Monsters, Knots, Cowboys, And A Library Card

Omegaverse is easy to talk about in your head and absolutely unhinged to explain out loud, so we tried anyway. We’re Emma and Amanda, and we’re catching up on the romance books that pulled us out of a reading slump, including quick palate cleansers, a surprisingly tender MM cowboy age gap, and a hockey romance finale that earned real tears.

We dig into what works and what doesn’t across a series, from Becka Mack’s Consider Me and Play With Me to the little details that make a hero feel sweet instead of exhausting. We also get honest about the reader struggle nobody warns you about: when you love the storyline but the editing is so bad you’re fighting the book. That turns into a real DNF debate, plus a check-in on Pen Pal and why some spicy or dark romance is best read at very specific times.

Then we take a hard left into monster romance with the Duskwalker Brides series, including what a duskwalker or Mavka actually is, how these monsters gain intelligence, and why a “dumb monster” can be charming when a “dumb human” is not. We also share practical romance reader tips like finding quality smut at the library (hello, Libby), tracking our TBR on Goodreads, and where to find links to the books we mention.

If you like romance book recommendations, BookTok-adjacent chaos, and real talk about what we’re reading right now, hit play, subscribe, and share the show with a friend. After you listen, leave a review and tell us what book could actually make Amanda cry?

Check out our Bookshop.com book store where you can get your own copy of the books we are covering!  https://bookshop.org/shop/wreckedbyfiction

Transcript

Welcome And Friend Banter

Emma 0:01

Welcome to the Wrecked by Fiction podcast.

SPEAKER_01 0:06

Yes, it is.

Emma 0:07

Did I read it on my lunch break?

SPEAKER_01 0:08

Yeah. I made I made notes because I didn't know there was gonna be a quiz.

Emma 0:13

Hey, everything's for a great while I was watching a movie with my six-year-old. Yeah. I didn't know I could be both right and so fucking wrong. Wrecked by fiction, where we read, cry, and question our emotional stability.

unknown 0:31

Hi.

Amanda 0:32

Hi. How are you doing? Hanging out. What are you doing? Same. Yeah, it's fun times.

Emma 0:38

Yeah. It is, I guess. I mean, I could be reading, but I'm talking to you, so.

Amanda 0:42

I could be reading or quilting or sleeping.

Emma 0:47

I don't quilt, but I could be sleeping.

Amanda 0:49

We had a fun night.

Emma 0:51

Well, tonight we went to a bonfire uh with a bunch of old people. Like, and I don't mean that in like you're old and they're old because you're old. I mean that Oh, they're all the vast majority of the people around that fire felt wild like years older than me.

Amanda 1:13

Most of them are 10 plus years older than I am.

Emma 1:17

So oh well. Yeah. I was when I was talking about what we were doing, I earlier I said I will be the youngest person there by at least 10 years. Nope, the youngest person there by 22 years, probably. Right.

Amanda 1:32

Oh, look, okay. Hi.

Emma 1:35

No, are you kidding? We went out in public and sat there and talked about books. So I mean, really, are we surprised?

Amanda 1:44

Because while we were there to socialize, we socialized with ourselves and society. With each other.

Escaping A Reading Rut

Emma 1:49

Yeah. We did. We did. But that's okay. Yeah, that's all right. That's why we do things together. True story. But no, I am stuck in a rut? No, well, I was. I was in a rut. And then I used uh a couple of Omega Verse books to get me out of the rut.

SPEAKER_03 2:12

Yeah.

Emma 2:13

I read two.

SPEAKER_03 2:14

Yeah.

Emma 2:15

Yeah. I read a an Omega Verse and then an MM Cowboy Age Gap. And then another Omega Verse. In three days, I read three books to get me out of the out of the swamp you were? Yeah. Because I just couldn't. I didn't want to read what I had been reading. I was so bored. And I was like, I don't really want something that's going to hurt my feelings. I don't really want something that's so serious. And so I read, you know. Sometimes you just have to have something that's fun. I'm here for a good time, not a long time.

SPEAKER_03 2:48

Right.

