some point. I don't know that I loved the ending, like the final, final ending, but there was a she did quite a bit of world building, like in a in almost like you know, a movie kind of way, and just the way that you know the problems snowballed and escalated and evolved, and then you know how she made you feel for characters that you despised, you know, in book one versus book five, um, or six, I think it ended up being six. So yeah, I think you know she's an amazing storyteller after only reading that series, and it was a substantial series, so I would be curious about anything else, you know, that she releases. Absolutely.

Mari 7:55

Yeah, I don't think I've read anything else by her other than the Play The Prisoner series. But I agree, I think it was a really interesting, fully fleshed out world. I wanted to know more about a lot of the side characters. Like I would read a short story or a novella about a good many of the side characters.

Ashley 8:11

Right. No, I agree. Um I almost wonder, like I I do recall in the mist in the midst of it, I was like, you know, it was almost like she was making it up as she went along. Like shit just really would go sideways, uh but like in a good way. Like I wasn't upset at it. I didn't feel it didn't feel chaotic. It was just like, man, this also kind of feels like left field, you know. But yeah, no, I zero complaints about that series. I thought it was pretty eloquent, and I thought she took an older fable and made it into something new pretty successfully.

Mari 8:47

So yeah, we'll see where this Pied Piper situation goes. So I have pre-ordered it. So I'll be reading it hopefully like in September or October.

Ashley 8:57

That's exciting.

Mari 8:58

Yeah, I'll let you guys know what I think. Next bit of news I have is Heather Fawcett announced books four and five are coming of the Encyclopedia of Fairies, Emily Wilderies, which I thought was done. I think everybody kind of thought was done. Uh, but uh book four is coming out January 19th, 2027. It's gonna be called Emily Wilde's History of Dark Fairy, and then book five is also coming out, she said, but she didn't release the name of it or anything. I really enjoy those books.

Ashley 9:27

She's kicking these out fast, too, it feels like. Have you read them, Ashley? Uh I read the first one.

Jonathan 9:33

I haven't read the first one, but I think we own the first and second.

Mari 9:37

I would suggest, if everyone is on board, that we could maybe read the first one for like a January read, because it takes place during like winter, but it's not really like a Christmas festivity kind of thing, but it's definitely in like a winter setting. So I think that would be a good idea, that idea you have to read in January. I I think I think everyone will enjoy it. It's good audio, it's good reading, physical reading. It's good both. I've read it twice. I read it physically first, like with my eyeballs, and then I read it, uh listened to it. Um the first one is still my favorite, I think, of all of them, but it's a it's a really good story in general. Um so maybe we can read that in January. Read the first one in January as the fourth one comes out.

Jonathan 10:20

I'm I'm absolutely into it. Um I forget how I ended up. Oh, you know what? I probably just bought them on a sale, is what it was. Like there was there was like a book.

Mari 10:30

They're really pretty. Like the covers are really pretty. They draw.

Ashley 10:33

They are really pretty, you know.

Mari 10:34

And the premise is really interesting. And, you know, like a lot of fantasy settings and things with magic, like things don't equ equivocate 100% to what our world, but the main character is definitely neurodivergent coded. I don't know if it's autism, but she's definitely neurodivergent. So it's a really interesting take that she has on the world, and uh the vast majority, if not all, is in her voice. So you get a lot from her viewpoint, which is which is interesting. Either way, I'm really excited about it. I've liked those books a good bit. I really have enjoyed reading them. Next thing

Monsterotica BookCon And Staying Small

Mari 11:10

I have is Monsterotica BookCon 2027 exhibitor applications are now open and live. They'll be live through July 22nd. So this is if it goes out to anyone who wants to be an author there or a vendor or narrator. Basically, if you want to have a table or a booth or whatever at Monsterotica BookCon 2027, you have until July 22nd of this year, 2026, to get that application filled out and turned in. Any, they said that any applications released after that are going to be automatically waitlisted. I don't know what that means. I don't know if that means like if somebody else, you know, cancels that you would be tapped in. I I don't know. But I would say if you're interested in doing any of those things there, get your application in before the 22nd. Also, I would say please do not get your feelings hurt if you don't get picked, because apparently they've gotten like massive amounts of people applying and they they're you know not a huge con. So they're having to turn down a bunch of people. So if you have tried and you didn't get it, it's not indicative of your work or the quality of your stuff. It's just they can't have everybody.

Ashley 12:20

Do you think they're gonna expand?

Mari 12:22

Several people have asked, uh Unfortunate Reads, Cassie, she's the one who puts it on, have asked her about that. And if it's gonna grow, it's gonna grow a little bit. Like this one was a little bit bigger than last one, but it's not gonna be a huge thing because I think it'll be really easy to lose what makes it charming. Uh if it gets too big. You know, right now it's got a very like weird family reunion vibe. Yeah. And I think if it gets too big, well, they would have to move to a different hotel for starters because they I think used up just about every free spot it felt like that that hotel had. Which is not the end of the world. The the big Baltimore, not the big, but a big Baltimore convention center is kind of across the street from that hotel. So it wouldn't be the end of the world. So there's there's space to be had, but they I think they also don't want to grow so big that it becomes, you know, unmanageable.

