A Cozy & Spicy Romantasy: How to Find a Nameless Fae by A.J. Lancaster

We gush over our latest book club pick, How to Find a Nameless Fae by A.J. Lancaster, a cozy fantasy romance Rumpelstiltskin retelling with spice, a middle-aged heroine, a melodramatic fae hero, and an interfering sentient house. We share why we all enjoyed it (cozy tone with meaningful stakes, great banter, classic fae lore like true names and power, and fun details like griffins, talking cats, magic “insignia” scents, and the house doing chores and providing lingerie). Spoilers included as we discuss character dynamics, consent, the bond/mated-leaning setup, miscommunication handled through insecurities, and how the gold curse and magic complications play out. We also talk narrator voice/chapter headings, standout lines about names and homes, and our hope for more books in this world. 

BDB Fable Fantasy Focused Book Club: https://fable.co/club/diverse-fantasy-with-zinzi-bree-271215645134?referralID=f9KdWh3wtd

Podcast links:

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Other links:

Book Dragon Ink Online Writing Retreats: https://www.bookdragoneditorial.com/ink-retreats

Write With Me, Zinzi Bree - Substack: https://writewithmezinzibree.substack.com/

Sage: https://readorbleed.substack.com/

Katherine: https://www.bookdragoneditorial.com/

Current Book: How to Find a Nameless Fae by A.J. Lancaster

Author Site: https://ajlancaster.com/books/other-projects/how-to-find-a-nameless-fae/

Next Book: The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez

Link: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/647357/the-spear-cuts-through-water-by-simon-jimenez/

00:00 Late Night Book High

00:32 Podcast Intro and Subscribe

01:10 Content Warning and Book Pick

01:54 Fable Book Club Plug

02:40 What This Book Is

04:11 Why We Loved It

05:57 Spoilers Begin Retelling Talk

07:54 Characters and Relatability

08:46 Mal Style and Cat Energy

13:05 Spice Level and Tattoos

15:51 Bonds Names and Power

19:35 Fairy Lore and Favorite Quotes

21:10 Chosen Names Queer Rep

21:46 Sentient House Cozy Living

22:29 Chores Lingerie Power Balance

24:03 Beauty Beast Narrator Voice

27:02 Made Up Words Pagefire

30:19 Insignia Scents Magic

32:21 Gold Curse Spice Fallout

33:38 Dream Bond Miscommunication

37:29 Fated Mates Consent Done Right

39:00 Unexplored Fae Magic Sequel Hooks

41:13 Trauma Gender Family Sacrifice

45:11 Next Read Spear Cuts Water

46:57 Reviews Retreats Outro

Transcript

Zinzi Brookbree 0:00

I finished this book at two in the morning this morning, which not in a, oh my gosh. We have to record the podcast and I have to finish it. But like, I am enjoying this. I am grinning, I'm kicking my feet. I am loving the dynamics of the main character. my gosh. Why does the clock say that? That's what time it is right now. I need to sleep so bad, but I'm so close to the end, right? Like that, that was my experience with this read. Welcome to book Dragon Banter, a podcast for three aspiring writers, a talk all things books. We're fantasy focused, but we're not exclusive. Join Sage, Katherine, and me Zinzi Bree as we share our perspectives from the reader's chair, get analytical from the writer's desk. All for the love of story. We're so glad you're here. now's a great time to hit the subscribe button, especially if you're new here, to make sure you're always is gonna get us in your podcast feed on YouTube, whatever. That sucks. I need to practice doing that part,

Sage Moreaux 1:05

I liked it actually where you then said that sucked.

Katherine Suzette 1:09

me too

Zinzi Brookbree 1:10

Content warning. we give our honest, unfiltered opinions. This book was spicy, so this one will definitely have, some penis talk. That's your warning. we are reading, how to Find, what is it? Notes.

Sage Moreaux 1:22

Because it is super

Zinzi Brookbree 1:24

how to find a nameless Fae by AJ Lancaster, was our book, club book for the month of February. Zinzi here. Apologies for the delay. March was pretty insane for our company Book Dragon Ink. And then I had some personal things come up that happened in the background that caused the delay of this episode. I hope you enjoy. We chose it because, well, we needed a little cozy and we needed a little romance. We picked it because I really wanted to read it and it had a sentient house, which I love. I love sentient houses is one of my favorite things ever in books. Since you're actually on it, and Katherine, you are still not a part of our Fable Book Club. Sage, can you introduce our Fable book club?

Sage Moreaux 2:00

Oh yeah. you should head on over to Fable and join us for our book club there where we, uh. Read and make notes and I don't actually know what we do. What did we talk, what do I say that we do? Was that okay? What else? Is there anything else? Like

Zinzi Brookbree 2:17

Don't do of that. Don't that?

Sage Moreaux 2:20

I don't actually have the app on my new phone, but I am technically subscribed to it.

Katherine Suzette 2:27

I do

Sage Moreaux 2:28

But if you tell me what to say, I'll happily say it.

Zinzi Brookbree 2:30

you can just say,

Katherine Suzette 2:32

Craft book club but not this one

Sage Moreaux 2:34

You can follow along with our current book club. Read in our Fable Book club and the link is down in the show notes.

Katherine Suzette 2:41

How to find a nameless Fae is a cozy fantasy romance retelling of Rumpelstiltskin with spice and featuring a middle aged heroine and buttoned up hero and an interfering sentient house which is funny cause the buttoned up hero part Was he really buttoned up I thought he was more of a like a a flirtatious dandy which I am not even remotely upset about

Sage Moreaux 3:01

Unbuttoned.

Zinzi Brookbree 3:03

Yeah, he unbuttoned real quick.

Katherine Suzette 3:06

Yes

Zinzi Brookbree 3:06

He started out buttoned.

Sage Moreaux 3:08

mm-hmm.

Katherine Suzette 3:09

After 40 years of waiting for the Fae who claimed her in a firstborn bargain an angry princess decides to find him herself But instead of the evil mastermind she expects she finds the melodramatic nameless lord of a magical house in faerie now the only way to break the magic between them is to work together to find the nameless phase lost name. Some trips that you'll find in this book are cozy fantasy romance antagonists to lovers middle aged characters We gotta love those Cursed princess dramatic Howell esque MMC which I adored Magical House that does its own dishes Hell yes Nerd herd Nerd Nerd Nerd Oh nerd and nerd Nerd Got it

Zinzi Brookbree 3:51

I

Katherine Suzette 3:51

I didn't even know some of those were tropes Uh but I love them And now I want to go search up on Google for some of these like

Zinzi Brookbree 3:56

just be like those very specific ones.

