Mari: 00:00
The views expressed in this podcast are solely those of the hosts. All creative works discussed or reviewed are the intellectual property of the creators of said stories and are being used under the fair use doctrine. Hello, and welcome to Of Swords and Soulmates, a podcast where we read, watch, and discuss romanticy and romance adjacent stories. I'm one of your hosts, Mari, and with me I have Kelly.

Kelly: 00:35
Hey everyone, it's Kelly. We also have Ashley.

Ashley: 00:38
Hi guys, it's Ashley. We also have Jonathan.

Jonathan: 00:41
What's good, everybody? It's JP. I hope we're all excited to be and in a like a loving mood. Is it love is in the air this week?

Mari: 00:47
It is. It is happy early Valentine's Day. We're like a few days off from Valentine's Day when this comes out. So it's getting excited. Um I've asked this before, but let me ask it again. Do you want JP or do you want Jonathan? Do you have a preference?

Jonathan: 01:03
I don't have a preference. I think I usually get like at work, I I sometimes people have trouble paying attention to details. So I just default to the easiest setting, which is just like JP. But I mean, Jonathan's good. If I'm like feeling feisty, JP, maybe that's like the alter ego, like feisty, exciting JP.

Mari: 01:23
Jekyll and Hyde situation.

Jonathan: 01:25
Yeah, down the business, Jonathan.

Mari: 01:27
All right, so today we're gonna be discussing My Funny Demon Valentine by Aurora Asher, which is book one in her Hell Bent

Mari: 01:35
 series. But first, as always, some news. We have a good bit of news, not a ton like we had last week, but we do have a good bit of news. The first thing I have is that Casso Shire released her the latest cover for the book she's got coming out, to the next book she has coming out in the Shades of Sanctuary series. And all the books in this series have really long names. This one uh will be released January 22nd, 2027, and it is called The Adventures of a Tiny Tree, including whimsical anecdotes from a discarded pair of trousers.

Ashley: 02:13
Oh goodness. Is this a shark? I feel like you needed to take a breath in between some words there.

Mari: 02:21
The first book in that series that I read, I read, I think it was last year. It's Apolar Expedition and Other Stimulating Research Opportunities.

Ashley: 02:30
You know what? That sounds like a fun time. I'm not even mad at it.

Mari: 02:33
Right. So there are the all the books in this series, in the Shades of Sanctuary series, are cozy, like she calls them gas lamp stories. So they're cozy, they're spicy, but they're also written a little bit like a research journal. So they have footnotes. So it's written from the viewpoint of somebody like doing an account of something that happened in this magical world. Um, the that that first one that I talked about, the polar expedition, was like a woman. I just hit the mic. I'm so sorry. A woman, a research scientist who shows her magic and whatnot on a polar expedition, and she gets stalked by this polar bear, ends up being a polar bear shifter, and she ends up discovering this whole civilization. Yeah. So anyway, she's released the cover for the new book that's coming out. The cover art is by Phantom Dame, who's done all the work, artwork for this series, and they're all really pretty, kind of like an art nouveau edges around them.

Jonathan: 03:37
It looks great. Like when I like if you would have told me like there's like an anthropomorphic shark, I would have immediately thought of Maui from Moana when he goes into that shark mode. But this is definitely like if the rock was a shark.

Ashley: 03:54
Yeah.

Jonathan: 03:55
That's what wait, that was the same rock is Maui?

Ashley: 03:58
Sharkhead.

Jonathan: 03:59
Yeah, but like this is like regulation rock. Like if the rock Yeah, maybe we can just say Vin Diesel. If Vin Diesel was a shark, this is what they you might imagine it to look like, maybe perhaps in another life.

Mari: 04:11
Another book in this series is The Rake or the Orca who met his match in a Selkie desiring revenge. So there's there's other sea like creatures. Now I have not read that one, but I've heard good things about it. I read the other two in that series. She's a she's a a good like how would I describe it? Um I mean it's spicy, it's funny, her writing style, it's also a little bit like witty. Um her books are fun. I would I would recommend like everything I've read by her, I like.

Jonathan: 04:46
So yeah, it definitely looks like it's like Daddy Shark.

Mari: 04:52
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. And I will not be able to look at that cover without that song.

Jonathan: 04:60
Yep.

Mari: 05:00
Thank you.

Jonathan: 05:01
Yeah, you're well. I try to do try to do my part for humanity.

Mari: 05:04
All right. Our next little bit of news, also on the monster theme, is Paige Lavoie, who wrote the Mothman in Love series, has announced, officially announced her new book. She's kind of been talking about it for a little bit, but she's officially got it picked up. It's called My Boyfriend Is a Swamp Monster. And the synopsis is a 23-year-old musician returns to her childhood summer camp only to discover that her imaginary friend has been waiting for her.

Jonathan: 05:30
How exciting is that? Can you imagine having an imaginary friend that is like oh, wasn't there a movie?

Mari: 05:39
There was a movie.

Jonathan: 05:40
IF uh not IF, but like it was like uh in the 90s or maybe late 80s. Fred, Drop Dead Fred.

Mari: 05:48
Yes, yes.

Jonathan: 05:51
Can you imagine like if your imaginary friend was meant to be Ashley? Have you ever seen Drop Dead Fred?

Mari: 05:55
I have not actually.

Jonathan: 05:58
I can't wait to watch that.

Ashley: 05:60
Was it romantic though?

Jonathan: 06:01
I don't know. I don't think so. It was like it was like this little girl comes home for like some family or a grown woman comes home for a family event and opens up a box that contained her imaginary friend, who then goes uh proceeds to like ruin stuff.

Ashley: 06:16
I mean, I feel like I was very young, but I do recall crazy.

Mari: 06:23
Yeah. So this one is publication is slated for summer 2026, and it was inspired by a visit she did to Silver Springs. So definitely Creature from the Black Lagoon vibes.

Jonathan: 06:36
Is Silver Springs that's Florida?

Mari: 06:38
Yeah, that's where they shot a bunch of the scenes for Creature from the Black Lagoon, the original.

Jonathan: 06:44
Oh. Have you did you go to visit it?

Mari: 06:46
I have not. Kelly and I have talked about it, but we haven't done it yet.