Emma 2:49

And uh Omega verse is not my like most common choice of reading. Yeah. Um I just it's like that weird avenue of uh RH. Okay. Where have you read an Omega verse book? No. Okay. You don't know. I uh described Omega Verse to somebody else recently. Okay. Um and You've been cheating on me? Uh yeah.

unknown 3:20

Oh man.

Emma 3:22

And to describe Omega Verse to someone who has no idea what that is is a wild experience.

Omegaverse Explained Without Shame

Amanda 3:30

I'm down. Tell me.

Emma 3:31

You ready? Yeah. Okay. Um again, it's not my like alley of books. Um but basically it's like um it's so it's alpha, omega, beta, and people, okay, humans are categorized or uh they they go by distinction. Okay. And when they present as a certain distinction, um it like quantifies them through society. Okay. And an alpha in their naughty books, right? Like that's the whole point. Yeah. Um, and so they live in like packs, and so like multiple alphas will like pair up, and typically most books, they're mostly men. Sometimes there's an a female alpha, but it's not super common. Right. And so it's like two, three, four, five alpha men, and then they're searching for their omega.

SPEAKER_03 4:34

Okay.

Emma 4:34

And omegas are typically women, but not always. Um, and betas are both. Okay. Um, but so betas are the bottom on the totem pole. They're not really like special, they're not like I think that depends on who you talk to about these type of books. But yeah, and like omegas like go have like a heat cycle where they are like super horny. And if they don't have sex like repeatedly for days at a time during their heat cycle, they can get really sick and it hurts really bad. And like Okay. Um they're and then and then the alpha uh men have knots on the bottom of their appendages. Okay. Um, that swell and lock them to their omega at the end of so like dogs. That's what the last person said. Yeah, yeah, like dogs. Um, so yeah, uh yep. And there's uh to throw a wrench in what I just described, there's a subgenre of Omega Verse where the male omegas can get pregnant. So it's it's called Mpreg.

Amanda 6:00

Interesting.

Emma 6:01

And uh male omegas can get pregnant the same way that female omegas can. Um, I don't know if I've ever actually read um an M preg book.

Amanda 6:13

I would like to be like an anatomical drawing of would you though? I would actually. That that would that would intrigue me. Like, how do those body parts work if the man can also get pregnant? I don't know. Is it like a seahorse?

Emma 6:31

But your brain can probably fill in the gaps.

Amanda 6:34

It could, but like, can I just can I just get a diagram diagram?

Emma 6:41

You need a a little acting out sequence so you can what let's read a book. Okay. I've not I'll have to find one. I've never read an M preg. Okay. I know they exist because I've seen them, but I've never read one. But yeah, add it to the list. TBR. To the TBR. Um but yeah, I read two of those. Okay. Um and they were fine. Yeah. I mean, like I said, I'm here for a good time, not a long time, right? I'm not.

SPEAKER_01 7:10

You just needed something to Yeah.

Emma 7:12

I I think I gave them both a three-star. Like they were fine. Yeah. Um, I don't think I would read them again. Okay. They weren't like, I'll go back. There are some Omega verse that I've read that I would I would probably revisit. Okay. Um just because I liked the character interaction. But it was fine. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:36

Okay.

Emma 7:36

Um, however, the MM Cowboy age gap I liked a lot.

SPEAKER_03 7:43

Yeah.

Emma 7:43

I might, I think I gave it four stars on Goodreads, but it m would probably be something that I would revisit.

Amanda 7:51

Okay.

Emma 7:52

So.

Amanda 7:53

And who was that by?

Emma 7:55

Um it was called Wrangled and Tangled, I think. Um, let's find out. Yeah, Wrangled and Tangled, the uh Raven Peak Ranch book number one. Okay. By Taylor Wilson West. Okay. And it was about uh Spencer and Heath. Um and Spencer is the like mid-30s single dad. He's got a teenager, he runs a uh like a car shop, he's a mechanic, like that's what he does. Okay. Um, and he takes his teenager to the rodeo in their town, and the star of the rodeo is Heath. He's like 25. Um, he's a big deal. Everybody likes screams his name. He's like a celebrity. He follows the rodeo circuit, and that's what he that's and he is uh I think it's interesting to note that so like in this book, Spencer is older, he has a very typical dad bod. So like in the drawings, he's got kind of a belly. In the description of him, it like hangs over his belt buckle. Like he's like he's a beefy dude.