Katherine Suzette 3:58

else

Zinzi Brookbree 3:59

just I, I search sent, because I'm always looking for when is somebody gonna publish a new Sentient house book? I'm always looking for those. If you find one, send the title my way. I wanna know. I want to pitch this to everybody because I freaking loved this book. and just, I love Cozy Fantasy. I love Cozy Fantasy Romance. This just hit like all, all of, almost all of my favorite things. There were no dragons, but there were griffins, so it was an acceptable exchange. If you are looking for a MMC who is a cross of Howell and Wendell, smooshed together with cat ears and a tail, and some extra things under the hood, you might like this book.

Sage Moreaux 4:43

I would pitch it that if you love everything Fae, but you want a cozy kind of humorous, definitely sexy version of said Fae, then you should pick up a copy of this book.

Katherine Suzette 4:54

If I was pitching this to you ladies I would be like So if you want to read something cozy that hits all the spots with a middle-aged FMC and a spicy nerdy probably pan I would definitely suggest how to find a nameless fey there's talking cats and a house that communicates so duh Go read it The spice is good too

Zinzi Brookbree 5:24

We all liked this one. Yes, I can. I can just lay that on the table. We are all fans. I think maybe Sage is the least enthusiastic. I'm like, this is

Sage Moreaux 5:32

No, I am.

Zinzi Brookbree 5:33

I want more.

Sage Moreaux 5:35

I love it. Cozy is not generally my jam and mated bonds are not really my jam. But I don't wanna get too much into it here. I'll talk about it later. I did actually love how the author did it. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing. it felt cozy for a lot of reasons, but the stakes were high enough, which I feel like a lot of times is downplayed and cozy, which is why I don't like it. I like high stakes.

Zinzi Brookbree 5:57

Spoilers from here on out, you have been forewarned. Go read the book and then come back if you, if we've piqued your interest. This is a, a Rumpelstiltskin retelling, which I completely blanked in my brain when I was reading it. I was like, what is the name gonna be? What is it gonna be? I Rumpelstiltskin at the end. Oh my gosh. Wow. Good job, ZZI. I was totally paid attention there. but the, other court that they go to that has, the human princess, that briefly helps our Giselle. AJ Lancaster has a, I think it's 20,000 word novella that is a Cinderella retelling.

Sage Moreaux 6:42

Oh.

Zinzi Brookbree 6:42

rempel Kin, that human princess that got marries, the, Tila, TLA King Tua, whatever his,

Sage Moreaux 6:52

Mm-hmm.

Zinzi Brookbree 6:52

his name was. there's a, not a novella that, will be releasing, I hope, soon 'cause I wanna get my hands on it.

Sage Moreaux 6:59

Fun.

Zinzi Brookbree 6:59

then also, how to Find Your Nameless Fae is listed as the first in a series, so I'm really hoping more, retold fairytales in this world, playing with Fae, just, just all the, the charm and the fun that this one had. I want more of it.

Katherine Suzette 7:15

Yeah but I want more Giselle and Mal specifically

Zinzi Brookbree 7:18

Gisele. And I say it like that because every time I read Gisele in the text, I heard in my brain from Enchanted, the Prince, what's his name, being like Giselle.

Sage Moreaux 7:32

Oh.

Zinzi Brookbree 7:32

My true love, Giselle and gis, her name gets said so much in isolation by Mal. The times when I was listening to the audiobook, I was like, thank goodness the audiobook can sort of give me some of these where I'm not just hearing Giselle in the back of my brain. Um, that's just me author. Like Giselle's a perfectly wonderful name and just, I love that Disney movie too much. I love her struggle, right? Like whenever you've put something off for a really long time and then you get guilt around, why didn't I do the thing? Why didn't I do the thing? Oh, now I've done the thing. And it really wasn't as hard as I thought it was gonna be. Why did I wait so long to do it? Like, seeing that and, and the relationship play out between her and meeting mal, finding out he'd forgotten her and just not bother, like. No

Sage Moreaux 8:21

I lost track of time.

Zinzi Brookbree 8:22

was,

Sage Moreaux 8:23

Yeah.

Zinzi Brookbree 8:23

was busy with his own stuff.

Katherine Suzette 8:24

it really

Zinzi Brookbree 8:26

Yeah.

Katherine Suzette 8:26

is relatable

Zinzi Brookbree 8:28

everything under the rug and just being like, I'm just gonna hide here in this house and fix the wards and, listen to my neighbors and try to hear the gossip, but not actually befriend anybody because nobody is trustworthy. yeah, they're just, they're delightful. They were so much fun. I absolutely loved for Mount. Getting the representation of his previous lover was differently gendered. Right. also that his version of dressing up while yes, it included being buttoned up on a Corvette, it also included painted nails and gold eyeshadow.

Sage Moreaux 9:05

Yep.

Zinzi Brookbree 9:06

If it gives you confidence, if it makes you feel good, like why not? So I loved getting, you know, those, being layered in, layered into his character. Katherine, you mentioned that he is a bit of a dandy and like Yes, that was part of it. but he didn't, come across to me as vain as Howell and he didn't like, Hmm, I can't, 'cause he's a cat. I can't quite call him golden retriever energy, but he's what, whatever breed is the equivalent of a golden retriever might be him.

Sage Moreaux 9:38

I'm Persian.

Katherine Suzette 9:39

loyal cats that like wants to hide until it makes friends and then is like super loyal like you're my person kind of a cat adore those Oh my gosh The whole library scene where you know his eyes had like mooned out and he was like dashing from bookshelf to bookshelf

Zinzi Brookbree 9:54

Mm-hmm.

Sage Moreaux 9:55

Mm-hmm.

