Kris 0:20
Hello everyone and welcome to Queerly Recommended, the podcast where we recommend queer books, TV shows, movies and more. I’m Kris Bryant, a contemporary romance writer with almost 20 books and novellas about women loving women. And I’m expanding that later this spring with my next book, Forever.
Tara 0:37
Yeah, you are. And I am Tara, I review queer women’s fiction at The Lesbian Review, Lambda Literary and Smart Bitches Trashy Books. So if you need more recommendations than what you get just in this show, you can go hit me up for reviews at all those places. If you would like to support our show, we do have a link to Kofi in our show notes. It’s a site where people can support their favorite content creators like us. Absolutely no pressure. If, you know, if you’re interested, that’s amazing. If you’re not, that’s cool, too. You can always also just tell a friend who needs a queer book or TV show or video game in their life. Something Kris and I are especially excited about is that this weekend, we’ve been talking about this for a couple episodes now. But this weekend, the time is now, it is coming. It is The Lesbian Review’s Sexy Reads Event. It is running from February 18 to 20th. You can still get tickets over on The Lesbian Review’s website. We are both participating, we are each participating in a panel. And I am most excited, we are live recording a bonus episode of Queerly Recommended as part of the event. We’ve never recorded a live episode before where people watch us, we’ll see how it goes?
Kris 1:48
I might actually like do something with my mop of a hair and not wear a hoodie. Maybe.
Tara 1:55
I will probably wear a hoodie. Well, maybe I won’t. Who’s to say? Anything could happen? Will I iron a shirt?
Kris 2:02
Shirt? What’s that? It’s got to be a pullover. We’re at the pullover stage of this pandemic.
Tara 2:10
You’re doing, you’re doing great. And so if you want to be a part of that, and we’re actually going to do it so that there’s a chance for people to live ask us questions while we’re recording that. Definitely, please make sure to sign up for that. We can’t wait to see some of you all there. The link is in the show notes to where you can learn more about the event overall, and where you can get your ticket.
Kris 2:33
Will we actually be able to see our attendees Do you know? Do you know if it’s gonna be like a massive Zoom?
Tara 2:40
Ah, yeah, I’m pretty sure it is. I think it’s just, I believe it’s going to be a Zoom Room. And so we’ll be asking people to submit their questions via the chat and then we’ll have time at the end of the session where we’ll be able to answer them all. But yeah, if you folks show up and if you turn on your camera, we’ll be able to see all your cute little smiling faces, which would be pretty great.
Kris 3:01
And your pets. Bring your pets because-
Tara 3:03
Oh yeah, bring your pets.
Kris 3:04
Bring your pets.
Tara 3:05
I mean, I won’t but you all should.
Kris 3:08
Yes, we want to see other people’s pets.
Tara 3:11
Yeah, I’m not bringing a geriatric dog who has opinions.
Kris 3:14
I know, my crippled dog, I hold her up high. You know, she’s just not. She’s not gonna be happy with me.
Tara 3:19
No, no. So Kris?
Kris 3:23
Yes.
Tara 3:23
What have you been reading or watching lately?
Kris 3:27
Okay, so I was on a Survivor Australia kick. I watched Contenders vs Champions. I finished that up. And then I rolled right into All Stars. So it’s like season four and season five because they were only available, like they just dropped seasons one, two, and three on Paramount Plus, but I mean, I already know like who won those so do I want to watch them? No. I guess they have a new season that dropped or you know, it’s going on right now. So I think I could probably Google it. Or maybe look at Netflix. I’m not quite sure where I could find it. I’ll have to look but I’ll probably try to get that started. I not even gonna talk about NFL.
Aww, come on. So are you just skipping the Superbowl, is the Superbowl dead to you this year.
Super Bowl is dead to me. It’s already long gone since this podcast, so I’m not even gonna watch it. I didn’t watch it. How about that?
Tara 4:21
When is it?
Kris 4:22
It is actually the day we are recording this. It is tonight.
Tara 4:26
Oh, is it happening today? Oh, you’re you’re boycotting it spending that time with me
Kris 4:30
Well, you know, I’m not really boycotting it just like I didn’t give a shit about the teams that won.
Tara 4:35
Yeah.
Kris 4:35
I just you know, and I used to watch the Superbowl because of the commercials. Like that’s what everybody says. But the commercials always leaked early now. And so you can just go and Google 2022 Superbowl commercials and I can see them all like in 18 minutes and I don’t even have to waste four hours of my night.