SPEAKER_03 9:08

Okay.

Emma 9:08

Um, and then Heath is like six five fit rodeo buff dude. Um but it was uh I mean, it was pretty good. Yeah? Yeah. Okay.

Amanda 9:23

So would you read the next book in the series?

Emma 9:26

Um I looked and I'm pretty sure the reason I read Wrangled and Tangled is because the next book is getting ready to come out. Oh I sent it to you. It's the the book big black guy. Yes, you do. Yes, yes. So that's the next book in the series. Got it. And so I read this one because that one's about to come out. Okay. So from what I understand, the way that this book ended, you do need to read the first the context. Okay. Not necessarily like you need to know the characters, right, but the context of what happens in the first book. Okay. Um, is necessary for the second book. Okay. Um, yeah, because the second book I sent you. Yes. Um playing musical chairs. Oh no. The second book is is out. What does this say? Yeah, the second book is out. Maybe it's the third book that I sent you. But they are related. Okay. I'd have to look. Oh my god. Bless you. Are you okay? Are you good? Are you good, buddy? You're the mascot. We can't be doing this. Okay. So the book I sent you is called Unserious. Okay. Um, and it is a it is not considered in this series, but it is the same storyline. Okay. So it's like an offshoot. Right. So it's like the same timeline. Um, and it comes out on the 10th. So in two days. Okay. Yeah, three days. Yep. And it is that one is about the female serial killer and like the he's like a b bounty hunter or something. Um, but I the artwork for that one was what I sent you. I was like, I need to read that book because that looks real good. I think I agreed. You did. And then you said you wanted FMCs that were older than 30.

Amanda 11:22

So I do. Yeah.

Emma 11:24

Yeah.

Amanda 11:25

Yeah. It's getting a little old reading about the 19-year-olds. Yeah, same.

February Reading Sprint Highlights

Emma 11:31

So yeah, so we're uh currently I am oh, and I read another hockey book. That was one of the other ones that I've yeah. Since uh since February started. Today is the seventh. I read four books. So I read They Love Me Not, which is an Omega Verse. I read Wrangled and Tangled, which is so such a goofy name. It really is. I love it though. Um I did give it four stars. And then I read The Wild Card, which is a five-star read for me for February, which is the hockey book. Um and it's the final book in the Vancouver Storm series, um, which is by Stephanie Archer. Pretty good. Um, and then the last book I finished was the Not Your First Rodeo. Yes, that's the one that you sent me the cover of the uh the other Omega Verse one that I read. So yeah, I four books in seven days. It's pretty good. Technically more than I have. Technically, uh They Love Me Not. I started on in January. So I finished it on the first of February, so I don't know if that counts technically. I think we'll let it slide. But it took me three days to read, which is a decent amount of time considering I read other books in a day. Yeah. Yeah. The other ones I've read. The other three I read in a day.

Amanda 13:03

Yeah. 24 hours. So um in February, I finished Consider Me. Yeah? It's the only one I finished. That's Carter and That is Carter and Olivia. Yeah. Yeah. It was good. I like that. Started the next one, play with me. So I'm in the middle of that.

Emma 13:20

That's Becca Mack. Yeah. Yeah. Those are good. They are good. So uh you are close to finishing. Almost done. I am almost done with Consider Me. Play with me. Or yeah, play with me. You're out. You're almost done with Garrett and Jenny. Yes. Out of the two, do you like Carter or do you like Garrett? Garrett. Yeah. What about Carter was off-putting?

Amanda 13:46

I liked Carter when I was reading Carter. Okay. But now that I have Carter to compare to Garrett, I like Garrett more. Okay.

Emma 13:57

So Garrett, no. Carter is like wildly enthusiastic. Yes. And I think he might be too enthusiastic for me. Like, he's kind of dumb. Yes. And I don't love an MMC who's kind of dumb. Same. Um, I mean, he's obsessed with Livia, like, as he should be, but like, I think while I was reading it, I liked the fact that he was essentially doing the if a man wanted to, he will. Yeah.

