In part two of our discussion of NOCTICADIA by KERI LAKE yr grls dive into chapters 39 - epilogue.

Does the ambiguity of an HEA in horror make it impossible (if already strange) bedfelllows with romance? What is the appeal of "dark" romance and what is the bright side for those of us who don't lean into taboo? TWINS???

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Stop twitching, that isn't the fluttering of dusty moth wings in your ear - its yr grls discussing NOCTICADIA by KERI LAKE.

Lilia Vespertine is a destitute but extraordinarily hot smart orphan in evil Baltimore who happens to get a mysterious full ride to spooky Dracadia University - a private institution on an isolated island with a 30-year-old tenured professor of...biology? I guess? Let's see if you can guess what he looks like. If you screamed "ADAM DRIVER!!!!!". Yeah. You're right. You got it. They both, unbeknownst to one of them (no points for guessing this one), share a research interest in these specific moths and their gooey babies. But it turns out...sing along it if you know it...that is not the only interest they share. Nor, the only mystery...

How does horror work, or not work, with romance? What is the itch that dark romance or taboo romance scratches? Can all this be solved by the appointment or a new Provost? Okay, sure, but what about a more robust student council?

Don your velvets. We're putting the slimthicc (ah, those were the days) in Gothic.

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Don't be scared! That is just the loud cracking of our ankles over a totally normally recording of Whoa!mance's discussion of THE RUIN OF EVANGELINE JONES by JULIA BENNET.

The titular Evie is a psychic medium scammer under the control/support of a Svengali type. Harcastle is a Due under the oppression of his dead father. Plus his hobby is busting fake spiritualists in Victorian London. But, Evie is tempting in that mysterious buttoned-up-but-secret-nudie-photo-past that maybe...just maybe...he'll be doing bustin' of a different kind. Please don't tell anyone that I wrote that.

What isn't a gothic romance (shoutout to Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights trailer)? Why would you include a plucky child and/or dog in your novel? What IS good pacing anyway?

Touch pinkies and tuck winkies - this seance we're summoning a big ol' Whoa.

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Welcome to the Shadow Daddy Bracket: Final Four, where our pleasures are interrogated and pitted against one another. Our contenders? Rochester brooding in his attic-bound domestic gothic, Rhysand a fae High Lord wielding sovereignty and seduction, a couple of aristocrats flexing thier authority, and Buffy’s Angel/Spike—vampiric embodiments of tortured desire and ethical ambiguity.

But the bracket isn’t just about who wins a romance face-off. We’re also asking: why now? At a moment of resurgent authoritarianism, and renewed assaults on feminist gains, the cultural magnetism of shadow daddies feels especially charged. Join us as we illuminate the shadows and the allure, tackling the familiar pleasures and the deeply unsettling things it may reveal about us.

#shadowdaddy #bracket #romance #romantasy #acotar

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Shadow Daddy's abound. But how do you pick the best one? what would the best even mean? How do you quantify or categorize the shadows and the daddies?

Morgan and Isabeau developed a tournament style bracket ranking the shadow daddies of the past, present, and super natural--follow along and make your own!

Who will take the crown?

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Morgan and Isabeau return to the back half of Quicksilver—and yes, the vampires have arrived. With plenty of biting insights, they unpack what makes for a strong first-person narrative (and what can throw it completely off kilter). Then it’s on to the heart of romantasy: shadow daddies and fated mates. Why do some bonds feel electric while others fall flat? She's just the most beautiful mortal in two realms with magical abilities and a seemingly bottomless anxiety spiral. He's a prince, a lord and a tortured big brother just trying to make things right. All the ingredients are on the page but this pound town cake is giving yr grls trouble.

Maybe it takes more than magic tattoos and a surly disposition to make the romance in romantasy?