Tara 4:53
Yeah, you can go watch all the crypto commercials on YouTube.
Kris 4:56
Exactly. That’s true. So yeah, so I’m not doing that. I did start Reacher on Amazon Prime. And thankfully Tom Cruise is not in this one.
Tara 5:08
Hurray.
Kris 5:09
I know. So it’s basically he’s a military police officer. He’s retired, and he just like, shows up in town and nobody knows why he’s there. And he’s just like, he has like all these metals, his military background, heavy military background. So he’s there to help figure out a slew of dead bodies and what’s happening? So it’s like a thriller, slash, I don’t even know what to call it. It’s based on books by Lee Child.
Tara 5:36
Hmm.
Kris 5:37
And here’s the weird thing. So I recently read a book where Lee Child was referenced. And then I turned around, and all of a sudden, I’m watching it. I’m like, “Oh, my gosh, I just read about this”.
Tara 5:49
No way.
Kris 5:50
It was really cool. So speaking of which, get this. I finished, I hit my target, my second deadline that I was working on. So I actually had time to read.
Tara 6:00
No.
Kris 6:01
Yes.
Tara 6:02
Hasn’t it been months since you’ve been able to read?
Kris 6:04
Oh, my gosh, yeah it felt like it for sure. It has been a very long time
Tara 6:07
Or reading words that were not written by you?
Kris 6:10
Exactly that doesn’t include editing my own shit. Like actual words. Yes. So I read Carsen Taite’s latest, that’s actually out today. It’s called Perilous Obsession. So if you like a thriller with some intrigue, and lesbian leads, then pick up the book.
Tara 6:27
She’s really, I mean, it’s anyone else writing that kind of thing? Because I feel like she’s really cornered that market. Like, there’s her, there’s a little bit of Radclyffe when she writes the Honor series. Yeah.
Kris 6:41
And that’s just within my publishing house. I’m sure that there’s a lot more out there that I’m just not aware of.
Tara 6:47
I think there might be a bit- I think Claire McNab maybe has done a bit of that with Bella, if I recall correctly, but I haven’t read any of it. So I might be recalling very incorrectly. I’m not confident.
Kris 6:59
We’ll just go with it.
Tara 7:01
Oh, and Cheryl Head writes lesbian mysteries for Bywater Books, and Ann Apptaker. Is that how do you say her last name? I can’t remember. I feel so bad. I spoke to her once on my old podcast.
Kris 7:16
But I think you’re right, Apptakers right. Because I always mispronounce people’s names. And I don’t mean to it’s just, it’s the way I learned how to how to read words-
Tara 7:26
In Germany.
Kris 7:27
Right. English is my second language. I tell people this all the time. German is my first language. So I have learned a whole different way to read. It’s a different way. And so…
Tara 7:37
Yeah. Do you still speak German with your mom at all?
Kris 7:41
(presumably a German world)
Tara 7:43
Alright.
Kris 7:43
Yes, I do. All the time. She yells at me all the time in German.
Tara 7:46
Do you yell back in German?
Kris 7:49
I don’t yell back.
Tara 7:51
Are you snarky in German?
Kris 7:53
Yes, I’m snarky. And I do get back. I you know, but she’s my mom. You know, I can only yell so much. And she knows, it’s a playful yell. It’s a playful yell. I haven’t really been mad at my mom in years. Anyway, yeah. So here’s something that you just found out about me.
Tara 8:10
Mm hmm. I did. It’s true. I’m still kind of surprised if I’m being honest. I’ve had like 12 minutes to deal with this information. And I’m just not used to yet.
Kris 8:19
So I secretly play games on my phone. Like, I mean, we all talk about Wordle. I mean, that’s like, that’s nothing and we’ve done like- I’ve done Razzle and I’ve done Words with Friends. And nobody likes to play with me. And-
Tara 8:33
That’s like with my mom, because my mom loves Words with Friends, and she’s real good at it. And it’s kind of a pain in the ass about.
Kris 8:40
Yeah. Oh, yeah. So I haven’t played that in a while though. So I took it off my phone because it was just like I became obsessive about it. So I had to take it off my phone. But a game that I do play every day is Toon Blast. And I’m on like level 4570-
Tara 8:57
Which means you have been playing for a while, like to get to that.