Amanda 14:31

He was proving to her that he was willing to change and do what needed to be done to prove to her that he was her person. Sure. Now that I have Garrett to compare to, Garrett kind of does the same, but in a much sweeter, softer, but still masculine kind of way. Does that make sense?

Emma 14:55

Well, I would say that when it comes to Jenny, Garrett is more of a team player, maybe when it comes to like her needs, whereas Carter is, I'll do it, I'll handle it. Yeah. And so that I think is a difference. But then I also just think that Garrett is kind of uh like a shit stirrer. And I don't I like Garrett. Um, but I do think like the jokes in play with me are better. I think it's a funnier book. It is, yeah. I found myself laughing more. Yeah, that's for sure. I think it's a funnier book than Consider Me. Yeah. And I mean, Carter and Olivia are the OG. You meet the whole, you know, the whole team. Right. Um, and then uh Carter's, you know, adopted grandpa.

Amanda 15:51

Oh, I love him. If anything happens to him in any of the next books, I'm gonna be so mad.

Emma 15:58

One of the things that you get, what's his name?

Amanda 16:00

Hank.

Emma 16:01

Yeah. One of the things you get from Hank is excuse you, is that you um throughout the series, you get more and more of Hank's story. Oh and so he it does, you do continue. Um, I mean I'm not gonna ruin because like I said, the book, the next book is my favorite book in the series. Um, but yeah, I will say Hank is top-notch through the whole thing. He's he's uh a wonderful side character.

Amanda 16:34

Yeah. He is he has good people for sure. My favorite things with him are when he makes comments on how somebody looks.

Emma 16:41

I know when he's blind as a bat.

Amanda 16:43

Yeah, like oh, that's sweet.

Emma 16:45

He's telling people how beautiful they are, and he's like, but he legit can't see anything.

Amanda 16:49

Yep.

Emma 16:50

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I think he's so funny. Agreed. I do think that he is kind of vital. He plays this like uh support. Well, yeah, and like this like wise man, yeah. In in every book where he like helps whoever it is like pull their head out of their ass. Yeah. Um, and that carries through. Um, he definitely is like that. Or and the thing is that he's blind, like eyeballs, but he sees so much of how these uh characters are.

SPEAKER_03 17:26

Yeah.

Emma 17:26

Yeah.

Amanda 17:27

So yeah, he knows them really well. Yes, which is good. It's cute. It is cute. Um Yeah.

Emma 17:36

Are you reading anything else right now?

Bad Editing And When To DNF

Amanda 17:38

Yes.

Emma 17:40

I have you answered that like a question.

Amanda 17:45

Well, one of them is still Luck of the Devil, which I was reading in January too. Um I am I'm three-quarters of the way through it finally. I love the storyline, which is the only reason why I have stuck with it. But the editing is atrocious, and I don't know what has happened because I love this author, and I have read over 30 of her other books, and something has changed within the last two or three with how they're being edited, and it's getting harder and harder to ignore that. So when do you DNF a book? When I just absolutely don't like the story. Okay, when you don't want to pick it up again. Right. Okay. Yeah. I want to finish this story out because I want to know what happens with Harper and Skeeter. And yeah, I'm just trying to see if they finally hook up or not.

Emma 18:48

Oh. Yeah, because I would I am surprised at at you. I would think that you would be more apt to DNF a book. Um honestly, if I from what I know about you.

Amanda 19:03

If I hadn't had so much time into the previous leading up to it story, I probably would have given up on it and just been like, nah, just never mind. I'm good. That's like why I still watch Outlander. Yeah. Yeah. Or great. I have put this much time into it. I'm going to finish. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So and then there's another one that's supposed to be coming out after this one. And it's like the same storyline? Yeah. Because she's become a private investigator. Right. And so it's cases for her to investigate now. Oh, okay. With Malcolm, who is from the original series.

Emma 19:43

Okay.

Pen Pal Gets Dark Fast

Amanda 19:44

Um and I I really liked Malcolm's character. So it's I kind of wanted to, you know, see him through. But if the editing in the next book is not great, I don't think I'm gonna be able to finish. Yeah. Which is really unfortunate. So I don't know. And then I'm also in Pen Pal, which I have to time when I read that one.