Jonathan: 06:51
There's some I I think I would like to go see the neighborhood where, and this is in the weeds, where uh Johnny Duck. Yes. What's it called? That's her hands. Edward Scissor Hands, yep. Where's that? I want to say it's like is that Tampa, Ashley?

Ashley: 07:06
I thought it was like northern, like Ocala, or like I know I don't think it's Tampa.

Jonathan: 07:10
Doc Hollywood was in Florida, and the people of that town don't know.

Mari: 07:15
Mikinope?

Jonathan: 07:16
Yeah.

Mari: 07:17
Which I've never pronounced right, so you did.

Jonathan: 07:19
You did a good job. You did a good job.

Mari: 07:22
I've been there.

Jonathan: 07:23
Yeah.

Mari: 07:24
Yeah, they have like during the fall, they have good like little Halloween Christmassy, the little strip in the middle of the town has good like stores and antique stores and little sandwiches. And I mean, if you're gonna be in the Gainesville area, it's it's not a bad spot to spend some time. Actually, the last time I was there was just before my grandmother died. It was the last trip I took with her, and it was a good time. It was a a really cute little town. Absolutely.

Ashley: 07:46
Just to be clear, I was right. What Mickinopies near Gainesville, is that what you said?

Jonathan: 07:52
Which is not far away from Bucala, and that's kind of actually that's a different movie though.

Ashley: 07:56
What are you talking about?

Jonathan: 07:57
That we're talking about Doc Hollywood versus Edward Scissorhand. Oh it's okay though. I forgive you. There's uh uh Tim Hayes from FLCX. He used to do a ride out of there at Doc Hollywood. It was a good route, but yeah, like Yeah. The the foundation of cars.

Mari: 08:16
Yeah, I've heard. I've actually never seen cars, but I've seen Doc Hollywood, so I'm I'm fine.

Jonathan: 08:21
Same thing. Yeah, you're good.

Mari: 08:25
All right, next little bit of news I have is that the sequel to Iko Kadono's Kiki's Delivery Service has been translated to English and will be released for the first time in English speaking markets August 25th, 2026. I'm very excited about this.

Jonathan: 08:41
It looks it look the cover makes it uh and you tell me if I'm wrong, it looks witchy and catty and interesting.

Mari: 08:47
Yes. Yeah. So have you ever I know I've asked this before, but just in case you've seen it since I've asked, have you guys seen ever seen Kiki's Delivery Service?

Jonathan: 08:54
I have not.

Mari: 08:56
I think you would like it. It's a kid's movie. It's a studio Ghibli production. It's really sweet. It's it's I mean, she's a witch and there's a black cat, but it's also in like a seaside uh village, seaside town. So it doesn't necessarily have like traditional Halloween vibes that you would think of. And it's a cute story. It's it's like I said, there's nothing scary in it. It's just a cute little like finding your place in the world type story. At least the first one. I I've never read the second one, but I'm looking forward to it.

Jonathan: 09:28
Nice.

Ashley: 09:30
Yeah, we need to invest in that some time into that one next.

Jonathan: 09:34
Yeah. It looks delightful.

Mari: 09:38
Um, the next thing I have is

Mari: 09:40
 Books for Days Crate Company is doing a special edition of Victoria Aveline's Clacanian series. Has anyone read these other than me?

Ashley: 09:50
I don't think so.

Mari: 09:52
Um, so it is It looks futuristic. Yeah, it's it's it's sci-fi romance, which I I don't know, and I'm sorry I should have written down the name. Somebody, I saw a video, somebody referred to sci-fi romance as science friction.

Ashley: 10:08
You know, I've heard that term before.

Mari: 10:10
No, and I'm like, you know, there needs to be a term because like romanticity with romance and fantasy has a term, but there's no real good term for like sci-fi and romance. But you know what? Science friction is working.

Ashley: 10:20
I'm not mad, I'm not mad at it. Grinding it.

Mari: 10:23
This is basically science fiction. It's um the Mars need women needs women trope. So it's alien planet, human woman. It's a series. I mean, I don't want to, I don't want to tell a whole lot, but I will say there's really interesting world building and like political machinations that happens throughout the series. So they can be read as standalones, but they're really good reading them in order. Like they're not like super dense, heavy, like you have to take notes kind of sci-fi. Um, but they definitely have more world building that happens between them than a lot of like the more lighter science fiction romance that that you would think of. Which I like those two. I mean, I'm not saying any is bad, it's just this has a little bit more world building than I was expecting. And the characters are really interesting because they're all alien and it's all one planet, but they're all have their own cultures. Yeah, which is makes every book different. Right. You know, it's a criticism I've often heard of a lot of sci-fi. If you have like an alien race or something in like a TV show or a book or whatever, they tend to be very monoculture. Like all Klingons are this, you know, all Vulcans are this. When in reality, if there's a whole planet of these beings, they're gonna be variety, just like there are different kinds of humans, you know. So this book does a pretty good job of like, yeah, they're all Klikanians, that's the the planet or whatever, but there's different cultural norms and different things that each of the characters have, depending on what area of Clakania they're from. Interesting. Yeah. I read it. It's got range, is what you're saying. I read it just going into Monster Rotica last year. I don't think I'd heard much about it before that, and I ended up just inhaling all of them. They're really good audiobooks, too. But there's um they're doing special edition. It's all nine books, $325 plus shipping. The pre-orders start April of April 24th, 2026.

Jonathan: 12:35
Nice.

Mari: 12:37
Next bit I have is Daniel Jensen's Bridge Kingdom has been picked up to be a movie. Which is the author of Fate Ink and Blood that we read recently. Um I have not read Bridge Kingdom yet, but it's on my list.

Jonathan: 12:58
I keep referring to her as Danny L. Danny L. Danny L. Danny L L. I don't know. I think I just had an accent when I was reading it. So now every time I say her name, I'm just like Danny, Danny L L.

Ashley: 13:11
It's all the extra L's, yeah.

Jonathan: 13:12
It's all the L's.

Mari: 13:13
Danny L. L. Jensen.

Jonathan: 13:15
Yeah. It's I'm sure it's just the accent that it was read to me in. Danny L.