Kris 9:01
I have been playing for a while. Yes.
Tara 9:04
I’m looking this up. I’ve never even heard of this.
Kris 9:06
The reason why I got so pissed, because on the weekends. I’m on level 4609, the weekends are tournaments. And your team goes into tournament mode, and you play and you get as many stars as you can as a group. There’s 50 of you. And I stuck with this one team forever, literally forever. And they just sucked it so bad. I finally had to bail. So like I have been on probably maybe six teams since I started playing this. People will kick you off. If you do not meet a certain star requirements over the weekend. They will kick you off your team. They’ll just yeah, they are some like crazy like not crazy, but just like really, like vigilent people that play this all the time they play it from you know the minute the tournament starts on Friday up until that the time it ends.And if you don’t have a certain amount of stars that you contributed to the team, you’re off. So I have been kicked off because you know I do write, I have-
Tara 10:04
Yeah you have a life.
Kris 10:06
So I joined this other team. But as I joined it on the weekend that I don’t get- like my stars don’t count until the next weekend. Because I don’t want to like hopping because you get extra, like coins that you can buy extra things with. And so anyway, so yeah, so secretly, I’m a gamer, but it’s like such a nerd game that’s not really interactive. Other than the weekend that I was afraid to tell everybody, but I will not be game shamed anymore. I am a Toon Blaster.
Tara 10:33
I feel like you have been shaming yourself. I don’t know why you are yelling about this. I am supportive of your phone game. I mean, I get super sucked into the occasional phone game. I haven’t stuck with any one for as long as you must have stuck with this one. But I would you know, like Merge Dragons is one that I got into for a while. My kids last weekend got me into this one called Cookie Run Kingdom. And now like I’m more obsessed with it than they are and I might just have to take it off my phone because it’s-
Kris 11:02
Yes! That’s what I had to do with Words with Friends. I had to take it off my phone. It’s a discipline thing, because it’s like I have no discipline. It’s like, “Oh, I’ve got more games to play”.
Tara 11:13
Yeah. Over the weekend, I had an edible and was like pretty baked and was switching back and forth between like that on my phone. And then a game that I had up on my Nintendo Switch and Neil was like, “Uhh, you’re such a degenerate.”
Kris 11:29
But I have games. I have games to play.
Tara 11:32
You do.
Kris 11:32
I get it. I get it. I get it. I’m with you.
Tara 11:35
Mm hmm.
Kris 11:36
So that’s what I’ve been watching and reading this time. What about you, Tara, what are you reading, writing, watching, playing?
Tara 11:46
All the things.
Kris 11:48
Right.
Tara 11:48
So I mean, of course, I continue on my ride or die relationship with Drag Race, although my favorite queen has had to leave Drag Race season 14.
Kris 12:01
Why?
Tara 12:02
She injured herself. She got an injury and so she had to leave. And this happened with Drag Race UK and I’m hoping that it’s not going to end up being a weird boring season like the last season of Drag Race UK used to be. There’s still some really strong queens there soo I think it still has the potential to be a good season, but I’m just kind of reserving judgment now. I’ve gone from like actively excited about the season to I don’t know we’ll see how it goes. But they’ve also, since the last episode, they’ve also started- It’s kind of like an international version of All Stars. And it’s called Drag Race UK Versus The World.
Kris 12:39
Cool.
Tara 12:39
And so they’ve brought back three former UK queens. I think it might just be two of the Americans. One of them is Jujubee, she’s been on All Stars twice, she was on her season was and like now there’s all these memes and jokes about how she’ll show up for anything, like let’s keep bringing her back. So funny. Like just RuPaul crashing. Was it the- Have you ever seen a meme where it’s like somebody opens the door and it’s just like, halfway up the door there was snow and then a cat bounds through the snow? And so it wasn’t me was that where it was supposed to be like “RuPaul announcing another series and Jujubee showing up to be a part of it”.
A couple of Canadian Queens from the first season of Canada’s Drag Race. They had one from Holland and one from Thailand. But the cool thing about the one from Thailand is that she had never competed because she was the host, like she was one of the judges.
Kris 13:32
Oh wow.
Tara 13:33
I don’t know for sure about host I never watched the series but like she’d only ever been a judge on Thailand’s Drag Race. And so everybody’s like, “Are you nervous? You’ve never had to compete before.” She fucking crushed. That first episode was so good. Like so polished, so talented. So I’m super excited about that one. I am still watching Queer Eye. I am in season three, which means they’re in your city, Kansas City.