Ashley 13:16

It's interesting that they care, right? Because most of these situations, you know, con situ book convention situations we've seen, you know, kind of exploit the ability to grow faster than they one should. And I think I feel like we were very spoiled very early on, you know, by fabled fantasy events and romantic book con. Because the one we went to after that, like I'm not trying to bash anybody, but it it seemed fairly hyped, even though it was very inexpensive. And I know that when we all showed up, we were like, oh, our expectations didn't match the event, yeah. It was like a book fair, not like a book con. I was expecting like rows and rows and rows of stuff, and there just wasn't. So, you know, kudos to Monster Erotica BookCon for you know, keeping it small and keeping it charming, and even if it means limited availability across the board, um, you know, to us it is quality, right? We want to make sure that we're investing our time and money and energy into things that produce quality events, at least, you know, on our side. So that's interesting that they're taking that stance and good for them.

Mari 14:31

Yeah. I my understanding, so Cassie with Unfortunate Reads, she's an author, but she also I think does maybe publishing. And I I feel like she's either produced other cons before or has been involved in the production of other cons before. So I think she has a lot of like event experience. So she knows, I think a lot of what not to do. Um so I you know, as long as I get to go, I'm gonna be going because it's a as a as a of just a pure attendee, you know, I don't know anything about the the exhibitor side, but as a pure attendee, it's it's a great experience. So whatever she's doing, she's doing it right. Um so we'll see. I hope um I hope that continues to happen every year, and I hope it continues to grow in a way that works for everybody. So sure. Yeah. Um okay, this next thing I heard about in several

The Hot Girls Read Trademark Blowup

Mari 15:24

places from several people. I know Kelly found some stuff I think on Reddit about it, and I saw some stuff on Instagram and TikTok. So have you guys by the time this comes out, I assume everyone will have already heard about it, and or I know it's kind of old news at this point, but I just wanted to kind of talk about it a little bit. Are you guys aware of the whole hot girls read fiasco? Yeah. Okay. So basically, for anybody who doesn't know who's listening, there was a small book merchandise business that decided that they were going to trademark the phrase hot girls read obstensively or supposedly, allegedly, to protect their brand. And I think that they started like sending letters to other small businesses that were using that terminology. And it became a big thing online because then people looked up other very common phrases that are also trademarked. Like apparently, I think the word bookmark is trademarked. Um I think it was book boyfriend. That one too is trademarked.

Ashley 16:23

Yeah, I didn't know bookmark. Yeah, uh that's crazy.

Mari 16:26

Uh blind date with a book is trademarked, any blind date with a book is trademarked as a separate thing. Just lots of things. Uh I think TBR is trademarked, smut TBR is trademarked. But there were some different people who who who posted things on like different social media who said they were attorneys. And they were talking about it. And basically, if you were using that phrase before the trademark kicked in, you can easily fight that. Of course, that's easy to say, if but if you're a small business who can't afford an attorney and you get a cease and desist letter, you're you may not be able to afford to fight it. Um but there were some there was an author who, a business and author who fought the trademark for Hot Girls Reed, and it started to get investigated. And then before it got fully pulled as being an unviable trademark, the person who initially tried to trademark it pulled it back, canceled the trademark themselves.

Ashley 17:22

Oh, I don't think I knew that.

Mari 17:23

Yeah. And then posted an apology saying that they were trying to protect their business. I don't want to judge either way. I I've seen different people say different things either way as to whether the apology is sincere or not. But ultimately, like what needed to happen happened. Like the trademark went away. So I would say a win. Last bit of news. Nope, I've got two things.

Villains And Vixens Plans Plus Travel

Mari 17:49

Uh, second to last bit of news I have is that uh the villains and vixen con that we're going to later this year in Orlando, uh, they're starting to announce the topics of their panels. I think they just have had one that they've announced. It's called Rebels, Renegades, and Feminine Rage. And it's gonna have Bean Northwick on it, which we've read one of her books. Geneva Monroe, which I talked to in depth, and I love the idea of her books. I just haven't gotten to in the in the right headspace or mood to read them. It's she writes this like dark wizard of Oz retelling, but they're like Mafia, and it's um it's Y Choose. So yeah, I like the whole mafia Oz aspect of it. The Y Choose just isn't as much my jam, which is why I haven't read it. But she was a sweetheart to talk to, and and the concept seems really cool. So anyone who's into that, I would recommend checking her stuff out. Um HM Wolf, which I've seen everywhere lately, um, but I've not read any of her stuff. Ophelia Rain, I've not read any of her stuff. And Rihannan Hargadon. Hargodon, I'm so sorry. I've not read any of her stuff. But those are the panelists at that panel. So it'd be interesting to see what they have to say.

Jonathan 18:59

This is a new one for us, um right?

Mari 19:02

So it's the first time us going. I I do believe that this is the first time having it in Florida. Next year it's gonna be back in Texas. Yeah, but now it's 2027, it's gonna be back in Texas.

Jonathan 19:13

Yeah, okay. So we got like one good one good stuff at it. One shot. Do not miss your chance to go. Well, I'm ready for spaghetti. Um, the uh yeah, I I think it's I think it'll for me, it'll I think it's interesting to see how how different event promoters kind of pull stuff off. And I think we've been I think maybe we just kind of uh walked. We stumbled into a good one. You've more you've had better, you've had you've had good uh uh venues to be part to to partake in. But I think for for us we stumbled into a good one and then we had a mediocre one, and now we're now we're gonna figure out like we'll have this new promoter, and who knows? Maybe we'll be maybe uh soaking in the concept of this villains and vixens, maybe that'll make us want to travel to Texas. My I'll tell you what. If Texas meant kind of bumping into Ruby Dixon, then yeah.