Emma 20:13

So how far have you gotten into that book? I think I'm because Pen Pal is is naughty. Um very. But not all of it. God, that book fucked me up. Uh I could still talk about that book.

Amanda 20:32

Okay, so I am 20% of the way through.

Emma 20:35

Oh, you're yeah, nothing. Yeah. You're barely scratched the surface.

Amanda 20:39

It's been very naughty in in what I have read. So it's it's um in so.

Emma 20:46

Does it calm down in a little bit? I mean, yes and no. Um, so you're at do you know where you are? Like if you were to could you tell me?

Amanda 20:59

Uh she has just met up with the guy above the bar at his house. And they've Yes.

Emma 21:07

And they have the their one night stand? Yes. That w isn't a one-night stand?

Amanda 21:12

Yeah. And they're trying to it's the next morning and they're trying trying to figure out how it's gonna go. And then he's called somebody to come install a security system at her house, is where I am. Understood. Okay.

Emma 21:25

So you were have barely scratched the surface. So yes. Up until that point, absolutely. Um, I do think that if you can get into like the meat of it, um, it does calm down. There's a lot less um I mean, I don't mind it.

Amanda 21:42

I just have to time when I'm reading it when you're going to and my child not listening around.

Emma 21:49

Yeah. Yep. Yep. Yep, yep, yep. That book is That book fucked me up. I can't even I I didn't read it for such a long time because it was like a hype. Like a it was like a TikTok book.

Amanda 22:06

Okay.

Emma 22:06

Um, and I was like, well, the hype can't be that good or that true. Yeah. Um and I was wrong. It was it was good.

Amanda 22:18

Okay.

Emma 22:19

Um, so I'm in it.

Amanda 22:22

I'm in it to win it. I wanna I wanna see what it's like and finish it.

Emma 22:26

So Yeah, we'll have to an episode later on after you finish it, we'll have to have a quick debrief because I'd love to know your thoughts.

Amanda 22:35

I know you were so messed up over it that you recorded something on your own completely to get it off off of your chest.

TikTok Hype And Library Smut

Emma 22:42

So I immediately after I finished it, I sat down. Yeah. Because I was like, I have to expel this, otherwise I'm not gonna be able to shut up about it. Right. Yeah. So oh well, I'm reading right now, I'm like, I don't know how deep into it I am. I've got a couple of things. Right now I'm reading, um, I started several books but have barely touched. Something called Sap and Secrets, uh, by Daphne Elliott, which is uh indie author.

SPEAKER_03 23:17

Okay.

Emma 23:18

Um who it just came out at the end of January. Um, and it's the first in its series. I'll I'll be honest, uh people didn't really like it. Um, it got like a handful of like one-star reviews, which is interesting. Um, but it is her debut book. So like I don't want to judge it based off of somebody else's review. I that's why I like we know I like to read things blind. Um, but it was again a like severely marketed on TikTok book. And it got me. And I was like, okay, I'll add that to my TBR. I started it. I don't know. I don't know how I'm gonna feel about it.

SPEAKER_03 24:06

Yeah.

Emma 24:07

Um I started an Allie Hazelwood book.

unknown 24:11

Okay.

Emma 24:11

Um, which I don't know if you've read any Allie Hazelwood. I don't think so. Um, I have this the Bride and Mate on my shelf. That's Allie Hazelwood. Uh the Bride was the first Allie Hazelwood book I read. Okay. Um they're good. I mean, obviously I own both of them, so like they're good, but it is not my favorite Allie Hazelwood book. I actually own three because the other one is the problematic summer romance. Um and I started that because I was like, oh, I can't, I'm not gonna, my Kindle was dead, and I was headed to dance class, and I was like, I'm gonna sit in the lobby. And so I just grabbed a book off the shelf and I started reading that. Again, it's fine. Um, my favorite Allie Hazelwood though is called Deep End. Okay. I don't own that. I actually when I read it, I it was a library borrow. It was it was a six-star read from last year. Dang. Okay, it was really good. So yeah. Um also uh if you didn't know, you can get quality smut from your local library. Yep. Um Libby. Yeah. Well, Libby and literally I walked into the library and got a hard copy. It was a No way.