Mari: 13:21
Oh, that's fair. Yeah. But it's Jane Farrell's Red Sage Studios is the one that's going to be doing it. There's no dates or anything like that. They're they're very, very, very early on in the process, but it'll be interesting. I don't have a lot to say about Bridge Kingdom because I haven't read it yet. I've heard good things. And I think the last book in that series is coming out this year. Um and I want to say the first book is like included in in audible subscription. I don't know. I plan to read it. That's all I can say.

Ashley: 13:57
Yeah, I'm I definitely like her writing. It's not too tedious, but you know, you get you get all your adventure and such, you know.

Mari: 14:06
Agreed. The last bit of thing I have on here is that the cover for Daggerbound has dropped. Daggerbound is the sequel to T. Kingfisher's Sword Heart. It's going to be shipping August 25th, 2026. Like 29 bucks. It's on like wherever, wherever you can you buy your books. It it basically matches the sword heart cover that came out last year. So they're they're not exactly the same, but they're definitely look like they're part of a set. Um and I'll be excited because this is a brand new, like Dagger Bund hasn't been released in any other version before. So this is first time.

Jonathan: 14:46
Um It looks delightful, the two swords crossing with the good colorways. I like the complementing edges. Yeah.

Mari: 14:55
I think we're gonna be reading Sword Heart this year, I believe, is in the podcast, is our plan. So I'll be curious to see what you guys think. I've read it a few times. I'm not gonna lie.

Ashley: 15:10
I was gonna say the author overall is a you guys are a big fan of on your side.

Mari: 15:14
I love tea King Ficture. I I like all of her fantasy books, fantasy romance, whatever, and all her fairy tale retellings. I like some of her horror, but I'm just I'm really I don't like a whole lot of written horror. So that's not anything to say about her writing. That's just my tastes.

Kelly: 15:35
Right.

Mari: 15:36
Um, you liked Sword Heart, right, Kelly?

Kelly: 15:39
Yeah, it was good.

Mari: 15:40
Yeah, so I'm I'm looking forward to Daggerbound, see see uh where it goes because Sword Heart was written a a while

Mari: 15:45
 ago. I I didn't even realize it was part or a potential first sequel until like this first started kind of being talked about last year. So nice little surprise. Speaking of which, I had a nice little surprise today. Um, one other little bit of news, I guess. If you've ordered or if you did order the Al Crate version of Good Spirits that we read in December for the podcast, the special edition Al Crate version was advertised as having like a a note from the author in it that they do sometimes. And they didn't actually put it in there. I don't know if they forgot or if there were printing issues, but they announced that they were sending them separately. So I know mine came today. So if you get this weird random Al Crate letter, it's it's and you had bought good spirits from them. It's the um author's note that's supposed to go in your good spirits book.

Ashley: 16:41
How nice of them to like true that up.

Mari: 16:43
Do what now?

Ashley: 16:44
Like to catch up and you know, be like, hey, you know, we screwed up, and so here's the thing.

Mari: 16:49
Yeah, and they didn't have to do that at all. Right, right, right. Because I surely didn't pay attention. And they didn't charge you anything, like they didn't charge me extra postage or anything for it. It's a short little note. I'm gonna read it real quick. So this is BK Borison's uh little note to the to the reader. It says, Dear all great reader, sometimes when you sit down to write a book, there's a magic that happens that doesn't feel like writing at all. It feels like you're with the characters, watching them interact and fall in love. And you, as the author, get the joy of transcribing that for everyone else. That's what writing this book felt like. A total and complete joy. It was something different for me, and I'm so grateful you've decided to give it a chance. I hope you see the magic in it, the romance and the love. But most of all, I hope you see the strength Harriet goes grows into with her softness, and that you let yourself be a little soft too. All my love.

Ashley: 17:42
We love her. Absolutely.

Mari: 17:44
Yeah. Um, I believe that's all the news I have. Do you guys have anything?

Jonathan: 17:55
Uh I don't have any news, but I do have stickers that came with a toy that I ordered for my niece and nephew, and I thought I would just comment real quick on them. They're supposed to be positive reinforcement stickers. So it'll say things like, it there's a pair of cherries, and it says cherry smart, right? But then there's also stuff that it's like a happy face, and then like three balloons next to it, and it says, and so adventure begin. And then like singular? Yeah. Uh-huh.

Mari: 18:28
And and then and it's uh Adventure begins, but not proofreading. Correct.

Jonathan: 18:33
Yes, exactly. There's one that's a cat stretching, and it the words on it say positive cute cat.

Ashley: 18:40
Oh.

Jonathan: 18:41
Yeah, this is uh they're they're doing their best.

Ashley: 18:43
They're doing their minimum.

Jonathan: 18:45
They're doing their minimum.

Ashley: 18:46
That's sometimes it's yeah, they're just they're doing.

Jonathan: 18:50
They're just doing it is one this took me a while. It's an orange, a sliced orange, but it has a smiley face on it, and says, Orange you a smart space ie. And I was like, what is happening? Oh, smarty.

Mari: 19:05
I get that.

Jonathan: 19:07
I get it now.

Mari: 19:08
Do you need to get like the red pin out and correct the uh the stickers?

Jonathan: 19:12
No, there's one. Here's one that I feel like I want to give to a coworker. It's a dog with it, looks like I'm saying I'm assuming it's a dog, but it says, better late than never.

Mari: 19:22
Wow.

Jonathan: 19:23
What kind of a sticker is that? I don't get it.

Mari: 19:25
That's a little dark.

Jonathan: 19:27
Yeah, it's guess what I'm saying? There's a there's a oh I okay, I get that. Oh, I was like, I don't understand. Right? Yeah. I'm so proud of you, better late than never. What the heck are they doing over there? I'm assuming this is like somebody in China was like, I think this is what Americans sound like. I I a peach ate you, and it's two peaches.

Ashley: 19:56
I mean, that's cute.

Jonathan: 19:57
Yeah, yeah. There's a monkey, and it just says think positive.

Mari: 20:02
Okay.

Ashley: 20:03
That's you know, I mean, you've got you've got a few winners there.

Jonathan: 20:07
There are a few winners for sure. I can't wait to give you this whale done sticker that I got anywhere. I'm not I'm keeping the better late than never sticker for myself. I'm not gonna lie. That's the kind of holding out hope.

Mari: 20:24
If you want to send me a picture of some of those, what we we can post it on the uh on the little story so listeners can be like, what the heck are you talking about?