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This week we’re diving deep into the shadowy (haha) corners of QuickSilver—where Saeris Fane finds herself escaping a burning kingdom in the arms of a shadow daddy by the name of Kingfisher. Badass tattoos and appellation aside what makes a shadow daddy? Is it literally just commanding shadows and six pack? Is it the brooding and the martyr complex? Kingfisher checks all the boxes, and with a winning backstory and clear motivation so does Saeris--so what's the hold up?

Follow along in this two parter where we unpack what we are really attracted to when our heroines get tangled in the fantasy of female subjugation. We're ready to do the work on this 1800 year old manchild--but is he?

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Doff your strawiest cap, we're on a summer holiday to Cornwall with "A Shore Thing" by Joanna Lowell.

Muriel has been pigeon-holed into presenting on seaweed instead of her preferred botany interests. Thankfully, the English seaside is not only home to many kelps but also one Kit, a painter who Muriel initially admires as an illustrator of flora and later as an igniter of her more...fauna instincts. Kit is finally living as himself (though not out as trans, this is 1888) and doesn't want to...rock the boat. But that's what falling in love is all about! There's a bicycle race as well.

When it comes to character development, what's the difference between personal history and personality? What can cozy romances show us about the unique pacing challenges in romance, broadly? And, in this day and age, what does it mean to be tender with the lads?

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Do...do you hear that? That-that...throbbing hum? Then adjust your speakers! You're gonna wanna hear us discuss THRUM by MEG SMITHERMAN.

Astronaut Ami is the lone survivor of a mysterious accident that killed the rest of her crew. It also means she is the lone Earthling guest of the extra-terrestrial calling himself Dorian Gray. I bet you can see where this is going...(no, you definitely can't, actually) (but it is a Happily Ever After?).

What are the contours of the sci-fi or horror romance? What are the contours of the gothic romance? What are the contours of sentient object romance while we're at it?

Set phasers to OH GOD THE HORRORS THE HORRORS!!!!!!! and tune in.

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It is a renn fest season and Pride month. Perfect time to chat about chapters 1 through 8 of Yield Under Great Persuasion by Alexandra Rowland

Tam and Lyford get it on like all the time. Much to Tam's chagrin. Not that it is like a non-con situation, just that he hates how much he likes having sex with the Lord. For...reasons. And pretty much everything else. His god/desses, his little village with a cute downtown, himself, maybe all women. In spite of this (fittingly) he is sent on a quest to like just be chill about it and maybe come to terms with enjoying the company of Lord Lyford.

Can a beautiful world, alone, make a story beautiful? Does Romantasy cease without angst (pronounced aughnstuh)? Did your county fair host any good orgies?

Please, only drink a reasonable amount of tea before this one. The ep might raise your blood pressure all on its own.

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Well we stood and are now delivering to you part 2:

This episode covers chapter 15 through the epilogue of THROUGH A DARK MIST by MARSHA CANHAM, book 1 of the Black Wolf Trilogy.

To recap we learn that not only is Lucien Wardieu Lord of Bloodmoor Keep, he is also a highwayman, is not dead in the crusades, and gains a whole new identity as Eleanor of Aquataine's most decorated and loyal knight.

But rest assured gentle readers, young Servanne learns to love all of these identities and will passionately join the fight to oust the bastard brother and his extremely sexually liberated consort and restore Lucien to his ancestral home. Or at least that's the project we thought Lucien was on, but as things unfold and the villains lose interesting dimension the back drop of 1991 comes into focus and so too does the cultural war. Is a woman only as good as her perceived potential motherhood? Is this just a big door stop of slut shame? Have we come so far only to hurtle ourselves back onto the dark shores of the 90s?

Keep your cross bows handy--there's trouble ahead

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What ho! A new challenge faces yr grls as they attempt a new format. An intentional two-parter! This episode covers the prologue through chapter 14 of THROUGH A DARK MIST by MARSHA CANHAM, book 1 of the Black Wolf Trilogy.