Mari 20:21

Yeah, I believe that Tech Ruby does do villains, villains and vixens. I think I know she did it last time last year, I guess last time was in Texas. Yeah, I know she did it. Um but my issue with villains and vixens is I believe that what's in I think when I looked it up, and I may be wrong, I think it happens like either right before or right after Dragon Con. Like I'm talking like the week, right before right after Dragon.

Ashley 20:43

No, no, I thought it was in the summertime. I thought it was the same time frame as as the one this year in Florida. But I could be conflating.

Mari 20:52

And I may be wrong. But I think that's the the one time that I looked and I was like, well, if Ruby Dixon can't travel, and this is before I knew all her back stuff, um, I'm like she can't travel, and then maybe I'll just because I I I go see Jeannie in Texas, you know. Like maybe I'll just go to an event in Texas. And I saw that one, and I thought that it was just a bad time for me. But I because I may be I may be wrong. Yes, I would be willing to go to Texas for oh, it's in April.

Ashley 21:16

It's just before my birthday. So April 23rd, 24th, 2027.

Mari 21:21

Well, I mean, if you want to do your birthday in Texas, is it in Austin?

Ashley 21:26

And Anatoly? Oh, Dallas, Dallas, Dallas.

Mari 21:29

Dallas. Oh.

Ashley 21:30

Dallas.

Jonathan 21:32

Ooh, Dallas. Go birds. Uh sorry. Sorry. Sorry to our Dallas to our Dallas audience. We apologize, but we are only a little bit though. Go Birds. Go Birds, we're Eagles fans. Glossing over that stuff. Uh it would be, yeah. I I got listen, I'm not opposed to the pilgrimage to uh to to meet the great Ruby Dixon. I have a couple of green, hopefully. Yeah, I have a few books uh that I'd be interested in getting her to uh write all over.

Mari 22:00

Only got one shot.

Jonathan 22:01

Oh, don't get me started.

Mari 22:03

Well, we can yeah, we can definitely brainstorm that. See about doing it. Like I'd be down for it. So would you be down, Kelly?

Kelly 22:10

That's yes. It just depends on what the work schedule is.

Mari 22:12

That's true. That's true. Yeah. So Yeah, yeah, we can maybe think about it. So we can we can start looking into it and see. It wouldn't be a no. Let me put it that way. If it's especially if it's like April is fine by me, you'd be the birthday girl.

Ashley 22:27

You're so cute to think I actually have a say for my own birthday.

Jonathan 22:32

Actually, I was thinking about traveling for your birthday this year.

Ashley 22:34

We'll we'll we'll I'm not opposed.

Jonathan 22:37

Um I'll let you choose the destination.

Ashley 22:39

Yeah, as long as the kids don't have a thing, I'm cool.

Jonathan 22:44

I'm good with that. A lot of Kelly Green that weekend. A lot of Kelly Green.

Mari 22:47

Um But I mean, guess that time of year is is that time of year still it's not sports time, right?

Jonathan 22:54

Yeah, it's always it's always sports time for us.

Ashley 22:58

I'm gonna speak, I'm gonna speak to Mari now. So Mari, no. It's also plenty of time before Kansas, technically, for it to not be extreme. So we could we in theory could figure it out. I'm not sure how we're gonna. You should just buy the Ruby Dixon books there, best friend, unless you already own them and then ship them home.

Mari 23:17

So what I do when I've got a Monster Rotica Con is I take uh the big luggage and then I take the little luggage, like little carry-on. I fill my carry-on with like my toiletries or whatever, and I put it inside the big luggage. The big luggage is empty other than the little luggage, and I pay for it. And then when I come back, I have the two bags then. So I have a whole bag that I can fill with books and stuff, and I bring my little portable scale because you're gonna be able to fit a bunch of books, but you gotta keep the weight under the weight limit for the airline, otherwise they charge you. It's it's fine, it's doable. I gotcha.

Ashley 23:52

It's fine, it's fine, it's whole fly.

Jonathan 23:54

We can fly with a bike case. There's no there's no weight limit.

Ashley 23:57

Fuck yeah, we could. They're gonna open that bitch up and be like, what's the bite? They're gonna get a hernia trying to put it on the plane.

Jonathan 24:03

He's smuggling, he's smuggling his words again.

Ashley 24:06

What's gonna happen is that we're gonna set new, we're gonna set a precedence.

Mari 24:10

And they're gonna be like, We're gonna ruin it for everybody.

Ashley 24:15

They were too much.

Mari 24:16

But we can always ship books back. That's the thing a lot of people did at Monsterotica too, is ship stuff back rather than take it on the plane. That's another option.

Ashley 24:24

So if it fits a chip.

Mari 24:26

Yep. Yep.

Juliet Cross Tease And SJM Merch

Mari 24:27

Um last bit of news I have is from Juliet Cross. And this isn't on her regular Facebook, or not Facebook, Instagram page, but it was on her Instagram story the other day. You know, those go away. But she said she was brainstorming about book two in the Southern Charm series, and it's she said, Y'all, this is gonna be quote, y'all, this is gonna be so hot. A vampire witch and broody warlock professor. Get ready, stay a spell fans, end quote. I'm so excited about it.

Jonathan 24:55

You know, I'm excited about this. You know I'm excited about this because maybe, maybe she's used one of my fuckery words here. I yeah, I think we last time we spoke to her at uh was at uh the romantic. And uh she she was she's kind of she expressed to us that she was kind of that this series was sort of on a back burner.