Jonathan: 20:34
It's amazing to me. Like how yeah, I'll definitely send you some just how these things work.

Mari: 20:40
Uh have you guys, has anyone other than me watched Bridgerton?

Ashley: 20:44
Uh not yet. Okay. I'm I haven't had TV time. Jonathan's been master controlling the TV lately.

Jonathan: 20:53
What have we been watching, Ashley?

Ashley: 20:55
Uh Star Trek.

Mari: 20:56
Thank you.

Mari: 20:58
Letharas of Star Trek. There's a lot of good things to watch. Bridgerton was good. I did a little Bridgerton Witch par uh watch party with some friends. It was a good time. Highly recommend. Of course, it's just the first half of the fourth season. If you haven't watched it yet, dearest gentle reader, do so. Have you read the books? So after the first was it after? Or no, when it was announced. Yeah, no, it was. I was it's not I watched the first season, and then I tried to read the first book. I did not like the first book.

Ashley: 21:34
No, I don't think it gets better. It's this is all Shonda. Listen, Julia Quinn, thank you for setting the foundation. But this is all this is all Shonda rhymes all day long. And I I would drink her bath water. That woman is a genius with what she's done with this show. So I have not seen season four yet, Benedict's season, but I am a believer. Loved fan of the previous season.

Mari: 22:04
Um I I've really enjoying it so far. I'm curious to see where they go, but yeah, I I think it's gonna be a good time. So highly recommend. I think you're in for a good time. So other hot show. Has anyone watched Heated Rivalry?

Jonathan: 22:20
Have not. I have not. However, I have been immensely inspired by all the shorts that I'm seeing on like 

Jonathan: 22:30
Instagram where like women are going to hockey games and just shouting out.

Ashley: 22:34
Yes, the boy aquarium.

Jonathan: 22:36
Yes, the boy aquarium, and they're just like, I love this for I I am beside myself with with glee to see the new age fans of like women coming into this space that has traditionally been dominated by by dudes. Like, taking it a step further.

Mari: 22:59
Like heated rivalry is a queer story told in the midst of this sports world. And the company that decided to do it, like got these actors who nobody's ever heard of. There's no big names in it whatsoever. And and they rejected like HBO Max money and everything to begin with, and made it on a very low budget to be able to be true to the source material and do it exactly like they wanted to do it without the influences that I think would have ruined it. Um, and they were able to make this gem like completely outside of Hollywood influence. And I'm just like, Hollywood needs to pay attention. Like, let artists, writers, actors, directors do what they do well.

Jonathan: 23:48
And that's on um that's on Netflix, right?

Mari: 23:51
It's on HBO Max now. It was picked up by HBO Max. Originally it was done for this like streaming only Canadian, I think it's called Crave service. And I think like a week before it was supposed to come out, HBO Max was like, yeah, I guess we'll buy it after it was already made.

Jonathan: 24:09
Yeah.

Mari: 24:10
And it's been picked up for season two.

Jonathan: 24:12
So it's a good hit for people. Like there's a lot, you know, the streaming services have been very model, has shifted. But and and I think that it's just I'm in love with the direction things are moving in. So in that on that space, in that space, at least with content.

Mari: 24:34
I will say 

Mari: 24:35
heated rivalry will leave you with good feelings, it will leave you happy, it's got great representation, it's got a main character with autism, it's got minority representation, it's got current events pulled into it in certain ways.

Ashley: 24:51
Like it's a whole cult following. Yeah. Like people are obsessed in the best way.

Mari: 24:58
Yeah. Yeah. I completely see why. I came home from work, a bad day at work, and I was like, I'm going to treat myself. I'm gonna start watching this. And because I didn't have a subscription, I got a subscription, started watching it that day after work. I watched the entire season before I went to bed.

Ashley: 25:18
Oh I hear the book is really good too. Like that it's based off of.

Mari: 25:23
Yeah, I I'll be reading that very soon. I'm waiting on Libby. Uh it is good.

Ashley: 25:28
Yeah, it there's a there's a log. There's a backlog.

Mari: 25:31
All right, any other new stuff?

Mari: 25:35
Nope. Okay.

Mari: 25:36
So why we chose this book? Jonathan, why did we choose this book?

Jonathan: 25:42
Um, so I it it looked pretty on a shelf last year, and then so I got it, and yeah. I I I I think for me it was probably a palette cleanser coming off of what were we coming off of? I don't know. Uh book about dragons and flying them. Was it called? Uh the Empyrean series.

Mari: 26:06
Onyx Storm.

Jonathan: 26:07
Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

Mari: 26:10
And it was a good little Valentine's Day tie-in and theme. We were looking for that.

Jonathan: 26:14
So I don't know if it was very Valentine's y.

Mari: 26:16
Well, at least the title.

Jonathan: 26:17
The title was. Yeah, yeah.

Mari: 26:19
It drew you in Valentine's Y. Had some pink on the cover. It g it gives the vibes to begin with.

Jonathan: 26:24
Exactly.

Mari: 26:25
So let me read the synopsis synopsis and then we'll get into details. Um, this was published January 21st, 2025. As Mosius, Prince of Hell, just wants to make music, jazz specifically. Unfortunately, he's a demon and he's supposed to be evil. Clearly, for a career as a musician isn't exactly an option. Plus, he's cursed. Sick of playing by the rules, Ash and his three brothers escape hell in search of freedom on Earth, but it's harder than they thought to keep their enemies off their tails. Yet everything changes for Ash when he meets a beautiful violinist who can see through his curse. No matter the risk, he has to have her. Evangeline Gregory is just your average human. She works at a jazz bar, plays gigs on weekends, and apparently hallucinates demons. At least that's what Eva tells herself when, moments after she meets the man of her dreams, she sees him shift into a seven-foot-tall monster. Not believing her own eyes, Eva decides to investigate and soon finds herself in the middle of a supernatural clusterfuck. But Ash isn't the only one keeping secrets, and the search for answers reveals a shocking truth that will change Eva's life forever. Or maybe just doom it. The path to love can be complete hell. Sorry. I hadn't read this nonsense. I didn't need it after I read the book, and I'm like, yeah, yeah, that works.

Jonathan: 27:44
So I think this is like I'm trying, I try like I want to categorize it, but like a like a laundry basket book.

Mari: 27:53
Huh? What is that?