Kris 14:06
Wooo So you get to see my town? My people, my town.
Tara 14:09
I do but- and as I’m watching it, I’m like, “Oh, I wonder if Kris will take me to this place?”
Kris 14:14
Totally will. Come on over.
Tara 14:19
It looks like a fun, like it just looks like a really cool, fun place.
Kris 14:23
It is very small. But there are a lot of things to do. Yeah, for sure. I had a couple of my friends came in from out of town. They were in California and they came here to stay the weekend and like after, you know, we just kind of drove them around. They’re like “Okay, so, so that’s it?” They’re from San Francisco. I’m like, “Okay, this is my little town”.
Tara 14:46
That sounds kind of like Calgary if I’m being honest. And at least you all have barbecue because we-
Kris 14:53
`We have barbecue.
Tara 14:55
-don’t. There was one place that did Kansas style barbecue. Actually they did a few different- they offered a few different styles and it was really good. And sadly it closed. And I haven’t forgiven the property owners for hiking the rent on that restaurant.
Kris 15:08
I will 100% You come here and I will take you to the real barbecue places.
Tara 15:14
And that’s what I want.
Kris 15:15
Yeah, I will give you the real places. Yeah.
Tara 15:17
Yeah, that is what I want. It’s good. I like this season. There’s some like really great, lovely episodes. None of them have made me cry so far. But it’s only been three. So there is still time. I find with Queer Eye that either I don’t cry at all. And I’m like, “Oh, that’s nice”. Or-
Kris 15:37
You’re bawling the whole time.
Tara 15:38
Yeah, I am a wreck. And I’m a shell of a human by the end of it, because I’ve cried out everything that I have.
Kris 15:43
Right. For sure.
Tara 15:47
It’s cathartic.
Kris 15:50
I’ll have to go back and revisit the season, because I watched it when it came out. That was, you know, years ago. So yeah, go back and watch it again. And I’ll take notes, and I’ll say, “Yes, we’ll go here. No, we won’t go here”. So I got you.
Tara 16:04
Hurray. I started a new game on my switch called GNOSIA. And it’s basically an infiltrator game or- which like the most famous infiltrator game, have you ever heard of Among Us?
Kris 16:19
No.
Tara 16:20
Reall?
Kris 16:20
Sounds like a scary movie. But no.
Tara 16:22
It does sound like a scary movie, it’s actually not a scary game at all. So it’s a sort of similar premise, but a lot more complicated. And definitely not like a multiplayer thing where you’re playing with a bunch of random strangers, you’re just playing the game. But the idea is that like you wake up from a cold sleep, and you are on a spaceship, and there’s the rest of the crew there. And two members – or however many once you get further into the game, you can determine how many or each role – but like two of the crew members have been infected by this like space virus that turns people into murderers. And you have to collectively, with the rest of the crewmates, decide who you’re going to put into a cold sleep. Because when they’re in that state, then the GNOSIA can’t murder people. And so it’s this like investigativive, you’re trying to persuade people. The art is super gorgeous.
Kris 17:18
Yeah, I’m looking at images now from it. It really is. Yeah,
Tara 17:21
Isn’t it beautiful? I love the art so much. And the writing is kind of twisty and interesting. And it’s one that like, I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t say that, like it’s specifically queer game as in you can go in and have romances and that kind of thing. But like there are non binary characters. And to me like the visual aesthetic just feels kind of queer, and the design of some of the characters, but that’s been kind of a fun one to get into. I can report back later how it pays off, but I’m really enjoying it for now.
Last thing is I am reading Count Your Lucky Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur. It is the third in her series following Written in the Stars and Hang the Moon. And I have been so freaking excited about this book because Margo gets her own book.
Kris 18:07
Yay, Margo.
Tara 18:08
Right? She is a really prominent side character in Written in the Stars. It’s about an actuary who gets together with an astrologer and the astrologer has an astrology app with a business partner. Margo is the business partner, the other half of this astrology app, and it is a second chance, friends to lovers. She reconnects with her childhood best friend. They had been like super super close all their lives. Her best friend had had this like on again off again thing with a boyfriend. And when she was off at one point, they had this like one really intense, highly sexual romantic thing going on. And then this boyfriend shows back up in her life and that was kind of it and they drifted apart. But now they’re brought back together in the present. 10 years later, you know, a divorce has happened. This friend had- there’s like water damage in her apartment or something that she needs somewhere to live and Margo just happens to have space. And so there’s some forced proximity.