Katherine Suzette 9:56

will live on with me Adorable

Sage Moreaux 9:58

was actually, this was reminding me of our talk recently about smut and fantasy. And I was saying that, and how we were talking about bestiality because his, he has very animalistic attributes, right? There's not just the tail, there's the ears and a lot of, and his claws, right? And then he also has a lot of

Zinzi Brookbree 10:18

have

Sage Moreaux 10:18

just the physical attributes and he turns into an animal like he does have that, it's a slightly different thing, but, yeah, and a cat. I don't think I've ever read anything where the character was. Like part cat. I've read Fae Ears, I've read tail, but nothing where it was like so cat driven.

Zinzi Brookbree 10:39

I appreciate not only is Gisele a, a 40 something character, but with Mal, his description was, an old 25 a young 55, right? Like, so he had a wide range of where his appearance falls and then his actual age as a Fae, he hadn't lived a full hundred years yet, so he is young for Fae. less of an age gap than we are used to seeing in fa pairings. Right. In romantic for sure. And I enjoyed that.

Katherine Suzette 11:13

Especially considering his like super dumb decision to give away his name and how he went about that Like Giselle's

Zinzi Brookbree 11:20

let me go whisper to a tree.

Katherine Suzette 11:23

yeah like you absolute idiot So like it does make a little bit more sense That's the first time he fell in love He was he was young a child and figures

Zinzi Brookbree 11:34

Mm-hmm.

Katherine Suzette 11:34

he made a

Zinzi Brookbree 11:35

Raised by Griffin's and didn't know the Fae world. Yeah.

Katherine Suzette 11:39

Yeah

Zinzi Brookbree 11:40

to be

Sage Moreaux 11:41

and.

Zinzi Brookbree 11:41

by Griffins though.

Katherine Suzette 11:42

I'll take it.

Sage Moreaux 11:44

it's true. And then his only other real experience was at the, kingdom of his, you know, former lover slash current enemy. So then that was like, he just didn't have a lot of, of living around in different areas of the realm or anything like that before he chose to give his name up, limited life view, which is what Giselle had also. Right? Because even though she was 40, she had pretty much been living in the castle waiting her entire life. And yes, she had had other lovers and yes, she had like, developed an interest in gardening and some hobbies and stuff, but she didn't have, like, this was her first adventure. So I thought that was a cool way to have an older protagonist, but also have them, have a little bit of the like, yeah, naivety. Although she was very, she was very good at handling business when it came down to it, but she just made things happen I felt like pretty well,

Zinzi Brookbree 12:31

mm-hmm.

Sage Moreaux 12:32

Like she'd grown in her awareness of herself, but she didn't have a lot of worldview. Right. And I thought that's nice. 'cause that's one of the things I love about reading a young adult novel, where then there generally isn't spice because it's a young adult novel. But I like watching the character kind of explore and discover aspects of themselves. So you got the best of both worlds, I thought, with this one.

Katherine Suzette 12:53

Yeah. Yeah. And that sense of like it never ends either Like in the midlife you're continually reinventing and choosing new things taking unexpected turns and falling in love I love it

Sage Moreaux 13:05

Can we just talk about his like nipple ring

Katherine Suzette 13:08

yes I love him

Zinzi Brookbree 13:10

was, I was about to be like, what did you like the, here's gold tattoos all over the body, but we're with

Sage Moreaux 13:16

yep.

Zinzi Brookbree 13:17

that there's gold tattoos all the way down

Sage Moreaux 13:21

Yep. Oh yeah. Weren't they magical?

Zinzi Brookbree 13:25

yeah, we learned through the course of the story that each of the ta, the golden tattoos that he gets is from, completing a Heart Wish, and then he gets a new

Sage Moreaux 13:31

I wonder what that her wish was

Zinzi Brookbree 13:32

of the book, he gets a new one, on the ribs for

Katherine Suzette 13:36

I

Zinzi Brookbree 13:37

zinger, zinger, zinger.

Katherine Suzette 13:42

Zin bur yes

Zinzi Brookbree 13:43

It's with a

Sage Moreaux 13:43

Z.

Zinzi Brookbree 13:44

I'm particular about Z's now. Zinger. Such a fun name for a cat.

Katherine Suzette 13:48

born with the the penis tattoos but everything else was from a heart wish

Zinzi Brookbree 13:54

Yeah.

Sage Moreaux 13:55

He was born with the penis, tattoos. I missed that one.

Katherine Suzette 13:58

Yeah he he said like I I was born with this one and the others were heart wish which

Zinzi Brookbree 14:03

the other ones came later.

Katherine Suzette 14:05

Like she still wanted to have the tattoo there and the comment that like no other man had had a beautiful dick before but apparently his was beautiful and like she

Zinzi Brookbree 14:14

Gold

Katherine Suzette 14:14

the

Zinzi Brookbree 14:14

filigree.

Katherine Suzette 14:15

Yes. I'm like actually I mean I could see her point So it's kind of like a little bit like I think the author just being like I want him to have this damnit and this is how I'm explaining it because the others are from the heart wishes and like okay alright fine but yeah nipple rings

Zinzi Brookbree 14:29

Yep.

Katherine Suzette 14:30

all of that enjoyed

Sage Moreaux 14:33

And I, I thought the author did a good job of like, it was medium spice level, right? There was, there was description of body parts and stuff, but it wasn't like extensive pages of, actual sex acts. Right? But it was very, like, at one point she's giving him a blowjob and she sticks her fingers up his butt and like that, it didn't specify that distinctly, but it's very clear that that's what was happening. Uh,

Zinzi Brookbree 14:56

Yeah.

Sage Moreaux 14:57

yeah. So

Katherine Suzette 14:58

I,

Sage Moreaux 14:58

it walked the line of being medium spice but also still kind of pushing boundaries with sexual acts. And I appreciated that the n the, the nipple Rana and the tattoos and stuff like it, it wasn't super vanilla sex. Which was fun and felt good for faerie.

Zinzi Brookbree 15:13

I also really appreciated with the way that these two characters, so like a pet peeve is, okay, you go into sex and like you immediately know, oh, this is the truth thing that gives you pleasure, I'll keep doing it. Or the, you know, and for this, because they had that bond where they could get a sense of what the other person was feeling and they had sort of an you genuinely would get that echo chamber of and knowing what you're doing is pleasing your partner.

Sage Moreaux 15:40

Hmm.

Zinzi Brookbree 15:40

I wanna ask the author. when the bond goes away and they don't have that anymore, is the sex not as fun? Right?