Lucien Wardieu is Lord of Bloodmoor Keep. Or he is a highwayman. Or he is dead in the crusades. Or he is basically Robin Hood. Or he is basically Satan. In any case, young widow Servanne is headed right toward him - to become his bride and Lady of Bloodmore Keep and/or become his captive in semi-magical woods. Confused? Don't be. One Lucien Wardieu has brown hair and the other one is blond.

What does this novel set ca.1194 tell us about life under late-capital in 1991? How can a novel show without telling? Do you think this villainess will shake out to be an interest, fully realized character by the end of the book?

Stand, deliver, and don't forget to read chapters 15 - Epilogue for the next eppy.

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Over one frenzied month Morgan read all five of Emily Henry's original adult romance novels. Along the way, she lost herself. She turns to Isabeau to help her trace her way back, though the work and the public and personal reception.

What differentiates a romance novel from everything else? And what can we learn from a breakthrough star?

Assumptions are challenged. Late capital is contoured. The word "prophylactic" is uttered.

Featuring special guest appearance by a piece of loose leaf notebook paper with a completely normal matrix of EH novels!

This one is quite different from our usual stuff, but maybe you will still like it (almost unlike Emily Henry novels in every way).

Isabeau references Love the One You're With and Baby Proof by Emily Giffin.

The Substack post Morgan references is, in fact, a poorly remembered comments thread on this piece.

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Hold your nose and close your eyes - we're jumping feet first into DEEP END by ALI HAZELWOOD.

Scarlett Vandermeer attends real-life American University Stanford on a diving scholarship. Tall, blond, Swedish, heavily-siblinged (ring any bells?) Lukas Blomqvist (...sure) attends the same very real school and is swim team captain. Other common interests include attending medical school someday, working in the lab of a previous Hazelwood main character, BDSM, and Scarlett's only friend/Lukas's secret ex Penelope. Will these two ever be able to don the goggles of love and truly see one another through the stinging chlorine of circumstance?

Is real person fic as toxic as it is pervasive? Who are trigger warnings for and what do they actually do and are they as toxic as they are pervasive? For such a clean dive, how did this book manage such a big splash?

You can fear the tree all you want, but remember that it is Whoa!mance who will judge you.

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It's an Easter Miracle! Christos Anesti--or in this case handsome dead stranger is risen, in more ways than one!

Sacrilegious dick jokes aside--this one has it all! Earnestly weird heroine with a mean brother and rambling estate. Hot stranger who doesn't get why the smart and pretty rich lady is in to him, and you know a monster roaming the woods. This Frankenstein retool by Sally Thorne of The Hating Game fame cooks up a hot mystery on a resurrection slab, and revives Isabeau and Morgan from their reading slump. But the religious undertones don't stop with this come back, nor the problems facing romance and ultimately all of us. Join yr girls for a deep dive as they revisit this author on her new and imaginative swing. No friends of Lazarus required

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Isabeau found a romance from a free library--the cover was gorgeous, the title bananas.

The premise: a revolutionary American privateer kidnaps a british artisto named Season and then proceeds to gaslight her and the reader about his varied identities against the backdrop of the American War for Independence. Season, a classically plucky coddled only child with ginormous boobs changes her politics, when love opens her eyes to "freedom" but does the book understand it's own 80s hottakes? What does incrementalism get us in the end?

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This week, we tackle Charolette Stein's When Grumpy Met Sunshine, a listener request that's keeping us honest! We've reviewed this author previously and concluded then that we would like to read her again later. Listeners we did.

When Grumpy Met Sunshine is a romance that pits supposed opposites against each other with mixed results. Mabel is a ghost writer with a predictable penchant for bright clothes, and Alfie is an ex-footballer from the wrong side of the tracks with a wardrobe like Johnny Cash. How couldn't these goofs fall in love or dry hump at a Beyonce concert? From shared bad dads, to some pretty funny social media mishaps we explore how this particular story’s struggle with its own self-consciousness (a trend in current romance) seems to illuminate something brittle. The weight of modern romance expectations? The translation of fanfic into fic fic?

If every trope shines this brightly are we not all blind?

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