Kris 19:09
Here, right next to my bed. There’s more space.
Tara 19:14
Exactly. So far it’s super cute. And I’m really enjoying it. So I mean, if anybody has read either of the other two books in the series and enjoyed it, I definitely recommend picking it up. It’s cute. It’s fun. It’s flirty. It’s a fabulous hideaway from all the bullshit of the world. I finding it perfect for that. Yeah, right. We all need a little bit.
Kris 19:37
We do.
Tara 19:39
So Kris?
Kris 19:40
Yes.
Tara 19:41
It’s that time it is what is your official recommendation?
Kris 19:46
So as I mentioned earlier in the podcast, I have had time to read.
Tara 19:52
Whooo.
Kris 19:53
But now I’m back into writing but anyway, but before I did that, I know. I read Jay’s Gay Agenda by Jason June.
Tara 20:03
I don’t know this book.
Kris 20:04
I know and you are gonna fucking love it. You of all people will love it. The whole time I’m reading it, I’m like, “Oh my god, it’s a Tara book!” Okay, but first I have to read you a little biography about Jason June.
Tara 20:19
Okay.
Kris 20:20
Jason June. It’s a two name first name like Mary Kate without the hyphen or the Olsen twin. This is like their biography.
Tara 20:27
This is amazing. I’m already in love.
Kris 20:30
It gets better. It gets better. Okay. Is a gender queer writer mermaid.
Tara 20:36
Yes. Still loving more
Kris 20:38
Who loves to create- Yeah, who loves to create picture books that mix the flamboyantly wacky, with the slightly dark and young adult contemporary rom coms full of love and lust and high jinks. So they had me at genderqueer writer mermaid. For, sure. I was in. I was in.
Tara 20:56
Yeah.
Kris 20:57
So I’ll read you the blurb.
Tara 20:58
Okay.
Kris 21:00
There’s one thing Jay Collier knows for sure. He’s a statistical anomaly as the only out gay kid in a rural Washington town. While all of his friends can’t stop talking about their heterosexual hookups and relationships, Jay can only dream of his own firsts, compiling a romance to-do list of all the things he hopes to one day experience: his gay agenda. Then against all odds, Jay’s family moves to Seattle, and he starts his senior year at a new high school with a thriving LGBTQIA+ community. For the first time ever, Jay feels like he’s found where he truly belongs. But as Jay begins crossing items off his list, he’ll soon be torn between his heart and his hormones, his old friends and his new ones. Because after all, life and love, don’t always go according to plan.
Tara 21:49
This sounds adorable.
Kris 21:51
It is so adorable. It really is. So Jay writes, this gay agenda. Like it has things like “Find a boyfriend, kiss a boyfriend, be the little spoon in a relationship.” And it’s all about him, you know, “My first kiss, the first time I see a penis in real life. The first time I have sex.” You know, he’s, he’s 17. And he turns 18 In the book, so the whole thing is about him. So when he moves to Seattle, and things start working out for him, his agenda changes. And so he crosses off things that he either wanted to change on his original agenda or things that he’s already accomplished from his agenda. Because all of a sudden, he’s there surrounded by people who are just like him. He went from being the loner and in, you know, nowhere, Washington, to being in Seattle, you know, the mecca of queerness. And so it’s kind of cool, because his gay agenda pops up throughout the book. Like I said, it changes as he’s changing and growing and learning. And we just, we- it’s just so refreshing to see the change in him so quickly. It’s so nice, you know, because most of time, you know, we have the hide, stay in the closet. But no, this was like, embrace your queerness. And like his best friend in Seattle is Max, and Max is in my head is Jonathan Van Ness, speaking of Queer Eye
Tara 23:13
Ooooh.
Kris 23:14
And that is who it is. I picture Jonathan the whole time. Like the very first time that they introduced themselves to Jay, I was like, “Okay, yeah”. And it’s, it’s, I think it’s all queers can relate to this, you know, even being a lesbian. I could totally relate to that, you know, the, the whole I want my first kiss with a girl, you know, I want to make out. It was just, it was so, so adorable, and it was a learning experience for him and the way he meets his love interests, or interest, I guess. Or maybe there’s more than one, who knows? Because guys, you know, teenagers, we all remember what that was like.
