EP. 37: Fever Dream by Elsie Silver

In this episode of 'Read Me Next,' Carina and Pili dive into the book "Fever Dream" by Elsie Silver. They discuss the unique aspects of the book, including its setting in a dating show and the dynamics between the characters, Emmett and Julia. The hosts express mixed feelings about the book, noting the lack of cowboy elements they expected and the quick romantic development. They appreciate the audio version's duet narration and share their thoughts on the supporting characters and plot twists. The episode wraps up with reflections on the book's themes and anticipation for future reads.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Welcome to Read Me Next, The Book Club, but Make It a Podcast, where we have lots of feelings and no qualifications. What are we reading this week? We are reading Fever Dream by Elsie Silver. Mm-hmm. New release. New release. It just came out. We really did that this episode, man. Only only. Yeah. It was a quick read.

SPEAKER_01 0:21

Yeah, but we also listened to the audio.

SPEAKER_00 0:23

We also listened to the audio. Halfway through. I was already at halfway by the time I got to the audio. Yeah, I was about there too. Did you like it more with audio? I liked the audio. It was a duet. Yeah, I loved it.

SPEAKER_01 0:34

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 0:35

It wasn't doing they read it, it was a live duet.

SPEAKER_01 0:37

Yeah, which was amazing.

SPEAKER_00 0:38

Yeah, no, it was so good. They both did obviously Teddy, Teddy Hamilton is Emmett, and Julia Something played Julia. Julia Something played Julia and she did so well. Yeah, I really liked her too.

SPEAKER_01 0:48

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 0:49

Okay, so what are the tropes in this one? So the tropes are Forbidden Workplace and Rival's Little Sister.

SPEAKER_01 0:54

Yeah, those are good ones.

SPEAKER_00 0:55

Yeah, it was pretty good. I'm really interested to see your thoughts on this book because I have a I have a couple of them. I love that. Yeah. All right. See what you think. What did you rate it? I rated it. I want to give a four, but like even a three point five would do it for me. Mine was three and a half. Yeah. Like I wanted to give it like a four, but like I think it's giving too much. Like I think I'm giving it too much credit if I give it a four. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 1:19

Like I want to be nice.

SPEAKER_00 1:21

I'm pretty sure it's a three point fiver for me.

SPEAKER_01 1:23

Yeah. I did really enjoy the fo the family in it. So I'm excited for the rest of the Emerald Lake series. Yeah. This is the first book in this, like, in this new series of Elsie Silver. Emerald Lake, right? Mm-hmm. But yeah, I it wasn't my favorite, Elsie Silver. No, by a long shot, honestly.

SPEAKER_00 1:39

By a long shot. So my thing was she has so many better books. Bro, so many. Yeah. Okay, we're just gonna get into it because I have thoughts. So my thing was it wasn't very cowboy romance. And I think that's what annoyed me. I was like coming into this with a thought, and it didn't get there at all.

SPEAKER_01 1:55

Yeah, so Emmett is a bull rider. We've met him before in Chestnut Springs and in W in Rose Hill. He's been he's he's made a cameo in all of them.

SPEAKER_00 2:04

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 2:05

And he's Theo's rival. Which is Julia's brother, if you don't know. He's he's Rhett's also rival. Yes. He was mentioned in the book.

SPEAKER_00 2:13

But yeah, so he's a bull rider, and we got no bull riding. Yeah. So pretty much he needs money for his family's farm, and they pick him to do a dating show. Yeah. And the entire thing is about this dating show. And Julia's there because Julia's the location manager. So that's pretty much it. Like we don't really get much of the cowboy scene or the ranch vibes. I agree. It might be why I like rated it so low, honestly. Yeah, that's that was my thing in this book. That was my main like damn. Like I felt like I was missing something.

SPEAKER_01 2:43

Yeah, it could be that. Yeah, because I honestly was like, it's such an interesting premise to have like a dating show book. Yeah. It was weird. Yeah. And also he like he was so not into it too. So I don't know. Yeah. It felt a little short for me.

SPEAKER_00 2:56

I'm not gonna lie. It fell a little short, and the dating show aspect was like that felt super short. I get it. Even if he wasn't feeling it because obviously he was in love with Julia. Yeah. I feel like we could have gotten a little more from the dating show. Like, give me some story. Like, I I get it. We we hate Evelyn. Evelyn. But I know, but he called her Evelyn. That's so funny. She hated, yeah. We hate her, but like she was obviously a pawn. Like everybody could tell. Yeah, no, it was yeah, I don't know. I don't know. Yeah. What'd you rate first? The spiceometer?