Mari 25:17

Yeah, she was working on her like fire burns.

Jonathan 25:20

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And then uh and then I think uh her daughter was there, and her daughter was like like when we leaned into it a little bit, her daughter was like, see, kind of like the the the personality was kind of shining through where she was like, see mom, I'm telling you, get into this series again, get do a little bit more of this. And this uh this is hard to raise parents nowadays, man. Yeah, yes. Absolutely, absolutely. So I am looking forward to this. This uh Southern Charm is like second generation Staya Spell. Yes. Uh so it's if you if you've gotten through Staya Spell and you kind of want to see what what these characters evolve into, you can you can go into Southern Charm, and it's not gonna ruin a bunch of stuff, but you may get uh some spoiler bits for Staya Spell if you if you go with one before the other.

Mari 26:10

So I don't know who ends up with who, obviously.

Jonathan 26:13

You know, correct, correct. Although I don't think it's a super super secret.

Mari 26:17

No, no.

Jonathan 26:18

But uh but yeah, I did enjoy Southern Charm as well.

Mari 26:21

Me too.

Jonathan 26:22

Or the the what I forget what the I have it behind me somewhere, I'm sure. Rumble Without Claws? Yes, yeah, that you got it, you got it. So yeah, I'm stoked on this.

Mari 26:31

Me too. I I really like this series issues. I like books at New Orleans, I like that vibe, I like the kind of modern New Orleans-y magic aspect to it, and I like the rom-cominess of it. Um there's some serious stuff that happens, but it's not super dark and serious all the time, you know?

Jonathan 26:52

Yeah, yeah. And I wonder if it's gonna follow the same the same kind of love chart that Southern Charm did, where it was, or sorry, that uh Stay a Spell did where like book one was um Wolfgone Wild, and uh the and then Southern Charm kind of follows where like that pathway. So I'm wondering if uh because what was book two? Book two was with um the vampire, right? Yeah. So maybe and it was vampire witch, right? Uh so maybe it's a and I I'm not mad at it. I hope the colorways line up too.

Mari 27:32

Hint hint. I got the the fancy god, what was it? Was it out? No. Was it Alcrate? Fairyloot? The ones that did like the the the fancy like leather looking band ones. So I I don't have those super bright colors, which is how I like it for my nice dark black bookcase. I love those books, but man, they're they're they're bright.

Jonathan 27:55

They are, they are, they are like they're good color blockings. Yeah, I enjoy them.

Mari 28:02

All right. Anybody else have any news before we go into the book? I don't.

Ashley 28:07

Uh I have just a generic something to say. I didn't provide any links. Um I'm stoked about the wave of like Sarah J Mass merch that we're seeing. And it's it's just it's sprinkled, right? Like it's not anything major. I'm really like, I think Alex and Ani's done some stuff. Pop sockets is doing some stuff.

Mari 28:31

I forgot to put that link in. I'm so sorry.

Ashley 28:32

Yeah, no, no, no, it's fine. We we got a lot to talk about. But like, you know, if you're a Sarah J. Mass fan, it's a good time to be alive right now. We're starting to see some really interesting pieces come out. Um, I I'm ready to see more. I think some of the things that have dropped are just a little bit more of like super generic, and that's probably intentional because of the books that are coming out later this year. Yeah, but um, I'm here for it because I don't think she was very heavily licensed before. And you know me, I like stuff, man. So just like just throwing it out there. Stuff's coming, yeah, it seems, and I'm here for it. Like, take my money.

Mari 29:10

I like several of the Alex and Annie things. I like the little lockets that open up, and I think they're really pretty. And the rings, like only Alex and N stuff I have are their bangles, which are bangles. Yeah, they're good.

Ashley 29:22

Like OG stuff, yeah.

Mari 29:24

Yeah, yeah. And I like their bangles, um, but I haven't ever really had any of their necklaces or rings. So I may I may jump on that because there's some there's some cute ones for sure.

Ashley 29:34

There's some cute pieces, yeah.

Mari 29:36

I have one more quick thing. I don't think we talked about it last time. The book that Kelly mentioned, I don't know how many episodes back, Criers War. Yes, yes, yes. I read I read Cryers War and I read the sequel. The the the duology of whatever. It's really good. I would recommend if anyone is looking for a read that's like a little bit fantasy, a little bit sci-fi, a little bit steampunky um for the month of June. It's got really great world building. Um basically everything Kelly said. Yes, I agree. Did you read the second one, Kelly?

Kelly 30:09

I did.

Mari 30:10

Did you like it? The second one too?

Kelly 30:11

Not as much as the first.

Mari 30:13

Yeah. Yeah. I the first one does better world building and and character development, I think. But the second one kind of wraps it up a little bit. I mean, yeah, it had to go somewhere, you know. But I thought it was still pretty a good complete story to be fairly large story to be told in two books. Yeah, I I would recommend the the series to or the duology or whatever to anyone who's looking for something like that. It was a it was a good read.

Ashley 30:35

It was something It's a duology, you said? Mm-hmm.

Jonathan 30:37

Yep.

Mari 30:37

So two books and you're done.

Ashley 30:39

These deep series be getting me, man. Like no. The Raven Kennedy stuff. I was like, dang, there's another one. Dang, there's another one. Like it just it was like the it was like the song that wouldn't end.