Amanda 25:22

Yes. I never have luck when I go to our library. Oh, every time.

Emma 25:25

I several.

Amanda 25:26

Yeah.

Emma 25:27

Several. And uh a bunch of uh my five-star reads from last year were library fines. Okay. Because I don't want to pay for them on my yeah. I was like, and I love a uh actual book. So I do too.

Amanda 25:38

Yeah.

Emma 25:39

So we'll have to go and I'll have to show you where I find them because they are in specific places.

Amanda 25:45

Maybe my problem is is I've gone gone in with specific books in mind. Yeah. And they've either been checked out or they don't have them.

Emma 25:52

No, I I browse.

Amanda 25:54

Okay. That's probably the difference.

Heartbreak Reads And Trigger Checks

Emma 25:56

Yeah. Um, and sometimes I pick them up, especially like I'll find an author that I know, or like even if I haven't read any of them, like I know like that's a little bit spicy. And then I'm like, just pick whatever that is. Um, but that one was good. Okay. Um, so I started that, and then I started um Saving Six, which is a Boys of Tammen book. Okay. It's book number three. I am taking it slow on that book specifically, because so that this series is written in like duets. So like uh the first two books were one storyline, and then the next two books are a different storyline. Okay. Um, and this storyline is about Joey, and the first two books hurt me so bad that I was like, I don't know if I'm ready because it's the same storyline just from a different point of view, and someone else's journey through that storyline. And I'm like, the the storyline is so heartbreaking. I'm like, I don't know if I can go through it again from somebody else's point of view. And then this one deals like super heavily in like addiction and recovery. Um, and that to for me is personal, and so I'm like, I don't know, like trauma trigger-wise, if I'm prepared.

SPEAKER_03 27:24

Yeah.

What Even Is A Duskwalker

Emma 27:24

So I have I I've read the first few chapters of it, um, but I have not gotten super deep into it because I'm a little nervous about it. Gotcha. But the one that I'm actively like stuck in is the last of the Dustwalker Bride books, which is book eight. Um, it's called A Soul to Embrace. And you know I love a monster fucker book, so it's so good. I I don't even know how far along I am. Uh probably it's long. It's the long, I believe, so it's the last book in the series. I would say, without looking, my assumption would be that it is the longest in the series. It probably hits close to a thousand pages, um, would be my guess. Um, because I was sitting at, or maybe like 800 pages or something. It's but it's a long book because I remember looking and I was like 17% read, but I felt like I had been reading for like a really long time. And I was like, how is that possible? But uh it's intense. They right now, so you haven't read any of the Duskwalker. Do you have you read any monster romance books?

Amanda 28:37

I don't think so. Hmm. I wonder if you would like them. A lot of my reading history is not smut or romance. It's mostly been fiction, but very close to like real life, like mystery, that kind of thing.

Emma 28:55

So like a murder mystery book or a thriller or yeah. Do you like a I mean, obviously we're reading a lot of romance, but that's not the only thing that we're gonna be reading. So, like, I mean I just I wonder if you would like it because it's probably would. I mean, I don't think you'd hate it. Um I do think though, because you could uh if you really wanted to like stretch the like like the Faye books are technically monster. Right. I mean because they're not non-human, right? So um, but no, this isn't that. So a duskwalker, I'm not gonna tell you anything about the series. I'm just gonna describe to you what a dusk walker is. Do you know? Um so a duskwalker is also called, goes by the name of Mavka.

SPEAKER_03 29:45

Okay.

Emma 29:45

Um, and they are when they're born, they are essentially like like smoke blobs, like little, like they you could like pour them from like one hand into the other.

Amanda 29:58

Okay.

Emma 29:58

They're like liquid.

Amanda 29:59

Was that an easy childbirth?

Emma 30:03

From no, it's not. It's not. They're pretty, it's pretty uh brutal, actually, from the description the descriptions. Um you kick the dog and he's upset. I know. Sorry. Um so when they're born, yeah, they're like like liquid bodies. Um and their head is formed by the first animal that they consume.

Amanda 30:26

Okay.