SPEAKER_01 3:25

Yeah, I would say like three and a half.

SPEAKER_00 3:27

Yeah, same.

SPEAKER_01 3:27

I really just wasn't into it.

SPEAKER_00 3:28

Yeah. Yeah. It sucks because the audio was so good.

SPEAKER_01 3:32

No, I yeah, literally. They were both such great narrators. And it was so fun that it was a duet. I loved that too. It was Julia's first book narrating. Did you know that? I loved her voice.

SPEAKER_00 3:42

Yeah, no, she was so good. She was awesome. Yeah. She was so like in character. Loved it. Yeah. I really liked her. Damn. That's a bummer. What I also realized I didn't like in this book as much was like, I know you said you'd like the family, right? I really like the supporting characters that we heard from, right? But I feel like compared to Chestnut Springs, like I felt way more connected to all of the family.

SPEAKER_01 4:05

I know, but maybe that's because we read all of their books. Like, we need to give it some time. You think so? This is just like the introduction to the brand.

SPEAKER_00 4:12

But I love the introduction to Chestnut. Yeah, I guess. You know what I mean? Like, I get it. Because Evan was cool, Parker was cool. Riley too. I think Riley, she's funny. No, and I love um the grandparents.

SPEAKER_01 4:23

Oh by Noma.

SPEAKER_00 4:24

They were so fun. Yeah. So I don't know. I feel like I just maybe didn't get enough of them. Maybe. We got a lot of Parker, which is cool. But I don't know. I think it was just a sad time. Like they were very sad. I I did like the family. I did. I did. I just think the premise of the book was a little weird. Yeah. Maybe that's what it is, right? Yeah. Do you have any foreshadowing thoughts? Yes. I do too.

SPEAKER_01 4:47

I think the next book is Parker and her professor.

SPEAKER_00 4:50

100%.

SPEAKER_01 4:51

100%. When she said 40 going on 80, I said, oh, it's gonna be an age gap. I love this. It's gonna be anyways. And so she's gonna have to retake her course. Mm-hmm. Love. Love. So that'll be exciting. Yeah. I do agree with what you were saying before that the whole dating show aspect, we didn't even get anything of it. No, we didn't get nothing. If they would have had maybe some chapters of him actually, you know, participating, doing something with the other contestants, it was only just Evelyn, which was so boring.

SPEAKER_00 5:19

Literally, and it felt so miserable that he couldn't even get into the dating show. I don't know if you felt this, but I felt like it was so fast. The way he fell in love with her, like or felt he fell in love with her, was so fast because, like we said, there was nothing that happened in the freaking dating show. But that was like six weeks of a dating show, and then like from the very first episode, he was not into it. So when I sent you that picture, it was when it was during one of the memos. It was when Terry was like going to ask Carl for appearance on the show. Oh, yeah. That part I was like, these motherfuckers, I thought that was so mean. They were the fucking worst. They were the worst. And at the end, Terry was like, loved working with you. Fuck off. Terry. Terry. Such a fucking bitch. Like, I thought you were I thought she was gonna be on the same side as Emmett at the end because she was like, It's not worth going to jail for. Remember? Yeah. But she was just like, I love working with you. You know what I was like?

SPEAKER_01 6:10

Holy shit. It was so fucking good. So Julia is with Theo and her mom in winter, and they're having family day or whatever. They're still like keeping their kind of relationship a secret, obviously. Underwraps. Under reps, as they say, yeah. And all of a sudden they're like out in the town, and Julia and Theo are like walking into the ice cream shop, and Evan and Emmett are coming out, and it was so fucking funny. I was dying. Love the part where um fucking Emmett says something, right? And Theo's like, oh, Julia, do you hear mosquito or something? Emmett replies, and he's like, If I were gonna suck anybody's blood, it wouldn't be you. And he's like, Oh, who would it be? It'd be like your little sister.

SPEAKER_00 6:44

I was like, loved. Loved. Loved. I thought at for when I was reading that, I thought Julie was gonna get upset for a second. I was like, because she's like trying to keep it on the wraps. Yeah. But I loved it. No, I really didn't know. She was cool. She was very level-headed.