Mari 30:50

Like I'm still on like book 18 of of JR Ward Black Tiger Brotherhood, so you knew that going in though.

Ashley 30:56

You knew that going in. Yeah, I I didn't with Raven Kennedy. I thought it was like four or maybe five, but it's like six. Yeah.

Mari 31:04

Well, and I just I just finished reading, I think book 12 or 13 of the um Dresden Files. I think it came out about a year ago that's called 12 months. I just finished reading that. So I'm in the middle of several very long series right now, and I'm committed. Yeah, I kind of they're good, but at the same time, I'm like, it's time to wrap up some of these stories. All

Why We Picked Bromantasy For Pride

Mari 31:25

right, so why we chose bromantasy? Because June is Pride Month. I mean, and we were gonna read something, and I saw this cover and the description, and it pulled me in. So let me tell you a little bit about it, and then we can talk about everything. So this was published uh very recently, May 26, 2026. So it is brand new. It's just a baby. It is. It is hot off the presses. So here's the little description. Fellas, is it gay to kiss your BFF while on a quest through the forest you're unqualified for? Juniper O'Reilly is good at only two things: demolishing a pine of mead and finding the perfect skincare routine. Everything else, taking care of the farm, bartering for goods, any sort of manual labor, falls to Juniper's best friend, the absurdly capable, endlessly patient Mo Elmthorn. But when Juniper accidentally volunteers in both for a quest to kill a fearsome monster, he knows he's finally gotten in over his head. Juniper hates camping, he hates the dark, and there's no way all these forged mushrooms are gonna sit well in his stomach. One thing he doesn't hate, how good Moe's thighs look in his questing pants. He doesn't have time to think about that, though. With a monster to hunt and their futures on the line. But monsters come in all shapes and sizes. When Juniper and Mo realize that the terrifying beast they sworn to kill is just a scared little girl from her family, torn from her family, they're off to find not only the true villain of the story, but maybe even a happy ending. And the cover. Let me describe this cover.

Ashley 32:57

Oh, please, yes, yes, yes.

Mari 32:59

It has this derpiest, the derpiest looking horse in existence, rearing up. And on this derpy horse, there's these two like very fantasy labeled men in like tight, tight pants and blousy pirate shirts. One with like a rolling pin, like you would have a sword up, and the other one has a butterfly net. And there's a flower border around the whole edge, and in that flower border, there's like a dragon, there's a little bird, but there's also a big old wedge of cheese and a big old like cup of beer, and and like a drumstick with a bite taken out of it. And then on one side there's this castle, and then the other side there's this little like cottage-looking homey little house, and a cat just kind of chilling in the corner. So and the back says this book contains dummies to lovers. There was only one bed. Oops, we've accidentally adopted a kid. My all-time favorite. I need to eat some cheese about this. I need to eat some cheese about this.

Ashley 34:04

So,

Laugh Out Loud Moments And Real Themes

Ashley 34:05

first of all, I'm gonna go first. Yeah, because nothing's gonna top my experience in this. So, one thing about one fun thing about Ashley is um I will buy a book because of its cover, right? And we had selected this book, I knew nothing about it. I trust Mari's recommendations uh blindly, right? Like I'm Mari does no wrong. So I had I went into this completely blind. I had no idea. I knew the name, I knew the title, right? And so when I tell you the amount of joy that this book brought me, I laughed the entire time and cringed. There were some like, oh my god, how did we like we know how we got here, but how did we get here moments? Yep. Um, there was like a lot of internal reflection, right? Because and Juniper, I don't think I'm as like loosey-goosey as Juniper is, but I do think that I am as frivolous as Juniper is. And I fully acknowledge that my partner is the strong, the smart. Like he's he's the leader, right? Like to I follow his lead until he tells me otherwise. We're very good at that communication. Yeah. Okay. And um there was so there was just a lot of like like like internal identification. And most of it was funny, um, but the way that I related to Juniper and his spazzing out and his panic, right? There, that internal panic, like, oh shit, like I fucked up, and now my dude's gotta come save me, right? Like, and just like the awe that Juniper had for Mo leading up to this, just like worship the ground that he walked on. I don't I don't worship the ground Jonathan walks on, to be very clear, but I do recognize that he is the strength in our relationship, and that his leadership is usually because he's looked at things in a more clear and distinct way than I have. So yeah, no, this joke this book brought me so much joy, and to like follow them on this journey, and you like how and Kelly's immediately gonna point this out like just the miscommunication trope. If they just sat down and had some emotional intelligence and had it, you know, had a deep talk, shit would have been way better, way sooner. But man, this was a fun time. I need to eat some cheese about it, is is top tier writing. Yes. Uh who wrote this book? I hope there's more.

Mari 36:44

So here's the thing. Uh so I thought this was her first book. So she it's Marie M-A-I-R-E Um Ro Roach R-O-C-H-E. Um, but actually, when you look up her uh her like author information, this is she's written this is the only book that she's written under this name. But she actually writes cozy fantasy.

Ashley 37:09

Of course she does.

Mari 37:10

Or cozy mysteries, cozy mysteries. I'm sorry, not cozy fantasy, cozy mysteries under the name Mary E. Roach.

Ashley 37:18

Fascinating. I bet it's gold. In the way that I follow Mari's recommendations blindly, I would probably go into her books blind and love it. I I enjoyed this top to bottom. I thought it covered a lot of heavy topics without making them too serious. You know what I mean? Because we read the a lot of times we read books so that we can escape. And they did a lot of world building, a lot of character building, both in the two main characters and in the externals. Was it perfect? No. But it was a fun time. It was a real fun time. The way like the in the and the narrator deserves an award. Truly an award. It was this was a top-tier book. They should have charged us more for it. Like no, what is stop, Ashley?