Tara 23:49
Mmmmhmmm
Kris 23:49
It’s just it was so cute. And like you said earlier, we just need something that’s just like so escapism. You know, this is kind of nice, because it reminds you of like, when you were young, and going through this and going through the changes, and you could just tell what was gonna happen, you knew what was gonna happen, because we’ve all been through it. So I recommend it just for… I thought the writing was really good. The storytelling was great, but just as kind of like our remembrance of what it was like, you know, when were queer….were, when we were queer. We still are.
Tara 24:23
Baby queers?
Kris 24:23
When we were baby queers. Littel queers.
Tara 24:27
You find this book?
Kris 24:28
You know, I was like, “Okay, I want to read something that’s a little different.” Because I read a lot of just lesbian romance. So I typed in “popular queer books of 2021”. And this showed up and I was like, I read it. I was like, “Oh, this looks really cute”.
Tara 24:43
Yeah.
Kris 24:44
And then I read the biography and I’m like, “Okay”. The gender queer writer mermaid, I’m like, “Fuck yeah, I’m in”.
Tara 24:52
Yeah.
Kris 24:53
Yeah. So I recommend it. I recommend it.
Tara 24:57
So cute.
Kris 24:58
Enough about me. What about you? What is your official recommendation?
Tara 25:02
I’m going with one that I mentioned a while back that I was reading because I finished it and I loved it. And it’s Demon Qquilibrium by friend of the podcast Cathy Pegau. And it’s just…I don’t know, I mean, how often do you get to read a book about lesbian demon hunters? First of all, let’s just start there. Just lesbian demon hunters.
Kris 25:26
Well, I do know one. Yes. KB Draper.
Tara 25:29
Right.
Kris 25:29
She literally, yeah, writes this Demon Hunter series.
Tara 25:32
There’s really not many. Okay, so now we’re up to two, we you know, there’s 100% more.
Kris 25:39
That’s true. Thank you, yes. 100% I love that.
Tara 25:43
Oh my God. Actually, I wonder if- I wonder if Lise MacTague wrote one. I think she might have. Okay, so perhaps it’s not 100%. But like, it has been a significant increase in the number. This is one where- so it’s two, the two love interests, Grace Carter is what’s called a magic source. And then Maggie is her catalyst. And what that means is that Grace has access to a buttload of magic. But Maggie is the one that really helps her harness it so that together they can use it as kind of like a weapon for taking down demons. Maggie is also the love of Grace’s life. And at the very beginning of the story, we actually see Grace has been searching for her for nine months, they’ve been forced to part. And when Grace finds Maggie, Maggie can’t remember her. And she doesn’t remember that the life they had together when they were brought together in- it’s this like demon hunting organization, the Order of St. Teresa, and they were this like super strong, like they were paired together. And that was where they became basically like, coworkers, but also lovers.
And the one thing that’s clear is that like their memories have been tampered with, but they don’t know why, they don’t know by whom, they don’t know what’s up. And so Maggie kind of goes along with it and she trusts Grace anyway. Which is good, because there’s some really big shit that’s going to happen. There’s the demon horde that wants, you know, they’re planning for an apocalypse. And so Grace and Maggie kind of need to save everybody.
The thing that’s cool about this book, it’s told in two timelines. So there’s 1897, when Grace and Maggie first meet, they begin their relationship, they learn how to use their magic, they become partners in both senses of the word. And then there’s also 1903, we can call that the present. And that’s, you know, when Grace finds Maggie again. And so it kind of goes back and forth, until the story effectively like brings the two together, and then we just stick with what’s happening in the present.
The thing that I found is that this is very much a plot driven story. I find that in lesfic, because, you know, we often- lesfic often equals lesbian romance to most people. And so we tend to expect, you know, often just straight up romance novels, or whatever. But those are often character driven. And this is- there is character growth. But I would say it is much more plot driven than character driven. And so the thing that’s kind of heartbreaking and lovely all at the same time, is because Maggie doesn’t remember Grace she actually has to, like, she has to fall in love with her all over again. And so we see them kind of fall in love twice, in a sense, although the second time, Grace still loves Maggie. And she’s loved her all along. And for me, that was some of the most just like (cute noise) It’s so- like, it’s so sweet.