Jonathan: 27:54
Like I gotta tell you, I got a bunch of chores to do today. I'm gonna do a whole ton of laundry. I just throw this book on top, and then as I do those things, I just read this book. Yes.

Mari: 28:05
Ash, how did you consume it?

Ashley: 28:08
I read this one.

Mari: 28:10
I read this one too. Kelly, you read this, right?

Kelly: 28:13
Which one?

Mari: 28:14
Yeah that the My Funny Valentine, you read it rather than listened.

Kelly: 28:17
Right.

Mari: 28:18
Yeah. So one thing that came up on the the fabled book club thing that we have on there is same issue I had. And I don't know if I think Kelly had some of this too. And I don't know if you had some, Ash. When you're reading the the chapters, there's changes of point of view within a chapter.

Ashley: 28:36
Oh yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Mari: 28:37
And there's not like a huge separation. Nope. So I would be reading and I'd get a few sentences in, and I'm like, this is not making sense. And I'm like, oh wait, this is a totally different character now.

Mari: 28:50
Yeah.

Ashley: 28:50
I assume that they handle that differently in the audiobook.

Jonathan: 28:53
Yeah, I did not experience that. Well, because you had female and male voices, like Yeah, you know, it's uh yeah, even like, yeah, there were definitely it there was there were different voices for mom, for dad as well. Like you just knew when you were talking who you were talking to, when they were talking, like who was getting involved, and so like it was interesting. And so like I do have like the physical copies too. So it's like definitely when I listened, I would read along like with my eyes at the same time. But it was like, yeah, it didn't occur to me that that that that was a thing.

Ashley: 29:28
It's not usually to be fair.

Jonathan: 29:30
There are other books that would do that to me though. Like I tried to like I tried to analog read Dungeon Crawler Carl, and until I got the audiobook in my ear, I was like, it's a t it's night and day, like flipping a switch on how I perceive them after that. Um but but yeah, like that I could see that. So yeah, if it's I just you you weren't exposed to the audio at all. And I had and I it was like straight out of the gate, I had both, so it never dawned on me that it might be a unique style.

Ashley: 30:05
She's Canadian, so that's probably there just wasn't like a big marker, you know. Like usually the the POV w changes at like the start of a chapter, not like in the same chapter without like some bigger squiggly lines, you know, like or a big like pair paragraph break.

Mari: 30:23
Some spacing or something.

Ashley: 30:24
Yeah, yeah. It was it like I wasn't mad at it. It was just like, oh wait, what what happened why? Yeah, why do you are you in her head? I would be like, what yeah, that took a second.

Mari: 30:41
What else did we think about it?

Ashley: 30:44
I mean, I thought it was sweet, it's an interesting perspective. I thought, you know, demons trying to escape hell, creating their own, you know, family without acknowledging what it was, kind of thing. Um I didn't find asmodeus's uh not innocence, what's the word I want?

Mari: 31:09
Like his ignorance?

Ashley: 31:12
Yeah, I well, I mean, no, I don't ignorant, yeah, naivety, I think is the word I want. I didn't find that endearing. That sounds like a lot of work to me. You gotta teach this man men already like a lot of boys. Let me take a step back. A lot of human tread likely the male persuasion and thought process and hormonal functions already have trouble articulating your feelings. And so now you gotta teach this one from the ground up about his feelings and how to identify them and label them. Like that sounds that sounds like a lot of work.

Mari: 31:48
Let me say though, Ash, like as a person who is so bad at feeling her feelings and expressing them, in this scenario, 

Mari: 31:56
I am asmodious. 100%. 100%.

Ashley: 32:01
And I mean so it was endearing like how forthright he would be, right? Like he would just bluntly say something without realizing, you know, that he was talking about his family or love for his family that he this found family, right? That he had built.

Mari: 32:17
Or that there were games he was supposed to be playing.

Ashley: 32:19
Right, right, right, right. So, you know, it would it was kind of cute in that way. I think I was more interested in like the Nephilim side of the story. I I enjoy other stories about Nephilim.

Jonathan: 32:31
You know, I think Nephilim's a thing, yeah. Yeah, I didn't know that.

Ashley: 32:35
Yeah. The products of humans and angels.

Mari: 32:37
Yeah.

Jonathan: 32:38
Interesting. I wonder if I'm a Nephilim. Yeah, I met my mom.

Ashley: 32:41
Um, you know, I I enjoy Cassandra Clare. I know I think other, you know, readers might find her problematic for whatever reasons, but I'm a huge Cassandra Clare fan. So I think anything Nephilim for me is is exciting. And I I liked I liked the idea of a Nephilim or the product of a Nephilim, you know, attaching to a demon. Yeah. Like to an outright demon, right? Like a Prince of Hell. So I don't know. I wasn't mad at it. It took me a little bit, I think, to get into it. But once I was in, I was it was like 2 a.m. It was like I wasn't putting it down. We're gonna finish this bitch now.

Mari: 33:21
Yeah, I very much enjoyed the brother relationship between Esmodius and the his brothers or whatever. Like I thought that their interaction was really felt very genuine, very authentic. That was probably the relationship I enjoyed the most was them ribbing on each other and also taking care of each other. Yeah.

Jonathan: 33:45
Yeah. I thought it was unique to see and and Ashley, you're right, like the idea that they were adapting much the way a preteen would to the basic life, but having being more mature. It was like it was definitely odd. It was like I have a good thought on this. Interesting. What do you think?

Kelly: 34:17
I didn't enjoy it. It was very predictable.

Mari: 34:36
Yeah, I can see that.

Kelly: 34:38
I probably would have abandoned it at twenty twenty-five percent.

Jonathan: 34:44
It's okay to if you're I feel like sometimes people start something and they feel pressure to finish it, you don't have to finish them. If it if you don't feel it's for you.

Mari: 34:60
I I felt like I saw some of the plot twists coming early on too. I I this wasn't my favorite book, but that it also wouldn't necessarily be like I'm not a fan of like the like the Nephilim and the levels of angels and fallen angels and demons and whatnot, like the Christian mythology infrastructure. There's something about that that I um have never been a fan of, and I think it's because I grew up with religious people in my family who will like talk about that stuff like it was real. Oh, sure. And in my head, I'm just like vampires.

Ashley: 35:48
Yeah, exact opposite.