Jonathan 38:14

Don't talk about that. Don't say that stuff out loud.

Ashley 38:17

They should know. I value their work, and I would have paid more.

Mari 38:21

Well, you know, they probably will. This is the paperback. There's probably gonna be hardback. That's fine. I if you got the paperback early, you got the funny, cute little sprayed edges, too. They say bro in like hot pink letters with cheese and a cat, and yes. Them like dangling from ropes and things on the edges.

Ashley 38:38

Like they have a farm. They won't kill any animals, so now they're basically vegetarian. But they've uh spoiler alert, they adopt a dragon, a five-year-old dragon girl at the end of carnivorous dragon. I don't think we've She likes cheese. She does like peace, but I don't think she's gonna be a vegetarian. No.

Jonathan 38:59

Well, cheese isn't vegetarian, actually.

Ashley 39:01

We don't eat our friends.

Jonathan 39:04

What were friends? What was it? It's not vegan, but it is.

Mari 39:08

Well, uh cheese is generally accepted to be vegetarian, but not vegan. Generally, correct.

Ashley 39:14

Correct. Yeah. If there was a part two to this book, I would read it. I bet it's a fun time. And I like and kudos to her, to Marie, our friend Marie, to you know, writing again something that had some fairly serious topics, especially emotional intelligence one, because you go into like the emotional trauma of an absent, negligent, slightly abusive parent. Yeah, you know what I mean? Like, that's not a foreign concept to me either, and how that impacts your ability to build relationships in the future, as well as with yourself, right? Like, there was a lot of not self-hatred, but you could tell that he was frustrated with himself. He wanted to grow, he just didn't have the tools. Right. I loved everything about this book. I have no notes, just comments like with happy face stickers.

Mari 40:03

Yeah. Kelly, what did you think?

Kelly 40:08

I enjoyed the book. I thought it was good. There was a lot of funny stuff in it. It reminded me a lot of the Kimberly Lemming book.

Mari 40:17

Yeah, the Mead Mishap series.

Kelly 40:18

Yeah, a lot of that same kind of slapstick humor, which I do enjoy from time to time. It reminds me a lot of the same kind of slapstick humor that the fantasy author Robert Aspren used to write.

Jonathan 40:31

Oh yeah.

Kelly 40:32

He used to write that same kind of slapstick, tongue-in-cheek type of thing. He's most famous for writing a whole series of books that was a about a near-doel sorcerer and his uh demon apprentice slash master type thing, and it was all pretty hilarious, including a a dragon that was pretty dumb and almost acted like he was has some kind of brain damage. Um and then you later find out the dragon is actually super intelligent and just can't speak because he's not mature enough to speak um in human tongue.

Mari 41:06

He's like a yacht baby, he's like Rose is a baby. Yeah.

Kelly 41:09

But he's like, the whole time he's like thinks that in you know, instead of thinking that the owner of the dragon, that he thinks the owner is his pet, not the other way around. And stuff like that. So it's a lot of that kind of same zany slapstick humor, which was quite fun. Um I felt the relationship stuff was very endearing. So overall, I thought it was a very good book. Probably one of the probably I think the best book we've read this year.

Mari 41:37

Yeah. Jonathan, you want to go next or you want me to go next?

Jonathan 41:40

Sure sure. I thought it would I thought it was a delightful book. I had a uh I had a blast reading it. I thought it was um it was entertaining for sure. It wasn't um at first I thought it was gonna be like cheesy, but not like the food kind of way.

Mari 41:57

But um bum.

Jonathan 41:58

But it was uh it was fun. It turned out to be a a lot of fun all the way through. So yeah. I'm I'm concerned that this dragon lives with them, that this dragon doesn't go home to its mother.

Ashley 42:10

Oh, its mother died. Well, its mother's dead.

Jonathan 42:13

Oh, I didn't I apparently I was driving.

Ashley 42:15

You missed that part.

Jonathan 42:16

I missed that part.

Ashley 42:17

Yeah, so the prince killed a dragon just after they found the little girl, and it was her mother, and that's why she comes out of the barn screaming, Mama, mama, because she consent mother.

Jonathan 42:28

Yeah, that might have been Tennessee. Fuck Tennessee. Sorry.

Mari 42:34

You guys have a long drive.

Jonathan 42:36

We did. Uh, but yeah, no, it was uh that's the only so that clears that up for me. All right. Now I know why we got the not for nothing.

Ashley 42:45

I am concerned about whether or not they will attempt to bring her to what is maybe home, but I understand that to be a very long journey and an unknown. But like, did they ask her? That might be. I don't remember if they asked her, like, hey girl, you got someone else besides your mother?

Mari 43:02

I don't think they do. I don't think they did ask.

Ashley 43:05

So that seems like a missed opportunity, but like maybe after winter, right?

Mari 43:10

Maybe after you know, she's over this trauma.

Ashley 43:12

Yeah, go check that out. But like, other than that, yeah, we're good.