Emma 30:26

They're but their bones, their skull. Gotcha. So they have no flesh on their head. It's the skull of the first animal.

Amanda 30:36

So it's like if I just walked around with the skull before it's been taxidermied.

Emma 30:41

Yes. Okay. Got it. So, and they are um, they grow rapidly. Um, I think the like gestation uh timeline on like in the womb is like nine weeks or something. It's like really short. Well, they're you're not forming anything, it's just a a blob. Okay. Um, and so their skull is formed the first thing they eat. Um, and so this one specifically uh is a rabbit. Okay. Um, and then their bodies take shape again based off of the animals that they consume. And so maybe they the rabbits are the easiest, so like they have rabbit feet or um and they typically have some kind of antler situation. Um, and again, it just goes continues on, okay, right? Yeah. And but they are dumb. They have no like level of intelligence, they have no level of intelligence, um, and they gain humanity by consuming humans. That's fun. And so the more people they eat, the more they have the ability to be intelligent.

Amanda 31:58

So like they So they're kind of zombie-esque then if they're right, because they're eating humans.

Emma 32:04

Yeah, so they are both life and death. Okay. In of in form. Got it. Um, and they uh as they consume humans, they're like their bodies fill out. So like they're all skeleton. Um, and then whatever, you know, out of the animals and their body parts. So like maybe they have wings, maybe they have feathers, maybe they have scales, maybe they have, you know, whatever it might be.

Amanda 32:32

Yeah.

Emma 32:32

Um, and as they consume humans, their bones sink inside. So then they start to have skin. Skin. But it's like gray, black. Um, and there's fur typically. Okay. Some form, whether it's short or long or whatever. And they're also huge. They're monsters. They're, you know, seven plus feet tall. Yeah. And so, but their purpose is that their father is a uh like a demigod.

SPEAKER_03 33:03

Okay.

Emma 33:04

And their mother is a phantom.

SPEAKER_03 33:07

Okay.

Emma 33:08

And so they're born and she gives birth to all of these Mavkas. Yes, blobs. Um, and they're really dumb. Like at like in most of these books, they're they're really dumb. And they meet a companion um and try to be better.

Amanda 33:31

Like most of them So they do they only mate or meet with each other, or do they fall in love with humans?

Emma 33:37

Uh humans, not each other.

Amanda 33:39

Okay.

Emma 33:40

Uh humans or other humanoid, so like elves. Okay. Um, and so they meet. So like the first book is Orpheus. That's the Mavka's name.

SPEAKER_03 33:55

Okay.

Emma 33:56

And Orpheus decides that he wants a bride. Okay. That's why they're called it's the Duskwalker Brides series. Right. Um, and he wants a human bride. Um, and he decides that in order to gain a human bride, he will stop consuming humans. So Orpheus never gains any more humanity once he So he's like dumb. Like, and it's not that he doesn't desire to learn because like eventually his bride does teach him things, but he can only understand the level of what he's to a certain level. Okay. Um, and so that yeah. And then um the one I'm reading right now um was a like really young, so it was a Mavka that was not birthed from the original parents that created Mavkas, but from um a child and his bride. Okay. So yeah, so it's a it's a second generation Mavka. Okay. And she is the first female Mavka as we understand in the universe. So yeah, she's the first one, and the she meets a the the companion she uh gets. Take she's young, she's like two years old, I think, in like actual years. Um, and she can't speak. She has no language, she has no like real understanding of the world or who she is or what she is or whatever. Right. And so her companion takes her to a human village and incites a riot so that this Mavka can consume humans to gain humanity because he's like, I really need to be able to talk to her. And he's like, This is the only way.

Amanda 35:52

I'm not sure if that's endearing or creepy.

Emma 35:55

I mean both. Maybe so yeah, I'm I'm pretty into it now. Um, I don't know, I would say probably like maybe 30% of the way through, but it's long, so I have to ask.

Amanda 36:09

So you're okay with dumb monster main characters, but you're not okay with dumb human.