SPEAKER_01 6:58

She was very level-headed because he was very like, I don't know what to do with all my feelings. Like, he didn't know how to process his feelings very well.

SPEAKER_00 7:05

I say that. I I can agree with that. But one thing I will say, like, Emmett's declaration of love in this book was amazing. Yeah. Like his the way he spoke and the way he declared his love and the way he was like to his grandparents was like, I feel like I can't go anywhere without her without thinking about her. Like, I was like, okay, Emmett. Is that why you were crying? Yes.

SPEAKER_01 7:24

Yeah. I figured when it was him talking to his grandparents about her, I was like, oh, she definitely cried at that.

SPEAKER_00 7:30

Yes, 100%. It was really cute. It was so cute and he was so guarded, you know, throughout his entire life. But once he like stepped into the world of feeling love, he was so poetic. No, yeah, he was really cute. Oh my god. He wasn't giving man whore. No. Like he was like, that's another thing that I was like, we could have got a little bit more man whore from the beginning. You know what I mean? Like, give us something more. Something. Like he was a simp he was simping from the beginning. Yeah. Which is like fine. But like technically, we didn't really get much of Emmett's man whore story, other than like that one part with Rhett, where she put the hat on, which love, as we know. And I love that Julia talked about it in the book. And he's like, I did it on purpose.

SPEAKER_01 8:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:12

I caused the relationship. You're welcome. I'm the matchmaker. I they're married because of me. Literally. And it's funny. Love that. Yeah. Obviously.

SPEAKER_01 8:19

But like we didn't really get much of his manhoorness. No. Right? No. Like she, I don't know. She like pecked him totally wrong because she was like, obviously. Well, it's all from Theo, also. Exactly. Yeah. So she was just like, but he's literally not the man anybody thinks he is. Yeah. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 8:34

It would have been cool in the beginning to get a little bit more of his man whore side. And like maybe they fell in love a little later.

SPEAKER_01 8:40

I don't know. Because I think the Still the dating thing fucked you. The dating thing is like what threw me off. Yeah. Because also he was just like so adamant from the beginning about not doing it. And it was like he didn't try at all. Yeah. It was so boring. So boring. Yeah. These poor women. S literally the poor women. Mm-hmm. Or like even if Julia would have had like more interactions with them, like that whole bit when they were in the bubble. Doing the toenails. That was really funny. That was really funny. And I like that part. Yeah. Or if we got more on the girls, I don't know, something. And I also thought it was interesting that he was just like, Oh, like I'm not gonna do anything. And I'm like, is this really how like a a show would work? Like, I don't think so. No.

SPEAKER_00 9:19

And then okay. Another thing that I thought was so stupid, where they obviously weren't allowed to like he's not allowed to date anybody and she's working. She shouldn't be dating him. I don't like how they were continuously staying at each other's houses. What are we doing, guys? It was like they're gonna catch on. They're gonna catch you guys. Like, I felt like this has been one day of you guys kissing and you guys can't let go of each other. Like, let's be let's be a little bit more grown adults here. You know, we don't have to spend every waking moment together when we're not allowed to be. I don't know. I agree. Like I thought that was so dumb. Like the entire premise of them sneaking around and like just hold on. That's what I'm saying. Like you can sneak around, but not every fucking night.

SPEAKER_01 9:57

I don't know. But that like that's what I agree. Because I'm like, when the whole shit went down and he had a week left, I'm like, just stick it out. Stick it, stick it the fuck out.

SPEAKER_00 10:06

Literally. Like if you want to sue them, sue them with everything that you talked about your lawyer about after. Yeah, but not even get even more money.

SPEAKER_01 10:12

I don't know. I don't know. I just I don't know. I thought it was kind of strange, I'm not gonna lie. I'm like, you're what are we doing? Why are we passing this up, guys? Yep. It was very confusing to me. Yep. And like every five chapters, he'd be like, no, I'm done. I'm not doing this anymore. Like, no, Julie, you mean the world to me. I'm not gonna kiss anybody. This and that.

SPEAKER_00 10:29

I'm like, I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 10:31

Yeah. It was very weird to me. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:33

And sh there was at one point during the book that I remember she was not acting jealous ever at all, watching them. Yeah. And then like the next page over, she was like, I was so jealous.