Mari 43:16

Yeah, dragon baby protective services will be right on it. Um, yeah, I'm basically with you guys. Like, I I was hoping that this book, based on the cover, that it would be like cheesy, rum, commie, slapsticky, like fun times with you know, queer gay fun times. And that was exactly what I got out of it. Um, but I do agree with Ash too that there was a bit more like talk about um like emotional vulnerability and you know, miscommunications and how like how feelings suck. Like there's some certain parts where I'm just like man preach talking about your feelings. Sucks, but it's so important, you know, and real relationships only happen if you're actually vulnerable and you actually let yourself potentially get hurt and bring your walls down and let people love you and all that crap. Um I enjoyed that. I enjoyed the humor to me, it felt like I think you did it, you said it right, Kelly, about it like a very Kimberly Lemming, but at the time after I read it, I felt like it was very almost like Princess Bride. Somewhere between Princess Bride and like Assistant to the Villain, like those kind of vibes of humor. I thought the world building was really well done because you, even though it's mainly the two main characters, you still have a lot of other side characters that you're just like the whole time Bill sucks. Bill's the worst, Bill's the worst. And then there's Tiva. And then you're like, oh wait, maybe Bill's not the worst. Maybe they're actually like on our side, you know? Maybe maybe not everybody is what you think they are, which I guess would be a a lesson or moral of the book. It's like maybe not everybody is what you think they are. There were a lot of things about this book in terms of like the style and some of the messages that reminded me of um that pirate show, Our Flag Means Death. Like that kind of humor, in my opinion, which I very much enjoyed. Yeah, I would love to see more by this this pen name of this author or to do more stuff like this. I would love to see more in this world, but even if it wasn't in this world, maybe just more by the author. I know that she has a book coming out August of this year, but I think it's for younger readers. It's basically a retelling of little women, but it's called Little Monsters. And the March sisters are basically monsters. So I may I may read that. I'm not the biggest little women fan, but like it sounds like a good time. And I I enjoyed this reading style. So I may I may end up reading that later this year. But overall, yeah, this was so much fun. It was a um a breath of fresh air that I think we all need to take every once in a while if we get too honed in on certain tropes or book styles. This was absolutely a romanticy. 100%. You can't say it wasn't romancy, but it there wasn't like a shadow daddy, 300-year-old shadow daddy, and an 18-year-old girl who like magically can save the world because of the prophecy or whatever. You know what I mean? Not that there's anything wrong with that that style of book as well, but it's nice to see some some variety within the genre. Like it's still a romantic book, but it's completely different from a lot of what is popular in in in that in that genre.

Ashley 46:54

So yeah, I think you I think that the phrase you just used really hits home. It was a breath of fresh air. Because we've read good books, we've read funny books, we've read, you know, emotional books. Um, and I don't know that this one was emotional, but like this one ticked a lot of boxes. And I think it says something that we were also pleased with it. Like it was it was just such a pleasure. It was a delight, you know. We and sometimes we say that things are delightful, but like this was a delight. I was so pleased. I laughed so much, and in a situation where we needed it, you know, because we we kind of grazed on it before, but like we were in a in a in a in a smaller car in a long ass road trip. It's a lot of one-on-one time, it's a it's a stressful environment because of other drivers and you know, places you're not familiar with, and it did bring some comfort, it brought some joy, and that's you know what I think is the highest praise that we could give. It it was a joy to read this book, and but like the audiobook. If no if somebody didn't listen to the audiobook, you have to. Have to. It is a must.

Mari 48:08

I did a little bit of back and forth. I did some some reading and then I ended up doing audio uh because I was doing uh other things while um reading. So I did I did a little bit of reading of viaballs and a little bit of audio, and yeah, I think both are just so well done, whichever way you you you and take it. It was just so good.

Ashley 48:26

Yeah, it was the narrator was just again top tier for me.

Mari 48:30

Yeah, I agree. All right, anything else before we hone in on the big final question? No,

Is It A Kissing Book

Mari 48:38

so Ash, is it a kissing book?

Ashley 48:43

So I was prepared this time because my husband loves me and he asked me ahead of time. And um, and I was surprised when he asked me, but I'm not surprised now. So I'm ready. I do think it's a kissing book, and uh, I know at least one person doesn't agree with me, and that there is an argument um that things could have happened with or without the other person, but I think this the way that this story went would not have happened if it was not a kissing book. Um, I think they were both very much in love with each other, even they just didn't have the communication skills. And I think if Juniper had gone off on this adventure alone, he would have died. And I think if Mo had gone off on this adventure alone, um I don't I don't know that he would have gone home with a dragon or been in jail or gotten hurt or done literally half of the other things that he did because Juniper is the reason that they got into those situations. So, yes, to me this was a kissing book.

Mari 49:52

Kelly, what do you think?

Kelly 49:53

Yeah, it was absolutely a kissing book.

Ashley 49:56

I can't tell you how excited I am that kissing. Can you agree with something?

Mari 50:01

I I agree with I agree with you guys. I think it's 100% a kissing book. I think that the story wouldn't have happened the way it happened if it hadn't been a kissing book. Uh I mean, if if they hadn't if they hadn't been in love with each other, Junebug, Juniper would have just like, which cute, cutest little nickname, by the way. But Junebug would have probably just died on this quest by himself if Mo hadn't like, you know, loved him, wanted to protect him and gone. And if they hadn't done it with their combined ways, it it wouldn't have turned out the way it did. They wouldn't have come home with her. Like I think maybe Mo, if he had somehow gotten into this, he would have escaped with her into the mountains or something, and it wouldn't have been the same life. It wouldn't have been the same story, it wouldn't have had the same effect on all the people in the book that it did. So I think it is absolutely a kissing book.

