Summary: We’ve all faced it, but for some it’s hard to do and fills us with guilt. What is DNF (not to be confused with DTF…) and why is it so important to abandon books when they do not serve you? 

DNF: Did Not Finish (you abandoned the book)

Holly DNFs when: There’s no page requirement, but her main rule of thumb is - if she thinks it, it’s already too late. The main driver? She no longer cares what is going to happen. She can get actively annoyed with characters, but for whatever reason she no longer cares about the future plot of the book. 

Devin DNFs when: she starts avoiding the book. When she needs to DNF, she essentially ghosts the book, focusing instead on chores, television, and crafting. She sometimes won’t even realize right away that it’s time to DNF until she recognizes that she hasn’t read in almost a week. 

Reading a book can sometimes feel like a relationship, and when things go wrong it’s natural for us to wonder if the problem is with… us. But there isn’t anything wrong with giving up on a book that doesn’t bring you joy. The key is to not waste time on books that bother you, but instead to keep exploring genres and authors until you find your wheelhouse just like Holly and Devin with thrillers and romances. 

Holly recommends reviewing each book you read or DNF so you can more consciously hone what works (or not) for you in your reading. Devin acknowledges that sometimes a book doesn’t serve us in that season of our lives, so a DNF doesn’t have to be permanent and revisiting books even years later can lead to fulfillment. 

Overall, reading as adults is fun and supposed to bring us joy. So much of life is full of pressure, and reading should not be one. Ultimately, life is too short to read books you don’t like. So DNF and do it with pride! 

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Summary: Happy Valentine’s Day, friends! While neither Holly nor Devin are superfans of this holiday, they wanted to take some time to highlight marriage with two books this week. Oddly enough, Holly’s thriller wheelhouse is chockablock full of married couples on the rocks, but Devin’s romance genre almost never centers on a couple that have already found their happily ever after. All told, though, they find the relationship dynamics of a marriage as great drivers of plot and character across genres. 

Topics Discussed:

• The Heart (3:09): Devin discussed The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams, a novel that turns most romance novels on its head by centering on a man working to save his marriage via an unusual book club. Gavin Scott is Nashville Legends second baseman who thinks he has it all - a loving wife, twin daughters, and a career he loves. When Thea admits that their intimate relationship has never satisfied her, he’s left desperate and on the path to divorce. To save it, he ends up in a circle of men who read romance novels to give them advice on how to navigate their relationships with their wives. Devin’s key takeaways were: 

• This is the first novel focused on men reading romance stories that Devin has been able to find, and the new perspective on the genre was refreshing and invigorating. She’d rather men not have to read romance novels to act as “manuals” for their own love lives, but hey, she’ll take it.
• Gavin’s wife Thea carries trauma that adds feasibility to the storyline. Her sister, however, was so anti-Gavin and pro-divorce that at times it was off-putting and unnatural. 
• Adams had a feminist focus throughout the book and clearly strove to drive messages home about intimacy, vulnerability, and relationships. It was preachy at times but ultimately the execution on the rest of the novel was a success. 

• The Dagger (17:44): Holly discussed The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey, a sci-fi novel following Evelyn Caldwell, a scientist who has discovered how to clone human adults. Her recent awards and professional success is marred when she discovers that her soon-to-be ex-husband has been cheating on her… with a clone of herself named Martine. As Evelyn works to process these recent life changes and come to terms with everything, she gets a call one day from a panicked Martine; it turns out Nathan is dead and the two women must come together to clean up the mess and hide the crime. Holly’s key takeaways were: 

• With a fairly unusual premise, this novel dives deeply into key themes and commentary of our society, principally gender norms for women and women in marriage. Gailey explores what it means to be a woman through Evelyn and her clone, a woman re-programmed to be more docile and subservient than Evelyn is naturally. 
• Through the science of cloning, the reader also confronts ideas and challenges around identity - what makes you, you? What role does biology vs. experience play in making us who we are, and how much of a choice do we have? 
• Be mindful if you are sensitive to gore, and make sure you listen through the very end of our episode for a spoiler-filled tidbit from Holly that blew Devin’s mind! 