Mari: 35:50
Yeah, yeah. So it's like it's it wasn't for me, that doesn't make it a bad book. It's just it wasn't for me. Like that's not the particular magic and and stuff that I trend towards. But like I said, I did like the the brother relationship. I thought that was really well done. I get a bone to pick, yeah.

Jonathan: 36:12
Yeah, but I'm in it for I'm gonna just be very clear. I'm in it for the grabbing by the horn sex.

Ashley: 36:18
Like that's there was definitely some spice. We haven't that was a lot of spice. Yeah, there was spice, yeah.

Jonathan: 36:24
For a small book. And that's why I'm here. Yeah, it's like for me, it was like the uh what's Juliet Cross's series? Is that the stay a spell? Yes, but like sp like like spiced up. A spiced up Stay Spell.

Ashley: 36:39
Stay a spell's pretty spicy, sir.

Jonathan: 36:41
This was spicier to me.

Ashley: 36:43
It was definitely spicier, I'll give you that.

Jonathan: 36:47
Yeah, but like similar kind of thought process for

Jonathan: 36:50
 me, like where the story would go or how this might work out, but like that's kind of like where I started. It but instead of like instead of having that the the sisters kind of vibe, now you've got brothers. The brothers.

Jonathan: 37:04
Yeah.

Jonathan: 37:05
Yeah, the mirror of it. But you know, a little bit a little dirtier, a little more demonified. I like it.

Mari: 37:12
And I like, I mean, I don't mind demon like stories. Like there's several demon monster romances that I've liked. I I did enjoy the the way that Asmodeus's curse affected how he acted. I thought that was really interesting. How he was like, he couldn't feel anything, couldn't taste anything, couldn't see colors until you know music and love came into his life. It felt like that was very much a analogy for something, for depression, maybe. Um loneliness or something. And like how she helped lift his curse. I thought that was sweet, you know.

Ashley: 37:49
And like unintentionally, right? Right. Like it was just it was a pure process, which made it feel more authentic.

Mari: 37:57
Yeah.

Ashley: 37:58
Um, so yeah, that was pretty wholesome. I agree.

Mari: 38:03
Um I gotta say, towards the end, I was so angry at her dad. I'm assuming I know there's other books. I'm assuming maybe he somebody forgives him, I guess. But it wasn't me in this book, I'll tell you that. Not I. Like this was of his doing.

Jonathan: 38:26
Are you planning to read the other books?

Mari: 38:28
May probably not with my eyeballs, to be honest. I might give it an audio listen. Um, the eyeball thing was because I had that kept having to stop and like go back and be like, wait, damn it, I missed another switch, you know? So probably as an audio thing, it's a maybe. I understand the second book is not about the brothers.

Ashley: 38:48
It's it's about I was so mad, that's my bone.

Jonathan: 38:50
So mad. But it's it's like adjacent, right? So it's like, but think of it, it's like as it following that kind of trajectory of like one demon to another demon, just like it was like one witch to another witch. But Ash, what do you mean? Like you you you're you don't you don't listen.

Ashley: 39:09
No, listen, she spent that whole book making me attached to the brothers, all of their personality and their quirks. And I spent so I there's like 20 pages of the next book at the end of this one when you read it with your eyes through Kindle Unlimited. And I'm reading and I'm reading and reading, and I was like, okay, this is a new, you know, female main character being introduced. You know, I'm waiting for one of the brothers to pop up, and then a name pops up about a brother, but he's he's not the main male character in this story. And I'm it's literally like page 20. And you can't see it because I'm tapping my desk and I'm so mad. It's not any of the main brothers, and I'm so mad. I was so attached, like I need to know about what's his name? I can't say his name right. No, what's the name that I can't say with the B?

Jonathan: 39:56
Um Bell? Um Belliel.

Ashley: 39:59
Belial. I keep wanting to say I keep wanting to say Belial. Yeah, it's wrong. Um, Belliel. Wait, what what how's his how's his dry spell going?

Mari: 40:10
Like he's one thing I will say, and this may just be because I'm also kind of concurrently reading The Black Dagger Brotherhood by Jared Ward. These people need therapy. I mean, we all need yes, yes, myself included, but these people need therapy, these demons need therapy, they've seen some shit.

Ashley: 40:29
Like, I can actually visualize him at the bar, right, with the BFF bartending behind, and she's talking about how she's gonna spend the next six months being celibate, right? Because she owes it to herself. She wants to fall in love, she's gotta stop falling for the shit. And he like he has this revelation, right? As a demon, that he needs to. What was it? It was for his anger, right? He was gonna control his rage.

Mari: 40:53
Yeah, yeah, he wouldn't be disgusted with himself.

Ashley: 40:57
Exactly, for for giving in to what's her name. Man, that should listen. All day long, I anticipated that to be book two, and I'm disappointed.

Jonathan: 41:06
Yes, you're gonna have to wait till book five.

Ashley: 41:08
That's fucking wild.

Jonathan: 41:10
It comes out in like a month.

Ashley: 41:11
No, I'm very passionate about it.

Jonathan: 41:13
It's we already have it ordered. So it it's uh it's it's ash, then mist, then meth, then roam, then belial.

Ashley: 41:22
Who the fuck is Rome? Rom? Right. It's spelled R-A-U-M, not R-O-M-E-E. So bad.

Jonathan: 41:31
You gotta listen. You gotta listen. That's what it is. But yeah, so it follows there's just like the it's just like that. Like I didn't like Devraj as a character. It just wasn't I love Dev.

Ashley: 41:42
You stopped.

Jonathan: 41:42
It was not my cup of tea, right? So but so I get where you're coming from. But yeah, there, I mean it's not the first, like, there's characters, yeah. But I definitely I enjoyed Mist. I enjoyed how naive he keeps like a struggle. Like I envision Mist as like a uh like a like uh just a lackey. Is that the is that a is that an appropriate term?

Ashley: 42:05
Like just somebody who's no, he's a baby, he's the babiest of them all, and he deserves his own book, but not number two.

Jonathan: 42:12
Okay, you you think he should have been like a three?

Ashley: 42:14
No, he should have been like four. You complete the brother. Teach him how to be a human first before he jumps into a relationship. And now he's just jumping into his own freaking book. What the hell?