SPEAKER_01 10:42

What maybe where are you getting all this from? I don't know. And like when he was with Evelyn, it wasn't at the rodeo. It was another part where she just w stormed off and he went after her. Yep. It was like at the bar or something.

SPEAKER_00 10:55

Yeah, I don't know where it was. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Went after her in the back and they were in the alleyway and then they almost fucked right there.

SPEAKER_01 11:00

Uh-huh. And I was just like, dude. Yeah. I don't know. Like it just it it wasn't realistic to me.

SPEAKER_00 11:06

No, it wasn't realistic at all. When she went to like the storage room or something, he was like, I need to go try to find these straps or whatever. Are people stupid? Literally. And she's like, I'm looking at my watch and we only have seven minutes. Yeah, come on. Stop. Yeah. I don't know. I agree with all of this information. I'm happy, like, you know, this is what I was waiting for, this discussion, because I was like, I wonder if Peeley loved this.

SPEAKER_01 11:25

No, I didn't. Cool. It was okay. Yeah. But I like I didn't I didn't find myself want reaching for it. Same. Like I didn't really care for it. Same. Yeah. Yeah. I think Elsie Silver has better books than that.

SPEAKER_00 11:36

A hundred percent. Yeah. I so I was doing the good reads and everybody's obsessed. Oh, really? Yep. Damn. Yep. So I'm like, so I was doing it and I was like, fuck, is Peely like obsessed? No, I was not. That's so funny. Yep. So we're on the same page this one.

SPEAKER_01 11:51

Yeah, but honestly, after speaking about it, I agree that we did not get Emmett's man whorness, which is a great thing when the man whore falls in love. We love that. And the cowboyness. And the cowboyness.

SPEAKER_00 12:03

Like, I will say the front cover, beautiful, so fucking cute of the book. But it gave cowboy, it gave ranch. Yeah. It gave all of that. And it didn't, it didn't give that in this book. No. Julia, even she had the the ranch life, the Silva Ranch. That's what he was saying at the end. So like I'm like, we got nothing. Yeah. The whole dating show took too much of the book and nothing happened. Too much time. And we got one rodeo scene. Come on now. No, no. Okay, let me say we technically got two rodeo scenes, but one was so fucking sad with the whole Evelyn thing. Well yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:33

I'm like, no, and then like again, she storms off and then he goes after her, and I'm just like, guys, like been there, done that. I feel like it was just like repeated scenes over and over again.

SPEAKER_00 12:42

You know what? I think that's what it is. It really is. Like we didn't get anything else but the same thing over and over again. It was the plot, we didn't really like it. Yeah. And there was no cowboys. No.

SPEAKER_01 12:51

Come on now. Like the the dating show, it was just one character swap for another one. It was Jada swap for Catherine, swap for Evelyn. Yep. There was them going on dates before they would have to do like the scout locations or whatever. So they went to Prickle Point and then they went to the bar, and then like she's doing the dates with him. Yeah. It was the same thing over and over again. Him just saying every five chapters, alright, I'm done. She's like, no, like you need it for your family. You need the money, this, that. Yep. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:18

I really like that about Julia though. She was like realistic. She was like, please don't quit. Literally. Like, this is $500,000 you'll lose on. Don't fucking quit. Literally.

SPEAKER_01 13:27

Yeah. And then he quit the whole thing. Like we're back to this. No, because I was just I was getting annoyed because I'm like, he quit one week before the end. I was like, what?

SPEAKER_00 13:36

Yeah, that's stupid.

SPEAKER_01 13:38

So stupid. I don't get it. Oh, something I did really like in the book though. Tell me, tummy, tummy. Was she was not dumb. She didn't jump to conclude. I mean, she jumped for a second. But obviously, I while I was reading it, I'm like, okay, it's not Emmett.

SPEAKER_00 13:51

Literally, I I literally was like, is this the third act fucking breakup? I was like, don't let this be like much more than it is, please. But it wasn't. I know, thank God. But due to Parker.

SPEAKER_01 14:00

No, but Parker Thank you, Parker. No, but even before Parker, she was saying, like, I don't know if I really believe this. Yeah. You're right. Like, I like that it wasn't a breakup. If it were a breakup, I would have been really annoyed. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I'm glad like they just hashed it out real quick and they were like, well, yeah, we both know it was a fucking lie.