• Hot On the Shelf (35:52):

• Devin: Lunar Love by Lauren Kung Jessen
• Holly: Elsewhere by Alexis Schaitkin

• What’s Making Our Hearts Race (38:05):

• Devin: Glass Onion on Netflix
• Holly: Fleischman is in Trouble on Hulu 

Instagram: @heartsanddaggerspod

Website: www.heartsanddaggerspod.com

If you like what you hear, please tell your friends and rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify so that we can find our perfect audience.

Summary: Today, Devin shares her Top 10 books of 2022. Use this to create a TBR for 2023, or simply get a deeper sense of what stood out to Devin as the most romantic tales she read last year. 

She also took a little time to wax poetic about Valentine’s day. Whether you care about this holiday or not, Devin figures hey, it’s cold and gray out, spring is far away - whether you’re in a relationship or not, this is a great opportunity to *treat* *your* *self*. So grab one (or all) of the below steam-fests, draw a bath, light some candles, and celebrate Valentine’s Day right! 

10: She Gets the Girl by Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick

9: Henry Hamlet’s Heart by Rhiannon Wilde

8: Love and Other Disasters by Anita Kelly (Episode 23)

7: I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuinston

6: Lease on Love by Fallon Ballard

5: The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston (Episode 21)

4: Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert (Episode 28)

3: A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J Maas (Episode 19)

2: Book Lovers by Emily Henry

1: The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

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Summary: Ah, the follies and joys of youth! If you’ve been with us since the start, you know that Holly and Devin love stories with octogenarian protagonists. This week we’re mixing it up and focusing on 20-something people who are still figuring themselves out. Holly struggled to find a book in her wheelhouse for this theme, but is generally drawn to young protagonists in thrillers because the silly mistakes they make to get murdered seem more plausible. Devin struggles to find books that *don’t* focus on 20-somethings, since the romance genre has a long history of focusing solely on young people. Overall, though, they always have a blast following young protagonists through thorny plots and tough growth, and today’s episode is no exception!  

Topics Discussed:

• The Dagger (3:04): Holly discussed The Secret History by Donna Tartt, a novel following 6 friends at an elite Vermont college who, through their own hubris, are sucked into a dark tangled web heavily featuring Greek Classics. As an inverted detective story, we quickly learn that the group is responsible for the murder of one of their own, Edward “Bunny” Corcoran, whose body is found days after his disappearance at the bottom of a ravine. Her key takeaways were:

• Tartt captured the 20-something experience by delving into themes that resonate with that time in life. Holly was especially impacted by the dangers of isolation, superficiality, and the weight of keeping secrets for the group of 6 young students. 
• While initially fearful of reading this book because it might be too pretentious for her taste, Holly enjoyed it thoroughly after 8 years on her TBR shelf. The writing is incredibly strong and Holly was ultimately drawn to the group of friends and Tartt’s phenomenal character development 
• This book popularized the dark academia / campus novel subgenre when it was published in 1992; Holly especially appreciated the chill fall moods and dusty college setting that added to the sense of isolation and doom for the plot. 

• The Heart (20:21): Devin discussed Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert, Book 3 in the Brown Sisters series that follows Eve Brown, the youngest sibling and a 26 year old self-described mess. When Eve fails at yet another job, a fight with her parents sends her driving nowhere just to escape; 45 minutes later she stops for a snack at a bed and breakfast that is in desperate need of a new cook. She interviews on the fly with the B&B owner, Jacob Wayne, but his stormy and abrasive attitude make her flee yet again - only to hit Jacob (by accident) with her car. 

• If you haven’t already, Devin *highly* recommends reading all 3 books in the Brown Sisters series! You can check out all the offerings at Talia Hibbert’s website here; they are diverse, sexy, well-written plots with characters you’ll love! 
• Both Eve and Jacob are on the autism spectrum and their mutual support, communication, and clarification of their needs throughout the book not only makes their enemies to friends to lovers journey something to root for, but the intimacy and sexual connection between them much more profound.
• As a coming of age romance, Eve is the sunshine, singsong friend and Jacob is the gray, stormy, unyielding counter. Together, though, their witty banter evolves into growth for both - Jacob with his abandonment issues and Eve with her deel fear of failure. 

• Hot On the Shelf (37:59):

• Devin: The Winners by Fredrik Backman
• Holly: Babel by R.F. Kuang

• What’s Making Our Hearts Race (42:27):

• Devin: Cross-country skiing setup 
• Holly: The Banshees of Inisherin

Instagram: @heartsanddaggerspod

Website: www.heartsanddaggerspod.com

If you like what you hear, please tell your friends and rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify so that we can find our perfect audience.