Jonathan: 42:23
You gotta cap it off with the big dog. You gotta cap it off with the who's the who's the brothers, the brother group who had a

Jonathan: 42:30
 father in Marvel, but the brother was in a Tarzan, the blonde guy.

Ashley: 42:37
Oh boy, I don't know where you're going with this.

Jonathan: 42:39
Tarzan Tarzan movie. He's a blonde guy.

Ashley: 42:43
Yeah, there's like seven of them.

Jonathan: 42:45
Yeah, but the one that's ripped like a mother trucker.

Ashley: 42:49
Alexander?

Jonathan: 42:50
Is that the one he's in Tarzan?

Ashley: 42:51
In Tarzan. Yeah, Alexander.

Jonathan: 42:53
Okay, that's how I imagine Belliel.

Ashley: 42:58
No, I could see that.

Jonathan: 42:60
No, he grows to seven feet tall and has that blonde hair.

Ashley: 43:03
No, he's way too thin. You're thinking you gotta think like Alex Gand Alexander Skarsgard height, but like the width of Thor. What's his name? One of the Chris's Hemsworth. Like John Cena bulky.

Mari: 43:18
That's true. He was really bulky.

Ashley: 43:20
He yeah, no, we're not talking tall and thin. I think that was Rome.

Mari: 43:24
I really like the the Bell characteristic of him like wanting to take care of people and cook for them. How it like calmed him. That was his art. That was I was gonna say it's his outlet.

Ashley: 43:35
Yeah. That was super cute.

Mari: 43:40
Yeah.

Mari: 43:41
Have you have you read all of them, uh, Jonathan?

Jonathan: 43:44
I have I have not read all of them. I'm further along in them, of course, than Ashley is, but book five hasn't arrived yet. It's one of those things where like if all the spines make a picture, so I need to have so I have to have them, number one. Whether I read them or not, can have an incomplete picture. That would just be silly. But then also, like, shout out to Aurora because I just like she'll she'll talk to you on social media. I don't know if she was bored. She like she had a she had a kid this year. She's in Canada. She's not traveling to the US. And I was like, hey, get all these books. It'd be really cool. Uh I wish you were coming. I'd have you sign them. And like I got like four or sorry, I got five signed book plates off of her. And like I paid her for them. I paid her for them. But like then she sent like a sticker pack and stuff. I'm sure it's somewhere on my desk. But it was like, yeah.

Ashley: 44:36
No typos in those.

Jonathan: 44:37
No typos in those. They're hand-drawn. Like like you like you could tell she made her own stickers for it.

Ashley: 44:43
Investive.

Jonathan: 44:44
Yeah. So it was just, she was just there's a not every author with a with that type of a following is responsive. And she does have um a significant amount of followers on Instagram. Well, she has over 10,000 followers. So I don't know. It's not like 80,000, but also like other other authors like Abigail Owen will respond every now and again. It's it's just interesting to me how many in general how authors will reply to you versus how a celebrity, like well, not that they're not celebrities, but like you're not gonna get a talk show host to tell to like be like, hey, what's going on? Best good bud. You know, but an author will oftentimes be sorry, will be oftentimes be responsible, responsive, um, regardless of the amount of authors. Some I struggle to like chat with, like, who gives me who's not responsive. And rightfully so.

Ashley: 45:48
Calling anybody out, yeah.

Jonathan: 45:50
But and rightfully so.

Mari: 45:54
Like if they're busy writing, they might have somebody who's who who they've hired, like an assistant or whatever, to do their social media to manage all that.

Jonathan: 46:01
Correct. I just keep changing my username and texting them anyway. No, I'm I'm teasing. I don't do that. That's just joking.

Mari: 46:07
Do not people don't do that. Do not harass these authors.

Jonathan: 46:10
That's called stalking. Don't. That's a book theme.

Mari: 46:13
I will say I it wasn't until after I read this book and I was looking at the other books that Aurora Asher wrote that I realized I'd read another book by her. If you like her writing and are interested in a circus vibes kind of feeling, Sanctuary of the Shadow is has a little bit of fantasy and circus vibes going with it that she also wrote.

Jonathan: 46:39
Oh very nice.

Mari: 46:45
I think to me, this book reminded me heavily, and this may be dating myself, but of the the old charmed TV show.

Jonathan: 46:55
Okay.

Mari: 46:56
Did you watch the you guys watch the old charmed TV show?

Jonathan: 46:60
Uh, we watch

Jonathan: 47:00
 it for different reasons.

Mari: 47:02
Maybe the same. Was it Alyssa Milano?

Jonathan: 47:05
No. Shannon Dharty for me.

Mari: 47:07
That's right. We've had this conversation. No, no, okay.

Jonathan: 47:11
She's the one I just abuse me, Shannon, abuse me.

Mari: 47:14
There were a lot of different like supernatural creatures in that TV show. And also there was like the family element with the sisters. And also there was a society of watchers. Like Eva's dead in this was supposed to be a watcher. There's there's watchers in this, which I mean that isn't a brand new concept. I mean, Anne Rice had the Talamasca in her series that was the Watchers, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer had was it Giles was a watcher. So the the concept of a group of humans or beings whose job it is to watch things is not new. But between that and the family element and all the supernatural elements, plus some angel stuff thrown in there. If you enjoyed this book, I would I would give the old charmed a try. Maybe even the new charmed. The new charmed didn't work for me, I think, because I'm too strong on the nostalgia train for the old charmed, to be honest.

Jonathan: 48:06
There's a new charmed?

Mari: 48:07
There is a new charmed, just a few years old now. I really wanted to like it. So I think it's like mainly Latina sisters. Um and it just in my brain kept wanting it to be the old TV show.

Jonathan: 48:21
It's hard to replicate some stuff, you know, or like to like recreate. I think that once you get that thing cooking, it's challenging to uh to like reinvent it in the same way.

Mari: 48:33
Like I struggle with just try new things, like give something like heated rivalry a chance. Like let people try new things, and you will be surprised what sticks, you know?

Jonathan: 48:43
Oh yeah.

Mari: 48:44
Definitely. Question Had anybody heard of the My Funny Valentine song before this book?

Jonathan: 48:50
No. Did you go unless did you know it before?