SPEAKER_00 14:16

Yeah, but she was also really nervous about him thinking how could she think that could she think that of him? I was like, he is head over heels with you, girl. Don't worry about it.

SPEAKER_01 14:25

Yeah. I was like, what, one little blip? Like, it's fine, it's fine. Don't worry about it.

SPEAKER_00 14:29

Obviously fabricated. Come on now. Digwad. Digwad, no, Digwad fucking Evelyn. That was kind of sad. Because Evelyn is like, you promised me an audition. And I was like, fuck Evelyn. You're a dumb bitch. You're such a dumb bitch.

SPEAKER_01 14:44

Literally. But I really like that he just stayed there and he was just like, I'm just gonna wait for you guys to be done. That was good. That was good. But even that, like, I'm like, why are you quitting? Like, just go and blackmail the shit out of him at that point. No. Thank you. Yeah. Okay, good. What are we doing? At least at the end, like it all turned around and he had a lawyer and they were gonna sue them and everything was fine and dandy. But I'm like, I still don't understand why he quit. Thing. Yeah. Like the it's just like it was literally no reason at all. No reason. I don't know. But whatever. I do have a few annotations. Oh yes. Not that many though. I have a few also. Okay. Of course, our lore continues, as we say. It's Julia, and she's talking about how the job is like amazing. She goes, This job is a huge win for me for a recent grad, and I will not fuck this up by rolling my eyes at my boss on day one. Oh, because he was a fucking sleaze ball.

SPEAKER_00 15:32

Yeah, he was a sleaze ball weasel from the whole presentation in the beginning.

SPEAKER_01 15:36

Literally. And so she goes, No sorry, I'm all business. All work and no play makes Julia a successful girl. I did the same thing. I was like, oh my god, again. We love the shining lore. Elsie is on it. She will throw any type of shining quote. She won't fucking book. So I thought that was so funny. I love that.

SPEAKER_00 15:54

So I thought that we like understand that. Bro, can I say that me too? I was so happy we read that book. Yeah. Seeing that episode now, we were like, oh, what the fuck was that? But I I'm like so happy we read that. That's like literature. We're literally we're in on the joke.

SPEAKER_01 16:08

Like, we're in on the joke.

SPEAKER_00 16:09

Every time we're the war. On the joke. We love that. I love to be in on the joke. That was good. I had the same thing. Yeah? Yeah. That's funny. So this is where like it kind of threw me, I think, because I did expect it to be very cowboy in the beginning. Because she goes, I'm not oblivious to the risk, and my coping mechanism for that is avoidance. Rodeos and me, we don't mix. Cowboys, I want nothing to do with them. So I annotated, I was like, Eee, like so excited. Nothing. We didn't get anything. So like I think that really did contribute to our dislikeness of this book.

SPEAKER_01 16:42

Yeah, maybe, maybe it's because it was like the offseason. It was like, god damn it, like we really got nothing. But like he didn't even do anything on the ranch either.

SPEAKER_00 16:50

Yeah. He helped somebody shovel the dirt the shit.

SPEAKER_01 16:52

That was it. Yeah. Like, even I I feel like not even coming from Chestnut Springs, which is iconic, of course.

SPEAKER_00 16:58

Iconic. I was literally thinking about that this entire fucking book because I love Chestnut Springs.

SPEAKER_01 17:03

No, same. But like not even comparing it to that, even comparing it to like Rose Hill, which was like a step below Chestnut Springs for us at least. Yeah. Like I still like Rose Hill better than this. This was still a step below Rose Hill. Yeah. Yep. I mean, in my opinion, at least. No a thousand fucking percent. Because I'm like, at least we got like we got West and he was with the horses, and like he he was living out the ranch life. I think it might be like we got maybe we connect Elsie to ranch life. No, no, no. I'm thinking like maybe we got Emmett, but not like in his profession. Like what he's like good at.

SPEAKER_00 17:38

We got him doing something that he literally sucks. He hates. He hated. Like he was miserable the entire fucking book.

SPEAKER_01 17:43

A hundred percent.

SPEAKER_00 17:44

So yeah. You're right. I think that could be it. Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_01 17:48

Julie was okay.