Summary: Today, Holly shares her Top 10 books of 2022. Use this to create a TBR for 2023, or simply get a deeper sense of what makes Holly happiest as she reads about murder! 

10: A Good Marriage by Kimberly McCreight (Episode 16, New York City)

9: White Smoke by Tiffany Jackson (Episode 21, Ghosts)

8: Breathless by Amy McCulloch (Episode 26, Winter Sports)

7: The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule (Episode 22, Nonfiction)

6: The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke (Episode 20, Witches)

5: The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth

4: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie 

3: The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman

2: The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman 

1: A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny

Bonus Titles Hot on Holly’s Shelf:

• Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak 
• Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister 
• Geiger by Gustaph Skördeman
• The Appeal by Janice Hallett
• Jackal by Erin E. Adams 

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Summary: Join Holly and Devin as they explore jolly ol’ London town! Blimey! Not only is this city the only reason our co-hosts became friends in the first place, but they have a blast diving deeply into books set in the iconic city. While one book involves multiple dead bodies and the other involves multiple broken hearts, they unite around the unique character of London. Holly is a self-identified Anglophile and Devin struggles to remember romances set in the city because, frankly, she’s too focused on the juicy deets of her novels. They agree, though, that unique cities like London add additional sensory layers to stories and a vivid sense of place. 

Topics Discussed:

• The Heart (3:01): Devin discussed One Day in December by Josie Silver, a novel that explores the role of destiny in our lives after the protagonist Laurie makes intense eye contact with a stranger at a bus stop. The problem? She’s on the bus and he’s on the outside, leaving Laurie to hunt all over London for him to no avail. Fast forward a year and Laurie’s roommate Sarah brings her new boyfriend to a party - Jack, the “bus guy” himself! Devin’s key takeaways were:

• This novel requires some suspension of disbelief for the precipitation of the plot - that 10 seconds of sustained eye contact could lead to years of love, loss, betrayal, and growth. But once you buy in, it’s a worthwhile ride.
• Jack and Laurie as the focal couple are not always the most sympathetic, and Silver explores how complicated attraction, friendship, and lifestyle choices can be as we grow and evolve through our lives. 
• Unlike many romances this novel spans 10 years, marked by Laurie’s New Year’s Resolutions that give the reader a vivid picture of how she, Jack, and Sarah are evolving in their unique love triangle. 

• The Dagger (16:45): Holly discussed The Victoria Vanishes by Christopher Fowler, book six in the Peculiar Crimes Unit novels. In this installment, we follow Arthur Bryant and John May as they discover and then investigate the mysterious deaths of older women killed in crowded pubs - after which the pubs themselves disappear. And thus, “The octogenarian detectives ready themselves for the pub crawl of a lifetime.” Holly’s key takeaways were:

• The Pubs that Bryant and May explore act as characters in the book and in London; they are all different and have their own rich histories and micro-communities. The book explores the idea that people should be able to feel safe and these strings of murders corrupt these social spaces.
• If you’re tired of the many domestic thrillers or locked room style mysteries and want a mystery that’s a bit more complicated, a bit slower and very unique, this is for you.
• Our protagonists Bryant and May have worked together for the last 50 years and have a clearly deep friendship and mutual respect. The book has an undertone of the Peculiar Crimes Unit’s struggle to survive in the face of being undervalued and seen as useless - an authentic exploration of octogenarian life.

• Hot On the Shelf (32:41):

• Devin: The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny
• Holly: A Phoenix First Must Burn by Patrice Caldwell

• What’s Making Our Hearts Race (37:39):

• Devin: Amon Amarth
• Holly: Listening to deep-dive commentary on books she’s read and already loves. Including but not limited to the podcasts Harry Potter and the Sacred Text, Hot and Bothered and From the Front Porch. 

Instagram: @heartsanddaggerspod

Website: www.heartsanddaggerspod.com

If you like what you hear, please tell your friends and rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify so that we can find our perfect audience.

Summary: It has officially been one year since we launched Hearts & Daggers! As you likely know, in our usual episodes we discuss two books–one lighter, one darker–through the lens of a common theme. These episodes will continue to come out bi-weekly, that is, every other week.