Emma 36:16

No, because what's their excuse? What's their excuse? No, I just checking. An idiot monster is endearing. Okay, but an idiot human is not. What's their excuse? That's valid. I'm just saying. Okay. Just checking. Yeah. Just something I noticed while you were talking. Hey. I'm just I'm just saying. No. Last year. No judgment. Like I said. Last year I read those. Um, oh my god, what is that book called? It's like uh I got drunk with a werewolf and now I'm married or something. Have you seen these? No. They are so funny. They're they're they are the like quintessential, I'm here for a good time, not a long time. Okay. For me. Okay. Um I gotta they are funny. It's funny. Yeah. That time I got drunk and saved a human. Uh that time I got drunk and yeeted a love potion at a werewolf. Um that one was funny. Um, yeah, there's another one. Um, that time I got drunk and saved a demon. Um yeah. Nice. They are funny. I mean, just goofy monster, you know, it is what it is. But yeah, so that's what I'm reading right now. It's I it will probably that will probably be the next book I finish. Um, but there are a couple books that I have been looking forward to that are coming out on the 10th, so more than one. Okay. I think that I will finish this month too. Now that I think about it. Is there anything that you're looking forward to?

Amanda 38:02

My TBR is so long. Yeah. I have not looked at anything new that's coming out because I'm just trying to keep up.

Emma 38:14

Yeah.

New Releases And Where To Find Us

SPEAKER_01 38:15

It's okay.

Emma 38:16

Um Sarah Kate's new book uh comes out on the 10th. That's one I've been looking forward to. Okay. So I'm really excited about that one. Because it's a book two in um her, it's like it's called the Sinful Manner series. And it's a um, the first book is called Keep Me. Okay. And it's Scottish, I think. It's like a Scottish recluse man who like won't leave his house. And his family pays a woman to lure him. Yeah, to like lure him, and then but then at the same time, tell his family tells him that if he marries her or gets her to marry him, they will leave him alone and he can stay in the house forever. So it's pretty good. Yeah, you know, they just convince each other.

Amanda 39:11

Interesting.

Emma 39:12

Um, I think that that's so there's that one on the 10th, and then there's the one we mentioned earlier, which is the Unserious that comes out on the 10th, too. So yeah. Okay. We got some other books that we're I'll look for. And then I have a handful in March, too, that I'm excited about.

Amanda 39:30

But and they're all on our Goodreads.

Emma 39:32

Yeah. Um, yeah, it probably needs to be updated, but yeah. Between the stuff that we are actually currently reading and then the stuff that will be covered at some point, that'll be everything will be on there. And on our um bookshop.org has all of our links for all the books that we've discussed. So Okay. You've got, I mean, we're constantly uh posting stuff. So if there's a book that uh you want to know if Amanda really hates it, uh leave us a comment and I'll make Amanda read it on two and a half times speed.

Amanda 40:14

Or if you think you can make me cry.

Emma 40:16

Oh, I would love to see. And not a non-fiction book. Yeah.

Amanda 40:21

Those those typically get me. It's got to be.

Emma 40:23

I know I need to see you cry to a fiction book before this is all over. No. Are you kidding? I cried at the freaking one of those freaking Omega verse books the other day.

SPEAKER_01 40:36

Like you're so cute. I love you so hard.

Emma 40:40

I'll say I cried at The Wildcard. And I may have cried at They Love Me Not. So Wrangled and Tangled did not make me cry.

Amanda 40:53

Why not? Can you imagine? No, it did not. So monsters, but not not two men. No, two men will make me cry.

Emma 41:01

Not just two. Those two men did not make me cry. Okay. No, that book it wasn't uh, it was again, I gave it four stars. It was good. Um, not necessarily uh slutty enough for me. I could have used a little more. Okay. I'll be I'll be real. Okay.

Therapy Jokes And Goodbyes

Amanda 41:16

Sometimes I do see my therapist on Tuesday, so if anybody has anything else I need to take to my therapist, there's a long list.

Emma 41:23

Um and then you see your therapist on Tuesday, and then we'll reconvene on Wednesday. And we can say, um, we can look through and be like, well, Amanda didn't talk about these things in therapy, so we'll have to cover it on the podcast. That works. Um, but yeah. Okay. So we'll see everybody next time.

SPEAKER_01 41:50

Yeah.

unknown 41:51

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 41:51

Have a great day. Okay. I love you.