SPEAKER_00 17:48

Like I like the doing her job. Yeah, that was dope. Doing being her bad bitch self. Yeah. Because she was. You know, she was not about to let Dick Wad like take advantage of her either. I like how she kind of gives like the opposite of Theo though. I did kind of like that. I highlighted the part where she's like, fuck, shit, fuck, motherfucker. Jesus fucking Christ. I fucking hate this shit. That was funny. Solve my life. Literally that shit was funny.

SPEAKER_01 18:11

I I agree she's she wasn't like Theo, and I like that she didn't just take his word for everything. Like she just he she made her own opinion and it really quickly. It wasn't like, no, like I hate this guy, he's the fucking worst. She quickly found out and realized that no, like there's more to him. Yep.

SPEAKER_00 18:26

Mm-hmm. I will say, what is your thought about the whole beginning? Like when they were like, oh yeah, he helped me that one night. And it was them on the cruise ship. That was so weird.

SPEAKER_01 18:34

Yeah. See, that that was like a it was okay. It was like a little tidbit. I did like that it was only two two chapters because I'm like, let's like not elongate this.

SPEAKER_00 18:41

Yeah. It was fine. I agree with you there. I feel like it was definitely not something that needed to be elongated. So I agree. I agree. Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:48

And I think I think it gave her the proper, you know, kind of background on him. In Theo's book, they did mention them when they went to the cruise, when Julia and Loretta went on the cruise. So that's funny. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:59

We got like a little sneak peek on that. Yeah, I guess it was cute that he was her first like man she started dating since that. Yeah. That was kind of nice. I like the when she was like, I feel safest with you. And he was like, Oh fuck.

SPEAKER_01 19:10

Literally. And then he's like running away. Yeah. Literally. God, this guy. This part is funny. They're talking about like his dislike for Theo, right? And they're just like talking shit. Winter was funny. Yeah, no, it was it made me laugh. Yeah. And so Emmett goes, We would never measure dicks. He already knows this is smaller. And then she goes, Guess that big dick of yours didn't help you win the championship this year, huh? That shit was funny.

SPEAKER_00 19:31

No, she was good. Like she could give it back, which was good. She yeah, she definitely gave it back. Oh my god, no, but the frickin' him popping out of her car seat scene. Oh my god, that was so funny. I did like that. That was hilarious. I have it highlighted here. She's like, Okay, stop telling me you're sorry and explain yourself because Jesus Christ em it. You don't just pop out of the backseat of a woman's car late at night or ever. It's fucking creepy. To bounce off that, she caught him doing something. It's just she goes, in the interest of not being a creepy backseat prowler like someone I know, I feel the need to announce my presence. She was so funny.

SPEAKER_01 19:58

When they were at Prickle Point.

SPEAKER_00 20:00

Yeah. I feel like they just they didn't explore their characters enough, maybe. I don't know. I feel like we could have gotten a better book with these two.

SPEAKER_01 20:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:09

Sorry, Elsie.

SPEAKER_01 20:11

I don't know. Like their dates were cute, but like if we had gotten more of it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:15

Then then this made me kind of confused too. Well, I guess my foreshadowing was just incorrect. Mm-hmm. When Parker was talking to her and they she figured out that he has obviously a crush on Julia. Um and then she goes at the end, you know, it's not her heart I'm worried about. Mm-hmm. And I was like, what's gonna happen? Ugh. You know what I mean? And then nothing happened. Like nothing happened in this book. Yeah. Oh my god, no, I loved this part. When um she was trying to figure out the place where he would take a date. So he's like, I'll pick you up at nine and show you. And he's she's like, Emmett, and he's like doll, which I loved. I loved him calling her doll. And she's like not trying to do that, right? And then she goes, I think that you'll be ready at nine tonight. Great. I loved that part. Yeah. Sorry. Yep, I'm gonna do it. I don't care what you say, we're doing it. This is it right here. These little snippets are of him being like his little man horse self because then after that same part, he goes, Quit gawking at my ass, Silva, and wear something cute for me, yeah?

SPEAKER_01 21:06

Like love. Oh my god. I needed sassy Emmett.

SPEAKER_00 21:09

I needed sassy Emmett. Like, we didn't get any of that. So I'm like, Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:13

Like he wasn't even sassy on the show. Like, I don't know, at least pretend on the show that you're enjoying it. I don't know. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 21:19

Literally. This is the other foreshadowing that I was gonna do. Evan with tattoos that crawl up his neck and over the tops of his hands. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 21:26

That was about it.