Mari: 48:53
I did. I actually have a I have an experience, I have a memory. I was in high school and we did like, you know, recitals. Like I played an instrument, so we did, you know, Woodward ensemble and whatnot. And I remember I was at a recital in high school, and there was a a girl, because I mean it was high school, we were all young, who sang this song, and she had a she had a deep voice, and so it had this very sultry jazz singer vibe. And I was like, oh my god, what is this song? And it's been it's been one of my favorite songs ever since I heard it live. It's got a lot of like minor chords and keys in it, so it's a love song, but it's also feels kind of sad and odd. Like the music itself makes you feel that way. It's a great song. It's not very long. I would highly recommend looking it up and listening to it if you haven't.

Jonathan: 49:48
Nice. Yeah, I think I will I will definitely listen to it as inspiration.

Ashley: 49:55
Which means that I'll listen to it by default. It's not quiet.

Jonathan: 49:58
And then you'll listen to it while I sing it in my because you'll you'll listen to it. You'll get like you're gonna get the temu version, which is basically me singing it in a different room, top of my lungs. Is there words to it? There are words to it? There are words to it, yeah. Good. Good. That's how I like it.

Mari: 50:13
There's not like a ton of them. It's my funny Valentine, sweet comic Valentine. You make me smile with my heart. Your looks are laughable, unphotographable, yet you're my favorite work of art. Is your figure less than Greek? Is your mouth a little weak? When you open it to speak, are you smart? But don't change a hair for me. Not if you care for me. Stay little Valentine's Day. Each day is Valentine's Day.

Ashley: 50:39
Oh.

Mari: 50:39
Yeah.

Jonathan: 50:40
And you don't want to hear me sing that to you, actually?

Ashley: 50:42
I didn't say anything about it.

Jonathan: 50:44
Go into a meeting. It's always it's always when it's time to sing. When you the moment you log in, Eddie Swims comes on. I can't stop myself.

Ashley: 50:57
That's it.

Mari: 50:58
I highly recommend listening to this song. I think it's a good one. Now for the real question. The question we all expected and know the answer to, right, Ash? Forgot.

Ashley: 51:18
It's like that one traumatic memory that you block out.

Jonathan: 51:22
You think it's traumatic to answer this question? I Kelly and I are not in on this joke. I don't know what's happening right now.

Ashley: 51:31
This is a kissing book, yes.

Jonathan: 51:34
Okay, I agree. I think it's a kissing book.

Mari: 51:39
Kelly, what do you think?

Kelly: 51:41
I mean, I guess it meets all the requirements. Listen, I'm here for the case. I agree.

Mari: 51:48
I think it's a kissing book. Like I I there's no way that they would have that the story would have happened without them falling for each other. Regardless of whether it was just lust at the beginning. It doesn't matter. Like eventually what it turned into was enough

Mari: 52:00
 to, you know, break a curse and to stand up to family and tradition and the powers of you know heaven and cosmic powers.

Jonathan: 52:12
I'm not gonna lie, I do two things before we record. Number one, I all I I open up the the shared doc and I look at all the links. I open up the links and I read all that stuff. Number two, I look at Kelly's good reads. Because I want to know what I'm in for.

Jonathan: 52:30
And I'm here.

Jonathan: 52:33
I love yeah, I love it every time. I'm not even gonna lie. Like I'm here for Kelly. Um this is like you, Kelly. I don't know if you know this, but you are the light of of my reading life.

Kelly: 52:46
That's sad.

Jonathan: 52:49
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is exact precisely that's those are the that that's why you're tuning in. Those those one-liners right from right from Kelly. You don't get them anywhere else.

Ashley: 52:59
I'm not gonna lie, I do get very excited when Kelly's into something because I know it takes a lot, right? Like the bar is high for Kelly, and it's been a minute. I thought for sure he was gonna like the Daniel L. Jensen book. Like, I didn't think that book sucked at all, and it was just not his jam, apparently. I come into this blind, Jonathan Reads Goodreads before he gets here.

Jonathan: 53:23
I gotta go check the Kelly thermometer.

Ashley: 53:25
That's what no, I would be surprised. We're gonna learn together.

Jonathan: 53:29
You go you're flying blind. Yeah. No, I want to see it coming. You want to see the trauma coming. I because I so when I'm like, hey Kelly, what'd you think? Oh, I know. And I just want to I want it. Lay it on me, spray it on. I just want to rub it on my chest, Kelly. Give it to me.

Mari: 53:46
Yeah, I love I love the different perspective that everybody brings. Because it's that's the fun about talking about books. If everyone thought the exact same as you, then it would just be boring.

Jonathan: 53:55
Exactly. Exactly.

Mari: 53:57
We are not the Borg.

Jonathan: 53:59
No. No A cornucopia of opinions.

Mari: 54:06
Anything else before I wrap it up?

Jonathan: 54:09
Just uh so who would you recommend it to?

Mari: 54:11
I would recommend it to anyone who liked Charmed, especially the old the old series. Like 100% if you're a fan of Charmed, give it a try. It may be your your cup of tea. I would also recommend it to anyone who's a fan of Christian mythology. Like if you like Nephilim, Angel, the hierarchy, those kinds of stories are your jam, 100%.

Jonathan: 54:33
Awesome. I love it.

Mari: 54:37
Alright. Anything else before we wrap it up?

Ashley: 54:41
No, I feel good about this. Okay.

Mari: 54:43
Alright, so thanks for listening to Of Swords and Soulmates. Before we go, make sure to check out the show notes, rate, review, and subscribe to us on your podcast app of choice. It helps others to find us. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok at Of Swords and Soulmates. Check us out on our website, of Swordsandsoulmates.com. If you'd like to offer a suggestion for a future episode, book, or discussion topic, feel free to reach out to us on the DMs of any of those options. If you want to read along with us as we prep for a new episode and get chapter-by-chapter interaction, join our Fable app Book Club by searching for the Of Swords and Soulmates Book Club. And last but not least, we hope you'll join us in two weeks for our next episode when we will be reading I Got Abducted by Aliens and Now I'm Trapped in a RomCom by Kimberly Lemming.

Jonathan: 55:27
I can't wait. I can't wait to have it since downloaded. I got this book on my on my nightstand immersive read. I am ready. There's yeah, there are some warnings in the front cover, I'm just saying.

Ashley: 55:47
Going in blind, guys.

Jonathan: 55:48
Godspeed Kimberly.