Sage Moreaux 15:47

Hmm.

Katherine Suzette 15:48

thought

Zinzi Brookbree 15:48

if you don't have that connection in the same way.

Katherine Suzette 15:52

Because they switched eyes back when she renamed him At the end they had like a new bond Mal like said the words to release her from any remaining bonds But they did clarify that she did do something to change it So I think this is another thread that the author could pull on in a future book to this series this may be standalone but she set a lot of things in play that she can still play with later

Zinzi Brookbree 16:17

Mm-hmm.

Katherine Suzette 16:18

this is one of those that they may still have that bond

Zinzi Brookbree 16:22

Yeah.

Katherine Suzette 16:22

changed by the magic and their eyes were back to being one blue and one gold So they each had one of the other's eyes And I think because of that maybe that bond still exists

Zinzi Brookbree 16:32

It's still there.

Sage Moreaux 16:33

Yeah, and they, they also had the bond from her naming him. I feel like that created a bond that he accepted that. It didn't specify that, but the feeling that I got was by her. By him responding to, instead of his given name, his taken name that she gave him, he like evolved a little bit into a new version of himself and maybe that created another deeper bond between them.

Katherine Suzette 17:00

Yeah,

Sage Moreaux 17:00

I don't, not necessarily magical, but maybe

Katherine Suzette 17:02

I think so maybe it's not like a binding but it is a it is it is definitely something more partner or familial or

Zinzi Brookbree 17:10

Mm-hmm.

Katherine Suzette 17:11

like that

Sage Moreaux 17:12

connection.

Katherine Suzette 17:12

connected them because she did name him but also she was calling my mal addiction at that time

Zinzi Brookbree 17:19

Yeah.

Katherine Suzette 17:20

I've been left wondering is my a part of his name because now everybody knows him and calls him by Mal Addiction and mal not calling him my mal addiction Is she the only one that has rights to like that That remainder of his name is my part of his name Like I don't know AJ

Sage Moreaux 17:37

and that's because

Zinzi Brookbree 17:39

I'm your mal addiction.

Sage Moreaux 17:40

hmm,

Zinzi Brookbree 17:41

I mean, it might just be that, whether or not that's part of his name, it might be, part of his name for her, and she's the only one that has Right. Because like, it's the same thing of when Aven took his name and swallowed it, she kind of owns the name, has the name claimed the name, as opposed to it just being anybody could use it.

Sage Moreaux 18:01

while infer

Katherine Suzette 18:01

power

Sage Moreaux 18:01

names have a lot of power,

Katherine Suzette 18:03

Mm-hmm

Sage Moreaux 18:04

if you don't know somebody's full name, then you have a little less power over them. So by having the my in there, it gives a little bit of a, even if they know him as Mal addiction or mal, that's not his full name.

Katherine Suzette 18:15

Mm-hmm

Sage Moreaux 18:15

I don't know if that leads to a little bit of a loophole.

Zinzi Brookbree 18:18

Even if it is my mal addiction as one word, that's still better than skin as a name. So

Katherine Suzette 18:24

Yeah

Sage Moreaux 18:25

Hundred percent. I remembered that it was Rumpelstiltskin and the whole time. I was like, they're searching for his name. She's clearly never gonna guess it.

Katherine Suzette 18:34

No

Sage Moreaux 18:34

she finds out, what's she gonna say? What, like, Rumpelstiltskin is your name

Katherine Suzette 18:38

I totally expected that Yes

Zinzi Brookbree 18:40

I loved some of the early banter bits where like she's trying out different names and she said, Eng like Engelbert. And he is like, you can't, you can't say engelbert in the throws of passion. Right. And she's like, you can't call rumpel still skin in the throw of passion either. That's.

Katherine Suzette 18:58

still skin I

Sage Moreaux 19:01

ever?

Katherine Suzette 19:01

see it But also the fact that that was Vern's name for him and like when he calls Rumple still skin it was like had so much power and everything And then in my head I'm like yeah he definitely is not calling Rumple still skin in the throws of passion that just like this super strong dark Fay calling Rumple still skin to mal It just my brain was like

Zinzi Brookbree 19:22

Mm-hmm.

Katherine Suzette 19:23

fit No

Zinzi Brookbree 19:25

There's no good way

Sage Moreaux 19:25

There wasn't even a good nickname for that

Katherine Suzette 19:27

no

Sage Moreaux 19:28

Yeah,

Zinzi Brookbree 19:29

stilts,

Katherine Suzette 19:33

Rumpy

Zinzi Brookbree 19:34

the options are bad.

Sage Moreaux 19:35

One of the other things I really loved about it was how it, it was a cozy version, but it stuck to a lot of the traditional fairy or historically traditional fairy, world builds. So the author, like, she took some agency around it, but there, you know, the, the, the name having power over you, the different form, I forget what they called them, but there's the different forms of Fae basically like the high fae and then the, that look human right and have more power. Like that's a very classic kind of, mythology. And I appreciated that because it was like, she created a lot of aspects of the world, but she leaned into stuff that is kind of established tradition. And so it felt like, yes, this is really fairy land. It's not a version of fairy land that you've created. Right? This is, which I love fairy land, so I would happily go reside in a, which I don't know that. I think Sentient House is something that I've related to Fairland before. yeah, happily. Go live in a sentient tree house.

Zinzi Brookbree 20:35

I've seen them in Cozy and I've also seen them in gothic and almost horror like monster house, right? Like that's, the house is

Sage Moreaux 20:43

yeah. Yeah.

Zinzi Brookbree 20:45

I have two quotes. One is on, naming and one is on the houses that I would like to share with you guys since I like to highlight the stuff and share favorite lines, but the one on names that happened, in chapter nine. Let's talk about the weather is. Um, they can be different, he said, but usually they are not usually one sense of self crystallizes around that which we are named so that it forms the very core of our identity. But sometimes the name around which an identity is built is not the one that was assigned by our Rs." And I did really appreciate, with the concept of, okay, here's your given name and that has matter and that has power and that forms who you are as a person, but there's also, here's a chosen name for yourself that either someone has given you and you want to lean into that more, or it, or it is one that you've chosen for yourself. And that mixed with the other queer rep that we got to enjoy in this book. I just, I appreciated those, being layered into this story. the, quote about the houses and, and them being sentient and getting, Influence is people affect places, places affect people. when one makes a home in a place, that relationship strengthens over time. A home takes on something of the personality of its people, its family, and sweat and tears, the building of hearth and home, it all soaks into the earth, puts down roots. This is true of any home, even in mortal, but in Faerie, the land is even more susceptible to that influence." And so the love that you put into your home, the more that you do that and the more that it grows, that house shares the love back to you. just, I love that sentiment as, as a big cozy fan,

Katherine Suzette 22:28

I

Zinzi Brookbree 22:28

I love houses.