SPEAKER_00 21:27

Yep. Literally, literally. He looks intimidating, but really he's a big bleeding heart with a biting sense of humor.

SPEAKER_01 21:32

I'm like, all right, Evan. I'm excited for him.

SPEAKER_00 21:34

I'm excited for you.

SPEAKER_01 21:35

Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. When he said tattoos all over, I said, Oh my god, so fucking sign me up. Sign me up.

SPEAKER_00 21:41

Yeah, so I'm excited to see who helps him through his marriage issues. And he's giving more cowboy because he works on the horses. Every fucking buddy else. Yeah. Except for Parker, obviously. She's in school.

SPEAKER_01 21:52

Yeah, she's like the admin. But Riley and Evan, they gave all of it. I'm excited.

SPEAKER_00 21:56

Me too.

SPEAKER_01 21:57

I like that. I I do remember reading that. I was like, ooh. Also, let me throw this at you. Okay. Okay. Let's ping pong this confusion that I had. What is the story with the siblings? He's the oldest one. Emmett's the oldest one, but the other three are from his stepdad. Like he's the only biological Carl son?

SPEAKER_00 22:16

I believe that's true. Oh, okay. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 22:17

That's because I was like, what?

SPEAKER_00 22:19

Yeah. That's what it sounded like.

SPEAKER_01 22:21

Yeah, like his mom and his stepdad had the three kids after him, right? Correct, correct. Okay. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Got it. I also thought it was really funny that they called um the grandparents Oma and Opa. Mm-hmm. When I read that at the beginning, I'm like, who are these people? I'm like, it's giving like those TikToks of like pee-pee and boo-boo. Hi, I'm your Mee Ma, and I'm your your peepaw.

SPEAKER_00 22:43

Your Mee Maw. Yeah. Oh my god, it's funny.

SPEAKER_01 22:44

And I was like Oma and Opa, and I'm like, I'm assuming these are the grandparents.

SPEAKER_00 22:48

Yeah. Okay, this is stupid. Okay, I love. Because, okay, let me ask you first. Is that like a typical thing? I don't know. No, okay. People follow you. Comment down below. What do you call your grandparents? For real. Yeah. Because I was like, oh, read like Norwegian or something?

SPEAKER_01 23:04

Stop. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 23:07

No. I literally was like, where are these people from? So I don't know. It was okay. Yeah, it was fine. We'll see what the next books bring us. Do we have like a release date or anything? Like anything for the next one?

SPEAKER_01 23:18

No. Got it. But I think definitely before that, we're gonna read Gold Rush Ranch, which is fucking Violet Eaton's actual series. Jesus. But the girlies on TikTok were telling us you gotta read the Gold Rush Ranch. It's really good that they really liked Violet and Cole's book. Okay, perfect. Yeah. So we'll read that. I wonder how Gold Rush Ranch is gonna compare to Rose Hill and Chestnut Springs.

SPEAKER_00 23:40

I feel like nothing is gonna I feel like nothing is gonna top Chestnut. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I just don't think so.

SPEAKER_01 23:46

No, I agree. I'm wondering if any other type of cowboy romance, not by Elsie, is gonna top them. I have heard of Lucky River Ranch. They say that one's really good. That's like the Cash Wyatt. Ooh. I know those names. Yeah. Oh, we have to read that. Yeah. I wonder how cowboy those guys are. Yeah. We need some cowboys.

SPEAKER_00 24:06

We do. I need a cow I need a real cowboy. After this book, I was so excited at cowboy and we didn't get it. Literally. I'm like low-key annoyed, but whatever. We won't think about it. Alright, so shall we get into good reads? Yes, please. This one I just took a screenshot of because it was cute. This is before the book even came out. She goes, My queen has put pen to paper once again. Sign me up. Literally. Anything else he writes, we will read. Literally, so fucking cute. I did like that one. All right. Obviously, there's not too many because it just came out. This is a five-star. So good. I knew I was going to love Emmett, and boy did I. This book was everything I needed to be emotional and fun and filled with banter and yearning. I laughed, I cried, I giggled uncontrollably, and wished I could give Emmett the biggest hug. He was giving a little sad. Yeah. He was giving very sad. Like, and then it continues, and it goes, Emmett's family was the best. I love their mom, especially Emmett and Parker and their crawlspace. I absolutely adored Oma and Opa. Oma is an icon, and Richard was very aptly nicknamed. So, like there was some good things of the book, obviously. Don't think it's five-star worthy. Yeah. This one did four stars. Yep, ate this up per usual. The Theo and Winter Crumbs. Mmm. I was like, love. Yeah. We love those. Yeah. Love it, love it. Five star. Elsie never lets me down. Possibly my favorite book of hers yet.