Ashley 50:51

Husband?

Jonathan 50:52

I don't think it's a kissing book.

Ashley 50:54

Because you want to be a contrarian?

Jonathan 50:56

No, he didn't think it from the let's pause on the contrarian uh debate here. If I if I push back against contrarianism, then I'm then it's contrary to contrarianism. And if I agree that I'm a contrarian, then I'm not a contrarian.

Mari 51:12

This sounds like the riddle from a certain movie.

Jonathan 51:15

Yeah. No, I don't I think I think that Junebug just like Junebug caused some chaos. I think that the story, like, if you remove Junebug from it, I think you get a little everything kind of works out anyway. So uh I I'm not opposed to the to the romance element. I I look for I thought it was a great story. I just don't think that it was um uh it was a kissing book. I always like put this up against uh when we ask these questions, I always think of like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Like if you just take Indiana out of it, nothing happens. You know, like does if in if like uh well what was the what was it the um uh the the holy grail or was the was that the last crusade? I forget. Uh when they like if you just if he just doesn't insert himself nothing bad happens, right? Um and I think that uh I think that June bug kind of inserts himself uh into and creates these situations. And I don't know, for that I just don't, you know, love is love. I love it. I just don't think that this is a kissing book. But everybody can everybody else can.

Mari 52:24

Everyone's opinion is is is fine. I will say I think that if June Bug hadn't gotten involved, Mo probably wouldn't have gotten involved, and they the the prince would have and his minions would have probably just killed the baby dragon.

Ashley 52:37

Or bear. Yeah.

Jonathan 52:39

Bear is a dragon that wants to eat a cat. I just think that's an interesting flex.

Ashley 52:46

You don't think the flex that bears a dragon named Bear is a problem?

Jonathan 52:51

Yeah, yeah, no. No, that's uh that's still okay. It's like having a it's like having a a a cat with a human name. But like that's okay.

Mari 53:00

She wants to eat the cat, but she's not gonna eat the cat because she knows that the cat's friends are friends.

Jonathan 53:04

Yeah, but she could.

Mari 53:05

It's a learning, it's a learning situation.

Jonathan 53:07

She I I kinda I want to look inside of Bear's mouth. Like I also preteen dragon what's dragon adolescence equate to? Yeah, right? Like that's what I'm like, mmm. Like you don't wanna, I don't know. When my niece asks me to do funny things, should she do funny things, Uncle Nani. That means that she wants me to throw her in the air, right? So like when I say no, she gets mad at me. When I'm like, oh, you know what? My shoulder hurts, can't do this right now. Come see me when the Tylenol kicks in. And she'll be like upset. Like I can't imagine her being a dragon, being like, do it now. Like again and again, and just like I'm weeping in a corner. She's like, funny things, Maloney. Like, I don't know.

Mari 53:56

There's a book I read uh called When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill. And it's basically set in like the 1950s, and it's basically this like feminist when when when women basically came into their own and like stood up for themselves rather than going back into the like pre-war roles, they started turning into dragons. So it was like an allegory for like feminism or whatever. Um and then there was this big cover-up of like, no, women didn't turn to dragons, all these women just randomly disappeared. So I think that's uh I think that's what trying to deal with teenage girl dragon and or young adult woman dragon would be. It would be a lot of uh her flying off in a in a in a puff, maybe.

Jonathan 54:47

So I'm hopeful that there'll be a a second book.

Mari 54:51

Yeah, yeah. Or just at least even just more books by this author in a similar tone, even if it's not following these particular characters. Um the tone was great. Yeah. Enjoyed it a lot. All right. Anything else we would like to say about this book before I wrap it up?

Jonathan 55:06

I thought it'll double down on the narrator part. This was just it was just really well executed as an audiobook. And I think for as much as the the trope kind of story is kind of like we only have one bed, they made a joke out of it, the whole book. Like I was like, yeah, that's good. This is fantastic.

Mari 55:24

I love when Sophie guys self-aware.

Jonathan 55:26

The comedic kind of like Seinfeldian, like there's a fire. Oh shit, my pants. They're in the fire. You know, it's like, what happened? And then you gotta explain that away at some point. You know, it's like it was just a pantsless June bug hanging out there. It's like, okay, cool. I almost got like, it was almost like uh like almost got these like I'm trying to think of a character that was like chaotic and like just well-intentioned. Uh where you just know it's going sideways. Uh almost like Nathan Lane. Like, I I don't know. I'm trying to, I don't I'd have I gotta think on that, but I could see that playing out. Like it was good.

Mari 56:07

Okay. All right. So thanks for listening to Of Swords and Soulmates. Before we go, make sure to check out the show notes, rate, review, and subscribe to us on your podcast app of choice. It helps others to find us. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok at Of Swords and Soulmates. Check us out on our website of Swordsandsoulmates.com. If you'd like to offer suggestions for a future episode, book recommendation, or discussion topic, feel free to reach out to us on the DMs of any of those options. If you want to read along with us as we prep for a new episode and get chapter-by-chapter occasionally unhinged interactions, join our Fable app Book Club by searching for the Of Swords and Soulmates Book Club. And last but not least, we hope you'll join us in two weeks for our next episode when we will be watching and discussing the 1986 classic masterpiece movie Labyrinth.

Ashley 56:54

Yeah.

Jonathan 56:59

Ashley's not, but I'm looking forward to it.