Katherine Suzette 22:29

wanna how I think about my chores with the house

Zinzi Brookbree 22:34

mm-hmm.

Sage Moreaux 22:34

One of the things I saw about loving to do chores was to like, make all your, your supplies cute. So you take your, you know, cleaning spray and put it in a little glass bottle with a cute label and it's still cleaning spray. And that way it like gives you a positive association around doing the chores. And as somebody, I have not done that because I don't feel like spending the time on doing that and the money. But as someone who hates doing chores, I was like, yes, I'm all in on this. was another question that came up. Right who in this relationship with the two of them were felt very equal. It wasn't a,

Zinzi Brookbree 23:08

Mm-hmm.

Sage Moreaux 23:08

male female power, like traditional power dynamic. Like who does cleanup? Well, that's taken care of 'cause the house does the cleaning,

Zinzi Brookbree 23:15

Mm-hmm.

Sage Moreaux 23:16

so it was absorbing all the weeds in the garden, which I love that small detail.

Zinzi Brookbree 23:21

Mel did do the sewing though,

Katherine Suzette 23:22

well and the house loved it too Remember the house provided all the lingerie and the house wanted these patterns

Zinzi Brookbree 23:27

I love that the house had a

Sage Moreaux 23:29

Yeah.

Zinzi Brookbree 23:30

right?

Katherine Suzette 23:30

Yes.

Sage Moreaux 23:31

Yeah.

Zinzi Brookbree 23:32

so fun.

Katherine Suzette 23:33

just like okay let's be dandy together Let's like make that female lingerie because that's what the house wants That's what the House thinks that we need

Zinzi Brookbree 23:41

Well, the house was preparing.

Katherine Suzette 23:43

was expecting this partner for MAL to come in

Sage Moreaux 23:47

I also wanna say in terms of a potential sequel, that there is this room now with a crystal ball in it that like, I guess you could reabsorb and turn that energy into something else, but seems like a shame if you have a crystal ballroom not to like, you know, use it for your friends or whatever.

Zinzi Brookbree 24:03

it.

Katherine Suzette 24:03

Before we leave the reader's chair we have to like mention the fact that the author really pulled from the Beauty and the Beast as well Like

Zinzi Brookbree 24:11

oh, that

Katherine Suzette 24:11

LA is is in there everywhere The library the House with the Beast the arriving at this new place bonds that develop all the things.

Zinzi Brookbree 24:25

How did you guys feel about, 'cause like even the chapter headings, mistakes, dark reminiscence, the drink of magic, right? The chapter headings weren't super tongue in cheek always, or like narrator heavy, but there was still just a little. Some hints of, I, I'm the author and I know what's coming, and here's your little, here's your little, foreshadowing. Right. did you, did you feel like the narrator was their own character? Did you felt like this was really in Giselle's perspective,

Katherine Suzette 24:54

Yes I had thoughts on this too because some of the chapter headings sounded kind of like a writer might title a chapter for themselves what's going on like the beat that's gonna happen the dramatic moment the change in that chapter

Zinzi Brookbree 25:10

Strange women lying in streams?

Katherine Suzette 25:13

Well and some of them were very tongue in cheek like that

Zinzi Brookbree 25:15

Mm-hmm.

Katherine Suzette 25:16

and I adored to that But also the whole book opened up with a pretty clear narrator's voice kind of like opening up the fairytale and introducing Gisele Like once was a time and there was a princess in a castle and she was going to do this Yeah So I obviously I'm not quoting it but the narrator's voice was very strong in that very opening scene and then it disappeared except for the chapter headings So there was part of me that was like I like it and I want to like it more But if I were the dev editor on this that would've been something I would've been like you need to close with it well Or it needs to play in a little bit more consistently

Zinzi Brookbree 25:54

Yeah.

Katherine Suzette 25:54

cause you could have just skipped that narrator's voice in the first few paragraphs and gone straight into Giselle and nobody none of none of us readers would have been disappointed in that, The author could have gone more into it and they also could have pulled away but I'm also not upset at where it's at either I I enjoyed it and just because I make note of that does not mean it needs to change to be better I thoroughly enjoyed the book 100.

Sage Moreaux 26:18

I do generally enjoy the book ending of that kind of thing. Like if you start with it, close with it. But I forgot about it because I had started reading the book and then, I didn't realize that we would be talking about it a few weeks later. I was really excited to start reading it and, so then I put it aside after getting a couple of chapters in and waited till closer to today to read the rest of it. So I had forgotten that there was actually that little bit of, narrator voice at the beginning.

Katherine Suzette 26:44

Which tells

Zinzi Brookbree 26:45

Can I,

Katherine Suzette 26:45

just not something that Had

Zinzi Brookbree 26:48

it's, It's an author choice, obviously for flavor, for setting up the, it is a rumble stilt skin retelling. It is fairy tale. It lends into that, and we are used to that. Fairytale narrator introduction. Right. I wanna go into, I highlighted a couple of things 'cause there started being words later on in here that I was like, I don't know what that means. Can I look it up in the dictionary? The answer was no.

Sage Moreaux 27:11

Hmm.

Zinzi Brookbree 27:12

didn't know the word.

Sage Moreaux 27:13

Hmm.

Zinzi Brookbree 27:14

but I also highlighted a line because I could not get over the fact that it existed in here. And it is, this sentence exists. "His expressive eyebrows expressed,"

Katherine Suzette 27:27

I did not catch

Sage Moreaux 27:29

Yeah.

Zinzi Brookbree 27:30

that's

Sage Moreaux 27:31

Yeah.

Zinzi Brookbree 27:31

there isn't a period after that. The line does go on, but like, so I needed a bit more information. But there were other words that, really love, like world building wise. I love when an author chooses to give, what was it? It was page fire, right? Where like there's exclamations where you're not saying what we say

Sage Moreaux 27:50

Yes.