SPEAKER_01 25:17

She didn't read Chestnut Springs.

SPEAKER_00 25:19

She didn't read the things. What books have you read? Literally. Reply back. This one was cute. It's a five stars, and it goes, My red flag, green flag. I don't read blurbs. I pick up books solely for their vibes, aesthetics, and covers. And let's face it, I absolutely love Elsie. So reading this book was a no-brainer. So imagine my surprise when I started reading this book and found out what the plot of this book was: a reality TV dating show, and he falls in love with his biggest rival's little sister, who is not a contestant on the show. Yeah, I straight devoured this book. I can also confirm that Elsie did, in fact, do it again. Hands down, my favorite Elsie Silver book to date.

SPEAKER_01 25:48

Wow. But like we really just missed out on his sass. Cause like even the part like at the beginning when he made her contact Theo's hot little sister, I loved that.

SPEAKER_00 25:58

Literally. I think that's that's what it was. Like maybe we needed more manhore. I don't know. I don't know. We needed recovered manhore.

SPEAKER_01 26:06

Yes. And not like the sad guy hates the fucking sappy and simpy. Damn.

SPEAKER_00 26:12

We love a simpy, but he was super sappy. Fever Dream took me a little longer to get into than most of Elsie's books usually do. But once I hit the 25% mark, I ended up flying through this book. I'm not entirely sure if I love the reality show plot line or not, although it felt like something different, and I can't fault the author for trying something new. I almost wanted more from the reality show, but I think that's just me.

SPEAKER_01 26:32

No, I agree.

SPEAKER_00 26:33

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 26:34

Like if you're gonna commit to that, then do it.

SPEAKER_00 26:37

Yep. And then it continues. It's like I'm intrigued by Emmett's siblings, who I strongly suspect will be featured through the rest of the series, and I'm getting a real Eaton family vibe from them, especially with the grandparents added to the mix. Emmett's Oma was absolutely hilarious, and I can see her becoming a fave. I'm definitely excited to see where the series goes. Not one of my faves, but entertaining, spicy, and easy read. This girl, she summed it up pretty well for me.

SPEAKER_01 26:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:57

This is a four-star. Says, apparently I'm back to loving man whores who turn into absolute sim for their girls. Yes, but like, did we get manhore? No. You know? Five star. Wow, wow, wow. This book was written for me specifically. That made me laugh. I see Bachelor Reality TV vibes and small town cowboy romance. The flirting, the punch of the gut backstory, the banter, the charm. This was achingly romantic and deeply vulnerable. I am going to gobble up the Playboy shameless flirt-turned lovesick puppy with nothing but heart eyes every single time. I don't know. I feel like it wanted to give all that, but it didn't for me. I completely agree with that statement. It wanted. Did it give? No. Yeah. I know. I was really excited for this one too. Yeah, I was. But I'm glad we read it. Same. I did I did enjoy it. It was like fine.

SPEAKER_01 27:44

It was fine. It was fine. Like really, like it's not something I would pick up.

SPEAKER_00 27:48

And I do think the audio made it ten times better. A hundred percent. It was an enjoyable audiobook. Yep. I loved it. Elsie was saying this funny part about like the cyber truck that was put in there. That I guess when she had mentioned the Tesla in one of her other books that Teddy also did the audiobook for, he saw her at like some event or something and was like, yo, Elsie, you need to mention the cyber truck and what in your next book. So she's like, that was for you, Teddy.

SPEAKER_01 28:11

Oh, so cute.

SPEAKER_00 28:12

That was adorable.

SPEAKER_01 28:13

That's funny.

SPEAKER_00 28:14

Yeah. So she says, you know, they're really cool peeps out there. I love that. Anyways. All right. That's it. Looks like we are wrapping it up. Mm-hmm. Read responsibly. Or don't