Kris 28:33
Romantic.
Tara 28:34
And it’s so yeah, it’s so romantic, and so heartbreaking. But like, she loves Maggie so much and doesn’t want to push her too far. And so it’s that just like, patiently waiting and demonstrating what an incredible person she is. So that Maggie can’t help but fall in love with her. It’s just wonderful.
Kris 28:53
Can I say that- How cool would it be if you broke up with somebody and after nine months, you totally forgot about them? The world would be happier.
Tara 29:05
Uh huh.
Kris 29:06
If like all of your exes you forgot about them after nine months.
Tara 29:09
That will be nice, except in this case, they were forced apart and didn’t break up. They didn’t want to be separated. So that’s about-
Kris 29:16
Well yeah.
Tara 29:17
But yeah, I mean, if that could happen, whoo. Also could you imagine how much money could be made off of that business?
Kris 29:21
Yes, for sure. I can erase that person from your- And I know there’s like a ton of sci fi movies that do that where they come in and-
Tara 29:30
Oh, yeah, like Eternal Sunshine?
Kris 29:32
Like there’s a ton- Yeah, Eternal Sunshin is one. Even, what am I thinking of with Arnold? The Mars One. Total Recall. Total Recall.
Tara 29:41
Oh, I never saw that.
Kris 29:42
`Oh, yeah.
Tara 29:45
Yet again, Kris mentions a very famous movie that I have not seen.
Kris 29:52
Yup. So, that would be, that would be so, that would be amazing.
Tara 29:58
Mm hmm. No, it’s true.
Kris 30:00
I don’t know how we’d do it. But,anyway, I interrupted you, please.
Tara 30:02
That’s okay. No, I think that’s a good point. I agree with it. Let’s figure out how to monetize it.
Kris 30:08
Okay, because then we can quit our day jobs and do this all the time.
Tara 30:12
All the time. That’s how you end up with weekly episodes, people. Yeah, I just, I had a lot of fun with this one. The world building works for me, the magic system I thought was pretty interesting, especially that idea of needing two people to harness the magic and to make it work. I thought that was something I hadn’t quite seen before. This setting also worked, it felt kind of Western-y to me in parts, like part of the book takes place in New York, part of the book takes place in Wyoming. So it felt a little more Western-y with it being in Wyoming. So yeah, like, if you are interested in the idea of, you know, 20th century America, like turn of the 20th century America, but like demons, and demon hunters and lesbian demon hunters-
Kris 31:00
Sold.
Tara 31:01
Yeah, go for it. It’s gonna be a ton of fun. And there is a really strong mystery involved as well, because there is that question: why were they separated? Who separated them? Who decided to mess with their memories? What was there to gain? And so it’s kind of one of those books that it’s hard to put- you can’t put it easily into one genre box, because it has romance, it has mystery, it has paranormal, it has historical. Also, if you like those books, where there’s a little bit of everything. This is the one.
Kris 31:37
That’s it.
Tara 31:38
I say go get it.
Kris 31:39
Good.
Tara 31:40
That is all for this episode. Thank you so much everyone for joining us. If you have enjoyed the show, please make sure you subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts, you get notified whenever we release an episode and like I said earlier if you have a friend who you think would like a show please let them know, or you can support us the Kofi link in the show notes.
Kris 31:58
Or if you want to connect with us on your favorite social media site just reach out to queerlyrecommended on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, or email us at podcast@queerlyrecommended.com. Goodbye everyone.
Tara 32:11
Goodbye everybody
Kris 32:49
He’s just a fu-u-u-uck. Okay, I’ll start this over.
Tara 32:54
(laughing) Okay.
Kris 32:54
There’s, there’s one thing that… fuck. Fuck I’m drunk and I’m not.
Do you want me to read the blurb?
No, I think I can do this. There’s one thing Jay Collier knows for sure. He says t-t-to, he’s a stat-sta-sta (laughs) Forget it! So. Okay, anyway, blah blah blah.
I can’t hear you now. Did you hit a mute button or something-
(gasps) I did.
Tara 33:25
You did hit the mute button. Was that so that I can’t hear about how snarky you are? Did God decide to step in and say “Don’t shit talk-
Kris 33:34
Apparently I’m being censored. I got so excited that I sat on my little controller on my headset, my gaming headset. That was a oops. So, um-