Zinzi Brookbree 27:51

Like that sets you in

Sage Moreaux 27:52

Yeah.

Zinzi Brookbree 27:52

sets you in Fae, where you've got page fires or oh, gods right? I think there were some other ones too, I do really like page fire. I might just start saying that in real life. but there were other words like eventuate, force, sworn. I knew that one at least blah, blah, blah. walled fry fro W-A-L-D-F-R-A-U. That one might be the name of a creature, I'm not sure. But

Katherine Suzette 28:20

Wild

Zinzi Brookbree 28:20

temporized and eventuates is eventuate a word.

Katherine Suzette 28:24

It

Sage Moreaux 28:24

I think so.

Katherine Suzette 28:25

it's one that I've used plenty actually That eventuated or we will eventuate that Yeah I got

Zinzi Brookbree 28:31

Okay,

Katherine Suzette 28:32

from Zzi. Anybody who's not watching I just got an eyebrow quirk from Zzi like oh really Prove it Use it in a sentence right now

Zinzi Brookbree 28:40

okay, well apparently, Amazon's Kindle failed me then because I highlighted them and went, go to dictionary, find this word

Sage Moreaux 28:46

Huh?

Zinzi Brookbree 28:46

can't find this word. I feel like this author did a great job going, here's some made up words that fit the setting that, that the snobby, Yeah. Fae would know and use and, okay. Princess education over here would understand maybe, or maybe not use, like there's Afu skate and some other, like, there's some times when an author will use those kinds of words that require a dictionary. Right. And in this one, even though it's cozy fantasy, like I appreciated that there were words that I was like, I don't know if this is made up, but I'm gonna roll with it. 'cause it makes sense in the way that this sentence is being used. And maybe it's a Fay word. Cool. Like

Sage Moreaux 29:23

Hmm.

Zinzi Brookbree 29:24

like more world building to me as opposed to being like, I'm putting these words in here to sound smart.

Katherine Suzette 29:29

Some authors like really like to hear themselves talk on the page by and like In other words they like to use the big words because that feels really good to them Like they know how to use and and sometimes it actually fits the character Like in this case it's it's the character that's speaking more than the author Like when

Sage Moreaux 29:45

Yeah.

Katherine Suzette 29:45

voice is not overwriting the character's voice that's when it feels right to me I just looked up the words eventuate and temporize And I think I had been using eventuate incorrectly but I did look them up They are in the dictionary They are words

Zinzi Brookbree 30:00

What about Wafra? WALD? FRAU?

Sage Moreaux 30:05

mean, Frau in German is girl.

Zinzi Brookbree 30:08

like a wallflower.

Sage Moreaux 30:09

Wild. Good wife. Okay.

Zinzi Brookbree 30:12

Hmm. Okay.

Katherine Suzette 30:13

Well and there are a lot of

Zinzi Brookbree 30:14

I could see that being a kind of Fae.

Katherine Suzette 30:15

pulling Germanic fairytales

Sage Moreaux 30:17

Yeah.

Katherine Suzette 30:17

so that's cool.

Zinzi Brookbree 30:19

I wanted to go into one of the things that I really, really loved about the magic and how things were described was the insignia, right? Like that wasn't just, oh, a scent

Sage Moreaux 30:31

yeah.

Zinzi Brookbree 30:32

It was, and I've got, this highlighted, before she could respond to the air, shifted the mineral smell of water washed over them, underlaying with the texture of river pebbles and the thunder of a great waterfall. From her recent reading, she knew that the strange sense that weren't sense of magic were called insignia, but this one didn't seem to be coming from anybody present. the different characters having these insignia sense, like we get to learn what MALS is, which without his name, it was, paper, like the vanilla of paper, old paper, and I forget what the other one was. And then when he gets his name back. Well, when he gets his new name spoilers, it's almost like fresh grass or something. Like there's a,

Sage Moreaux 31:16

Mm-hmm.

Zinzi Brookbree 31:17

And then anytime her magic and this was a great hint and foreshadowing in that whenever Giselle's Magic would backfire, because it was getting intertwined with Mao's magic was that something would explode yes. But before it, there would be like a floral scent because she's a gardener and that's her magic is plant magic. So that Insignia was already getting, a little bit established and set up for us early on, for that later reveal of like, she has her own magic. It's not just, magic from the, the curse, right.

Sage Moreaux 31:52

yeah. cause smell is often one, but it's usually tied to a character themselves, sometimes to their magic. but it's so heavily used and I did, I agree that I liked how it was a, it was like you, the smell almost made you see something, which I really

Katherine Suzette 32:06

Hmm

Sage Moreaux 32:06

me, an insignia is something that you see. And, and I, so it was a nice combination or like a push into a different direction. With that one,

Katherine Suzette 32:14

Yeah Like a magical sense instead of a like human six sense kind of thing.

Sage Moreaux 32:21

also really liked how the author took the, took the gold. You know, straw into gold weaving and turned the gold into a problem with the curse and it, and wove that all through. And when that creature came out into the garden, then, I can't remember the name of it, the giant metallic spider. It was made of gold. And so there was, yeah, I, I like that. 'cause it was like, it, it, you know, it wove the rumble stilt skin bit in just a bit more

Zinzi Brookbree 32:48

Mm-hmm.

Sage Moreaux 32:49

by having that and, but, but nicely done. Not just like, oh, gold is like, makes me sick or whatever, like my kryptonite. But actually an element that then mal later lost.

Zinzi Brookbree 32:59

I watched a panel that AJ Lancaster, spoke at from Hearth Conn, which is a, a cozy fantasy, that happens in the fall on YouTube. and she said one of her favorite things with writing spice is when the sex. The sex happens, but it makes things more complicated, right? How much more complicated do you get than like, oh, you claimed Giselle, you have claimed you're the person for the curse, and now you just lost the gold heightened powers that you had just figured out, oh, we were going to use that to create award and protect ourselves. And oops, it's gone now because you couldn't keep it in your pants, right? Do you feel a bit bad for him that like he could lock down his bond with her and like not show what he's feeling and his face you could control, but his ears was, and his ears and his tail were still getting those hints. Mel's being less communicative, but his body is doing the work for him. So there's still some levels of communication happening

Sage Moreaux 34:00

Mm-hmm.

Zinzi Brookbree 34:01

there were misunderstandings happening, but none of them were that really obnoxious, prolonged, not a miscommunication trope that was not part of this. There was lots of, think the longest one that was held out and it wasn't even a miscommunication. It was. Giselle was dreaming and thinking about what was happening in her, in her dreams, solely belonged to her.

Sage Moreaux 34:24

Mm-hmm.

Zinzi Brookbree 34:25

then gets the reveal that, you know, as of the second, second dream where she's dreaming about fun and sexy time with Mal, and he's leaning it into it. But like I was wondering was Mal gonna be aware? Was he gonna know that that dream was not his fantasy in the dream? and that he, 'cause that was a choice that she could have made where the author could have made, where Mal would know that she was having like a a,

Katherine Suzette 34:52

oh

Zinzi Brookbree 34:53

it called?

Sage Moreaux 34:53

Lucid Dream.

Zinzi Brookbree 34:54

Yeah, a lucid dream.

Sage Moreaux 34:56

Mm-hmm.

Zinzi Brookbree 34:56

gonna be that, where he would know that it was a lucid dream and she wouldn't, and then that would get super embarrassing on frustrating on a different level. Right.

Sage Moreaux 35:04

Yeah,

Zinzi Brookbree 35:06

I can do this in dream form without the consequences of real life, no, it was, they both were dreaming and having the dreams about each other and not realizing that, oh, oh, that was actually a shared thing that was actually you in there.

Sage Moreaux 35:21

they talked about it and figured it out. So it wasn't like this thing that either one of them had power over the other because of it, or that just went on forever, like you were saying. And I, same thing with the, miscommunication. I felt like all of the miscommunications that they were having, 'cause they did have conversation about stuff and pushed each other to talk about things, but they, I think the miscommunication was from. Internal, like lack of confidence or insecurities that were causing. Like they heard what the person said and they interpreted it away because of their own insecurities. And so that works actually I think quite well as a miscommunication trope because it allows for that tension to continue. But you just don't, you don't feel like, oh, if you would just talk about it. 'cause they did talk about it, but then they talked about it and they both kind of went away from it, not fully understanding the other person, which is very realistic. Like that's a really realistic human relationship thing. 'cause you wanna hear one thing and if you don't fully hear it that way or you misinterpret it, you know you gotta have another conversation.

Katherine Suzette 36:23

bond yeah Even with the bond they still walked away with different perspectives actions that they took according to that perspective

Sage Moreaux 36:31

Miscommunication trope is often is overused and often goes on way too long.

Katherine Suzette 36:35

Yes.

Sage Moreaux 36:36

I thought this was well balanced.

Zinzi Brookbree 36:38

I'd say, big kudos to the author, to like, to have that balanced well, but also to manage okay, this is what Giselle is thinking and this is what she's saying and this is what he's receiving. But then, then he's also getting the undercurrent of this is what she's feeling, but she's trying to mask it, so he's gonna think this about what she just said. Like, that's all of those layers to write that and still have dialogue that didn't feel still to that dialogue. That was fun. That was banter that you were getting those layers and not getting confused yourself about who was interpreting it. What ways like, that. me as a writer would've been difficult and I, it would've taken several passes in probably several rounds of beta readers. Right. so just, I was very impressed with how was handled with such clarity and fun at the same time.

Katherine Suzette 37:29

Yeah.

Sage Moreaux 37:29

I wanted to say that I often have a trouble with the, the faded mates trope, which this, this bond, this curse between them led like, it kind of felt that way at first a little bit to me, and I was like, okay, I don't know, like, I don't mind it. When it's done well. But I think it's hard to do really well. And what I, I ended up actually really loving it because a lot of the times when their, sexual attention and it was still really hard to decide if the sexual attention came from the bond or if they were actually just attracted to, to each other early on. But he didn't wanna act on it and he kept pushing her away because he didn't wanna take advantage of that connection they had. He didn't wanna have sex with her if he didn't know that she was really into it. And that consent, I thought was like so beautifully handled and a lovely reminder of how we should be treating one another, and added to the miscommunication between the two of them because she didn't recognize that she thought he wasn't attracted to her. And, you know. Back into her own insecurities and yeah, I just thought that, that, then when that started happening, I was like, uh, now I love this.

Katherine Suzette 38:33

Yeah I also think especially those where there's a power dynamic or like a shadow daddy kind of situation any of that it turns into manipulation She did a really great job of representing manipulation badly with Vern Prince Aver both of these characters, mal and Giselle were grown enough to recognize these negative patterns and like they talked about things and they very intentionally did not manipulate So loved loved that.

Zinzi Brookbree 39:00

I wanted to talk more about the Mal has a personal fame magic that was like his gift being a heart, a heart bringer or whatever, the heart thing. Right.

Katherine Suzette 39:11

Yeah

Zinzi Brookbree 39:11

as opposed to his gift being spinning straw into gold, which was thought to be what his gift was. Right. from the normal rumble still skin. but then in the course of the story, we meet other Fae with other abilities and I feel like we haven't fully explored what I'll do Brownies do in this version of Fae. So there's, there's that magic and then what does aver, we didn't actually get to see if he had a specific specialty. Fae Magic outside of he can transform, but so could. Mal, right? There were definitely characters that we didn't get a full reveal of, like what their full potential could be

Katherine Suzette 39:52

mm-hmm

Zinzi Brookbree 39:53

magic wise, based on what was established for the main characters.

Katherine Suzette 39:57

Yeah And I feel like the author could leave it all here which is why it does work as a standalone but they laid enough groundwork for any for books to go in in so many different directions with this world So I'm excited to see what comes out next in in this particular world.

Zinzi Brookbree 40:15

Such a fun read after, not that a lots away was not fun. Like it definitely had its fun moments, but like if you compare it to reading, the sort of KaiGen KaiGen like worlds away. And I just, I love the breadth of fantasy, right? Where you can have stories like, the sort of Kegan and how heart wrenching that is. And then over here you can have, how to find a Nameless Fae. And it's such fun, light, comfort reading, that. both have a place and both have value because they bring the reader different things that are needed. Right

Katherine Suzette 40:55

Mm-hmm

Zinzi Brookbree 40:56

It's part of why I love fantasy so much because

Katherine Suzette 40:59

yeah

Zinzi Brookbree 40:59

can, you can have that and more,

Katherine Suzette 41:01

Yes Well and there were such deep issues encountered with sort of Ki Gang and Ola Away that were just encountered One was subtle and one was less subtle and they were both so deep But then I would say that also this cozy addressed a lot of that too most especially in the gender

Zinzi Brookbree 41:18

Family trauma.

Katherine Suzette 41:20

The author did describe some characters with different different melanin skin tones So like I I appreciate that as well But it was that that particular part was very subtle and cultural differences were not a big deal at all in this book which I think is a different kind of subtle way of you know showing us via fantasy what the world could be like if these things were honored and respected.

Zinzi Brookbree 41:47

I did wanna comment also that I appreciated, there's a level of, Giselle was waiting and that was trauma for her. That she was always waiting and that she was also always kept separate. And that as the curses effects grew, then that made people to be uncomfortable to be around her, right? But like there was also the level of her mother. Cared for her, but did not, was not loving towards her. She valued the gold. Like there was that little scene where she, you know, the king asks her was it worth it? And the queen is holding the gold and then drops it into the pond and says it has to be. and just the for Giselle to have trauma around, someone can care for you and be well intentioned, but they can still hurt you. And her whole family did that

Katherine Suzette 42:37

Yeah

Zinzi Brookbree 42:39

and

Katherine Suzette 42:40

and she still was hurt

Zinzi Brookbree 42:41

mm-hmm.

Katherine Suzette 42:42

Yeah I love though that Giselle said something about her mother like was describing to Mal how the mother had like held the kingdom together

Zinzi Brookbree 42:52

Mm-hmm.

Katherine Suzette 42:52

And she made reference to how she really stepped into what would traditionally be of in some aspects as the masculine role and even the way that that changed her dynamics with her children And she made the comment that like if she were a man nobody would've thought twice about it but she happened to be female. So our expectations were different

Zinzi Brookbree 43:11

Yeah.

Katherine Suzette 43:12

I think that that was part of Giselle's pain with her mother is that you know she wanted some of that traditional mother what we think of

Zinzi Brookbree 43:20

Motherhood.

Katherine Suzette 43:21

and instead she was embodying a more masculine role and she Giselle was not getting that from her father either So

Zinzi Brookbree 43:28

Mm-hmm.

Katherine Suzette 43:29

I think that that was an interesting way of Making it relatable and real and also like forgiving the mom because it makes a lot of sense that that's how how things happened with her mom Just like we we can think back about our parents histories and it makes a lot of sense as to why our parents chose to do the things that they did, um, and have total respect and empathy for that And it still might not have been the right choice for us or for that particular child in the context because they are a different human who needs different things what the parent is prepared to provide

Zinzi Brookbree 44:04

there was also the conversation that, Giselle and Mel had around, all of that gold, what that provided for their kingdom, where, it built roads, it fed people, it provided education, right? Like that her sacrifice and her worth meant something. And Mal saying that her life was worth, worth more than all of those things and all of that gold. and it's just, it was an interesting dynamic to have it be both are true, right? Like a person's life, a person's value is worth more than any amount of gold. Huh. But also, if you are gonna sacrifice, you want to know that the outcomes of it are something that is substantial and worthwhile and, enriching other people's lives if you're gonna make sacrifices

Katherine Suzette 44:50

Yeah

Zinzi Brookbree 44:52

and to not have those sacrifices be minimized, which is what Giselle called Mal out on.

Katherine Suzette 44:57

Yeah I think that the author really thought about everything that they were doing and I loved it

Zinzi Brookbree 45:06

Mm-hmm. One for the books. All right. Now that we have finished How to Find a Nameless Fae by AJ Lancaster, our next book Sage has got our story blurb,

Sage Moreaux 45:19

Our next book is going to be an entirely different beast. It's the Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez. Which is two Warriors Shepherd an ancient God across a broken land to end the tyrannical reign of a royal family in this new epic fantasy by the author of the Vanished Birds. So super epic, not cozy. The people suffer under the century long rule of the moon throne, the royal family, the despotic emperor, and his monstrous sons. The three terrors hold the countryside in their choking grip. They bleed the land and oppress the citizens with the frightful powers they inherited from the God locked under their palace, but that God cannot be contained forever. With the aid of Jen, a guard broken by his guilt stricken past and kimah an outcast fighting for his future. The God escapes from her royal captivity and fleas from her own children, the triplet terrors who would drag her back to her unholy prison. And so it is that she embarks with her young companions on a five day pilgrimage in search of freedom and a way to end the Moon Throne forever. The journey ahead will be more dangerous than any of them could ever have an imagined, both a sweeping adventure story and an intimate exploration of identity, legacy, and belonging. The spear, cuts through water is an ambitious and profound saga that will transport and transform you and is like nothing you've ever read before. So that's exciting. I am very excited for this one because I love myself an epic fantasy. Join us on Fable and start reading along with us as we read The Spear Cuts Through Water for our next episode of the Book Club.

Katherine Suzette 46:57

Give us a review everybody It's really really important for us We would really like to continue to deliver this quality content and having people in the comment section tell us how well we've done or to give us a great star review really does a lot for our confidence So please give us a review help us to reach more people because we wanna keep delivering on this for you and for ourselves But also outside of the podcast We run monthly writing retreats through Book Dragon Inc As well as weekly Zoom write-ins with Write With Me Zinzi Bri So you can go hang out with Zzi multiple times a week and get some writing done on your book You can find her on substack We'd love for you to check these things out You can also find us on social media and on Substack The links are all in the show notes There are quite a few of them so please Go check them all out Pretty please and thank you for tuning in today We are super excited that you were here and we can't wait to see you on the next episode Cue the outro music

Zinzi Brookbree 47:57

May your spice, may your, your spicy book be as spicy as you want it to be. May your book be as cozy as you want.

Katherine Suzette 48:03

hit all the right spots May you get your own neur

Zinzi Brookbree 48:09

Thank you so much for tuning in. Bye. See you next time.

Sage Moreaux 48:13

Bye.

Zinzi Brookbree 48:13

and saying the goodbye part.

Katherine Suzette 48:15

Bye