We are excited to share that during the off-weeks between our main episode releases, we will be putting out a new series of minisodes! Outline of the alterations below:

• Minisodes will be shorter than typical episodes, usually between 10 to 20 minutes. 
• They will also be more free-form, allowing us to offer a wide range of content to supplement our typical episodes. 
  • Sometimes this may be a closer look at a book or passage featured in a main episode; sometimes we’ll go deeper with particular topics or themes; and there may even be some author interviews or other conversations with special guests. 
• Down the road, our goal is to launch a Patreon. The plan is for these minisodes to eventually be exclusive to our patrons. Until we are ready to get that up and running, our minisodes will be available to you all and give you a taste of what you might expect to hear on the Patreon someday.

Tune in next week when we’ll be back to our usual episode format chatting all things romantic and terrifying. We are so grateful to every single one of you for listening to our show and being so supportive of our work. Here’s to 2023!

Instagram: @heartsanddaggerspod

Website: www.heartsanddaggerspod.com

If you like what you hear, please tell your friends and rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify so that we can find our perfect audience.

Summary: Happy 2023, friends, and welcome to Season 2 of Hearts & Daggers! We’re starting this year off with a bang - the bang of the starting gun in a Super G ski race, that is. If you’ve been with us for a while know, you know that this theme is right up Devin’s alley and aligns with many of her existing hobbies. Holly, while not a fan of sports generally, loves ice skating and is a sucker for mountain climbing exhibition stories (especially when things start to go wrong).

Topics Discussed:

• The Dagger (4:10): Holly discussed Breathless by Amy McColloch, a novel following Cecily Wong as she strives to climb Menaslu, the 7th tallest peak on earth. A journalist herself, Cecily is fighting to prove herself by scoring an interview with famous mountaineer Charles McVeigh as he seeks to break records climbing the highest summits without supplemental oxygen. His condition? That she go with his team all the way to the top. Her highlights were:

• McCulloch climbed Menaslu herself and it shows through in the writing, with vivid and accurate descriptions of mountaineering and the trials this group faces from nature as they work toward the top. 
• If that wasn’t enough, one of their team meets an accidental (or not) death and things begin to deteriorate with the group. Cecily finds herself stranded on the mountain not knowing who she can trust during a journey that requires complete trust in the group to survive. The tension builds naturally and in a riveting way.
• The uniting driver for all characters in this thriller is desperation. Whether it’s Cecily, who ended a romantic relationship and risked her entire career for this expedition, or the sherpas who are duty-bound to get the team to the summit, everyone is desperately trying to accomplish their (sometimes contradictory goals). 

• The Heart (18:22): Devin discussed Edge of Glory by Rachel Spangler, a winter sport turducken that follows two Olympic athletes - one in boardercross (competition snowboard racing) and the other in downhill skiing. Corey LaCroix is a snowboarding icon, with too many medals to count. But at 30, she’s noticed her knees are aching and it’s taking longer and longer to recover - putting her behind a highly motivated, younger cohort. Elise Brandeis, fighting to recover from a major crash and severe injury the year before after having been the most promising up and coming ski star for the 2018 Olympics, only cares about the gold medal she feels she earned, along with her nickname the Ice Queen. Devin’s key takeaways were:

• Spangler is a queer romance author and the skill shines through. Unlike many romances, this one evolves from enemies to friends to lovers over the course of months, giving the plot and relationship a much more organic and authentic feel. 
• Elise and Corey both embody the stereotypes of their respective sports - Elise being uptight and unsociable, while Corey is the life of the party (routinely parties she throws). Through their growing connection, the reader peels back the layers of those stereotypes to find the person below and how Elise and Corey are actually more alike than different.
• Accompanied by a delightfully round cast of side characters and even a side romance, this book delivers on every front for a heartwarming and unusual love story while also maintaining high fidelity to what Devin assumes is the real process of training for and participating in the Olympics. 

• Hot On the Shelf (36:30): 

• Devin: Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett 
• Holly: The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

• What’s Making Our Hearts Race (39:43):

• Devin and Holly: Wednesday on Netflix

Instagram: @heartsanddaggerspod

Website: www.heartsanddaggerspod.com

If you like what you hear, please tell your friends and rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify so that we can find our perfect audience. 

Summary: It’s a holly, jolly holiday here on Hearts & Daggers! Today, Holly and Devin discuss books set during this holiday season. Whatever holiday you do (or don’t) celebrate, these co-hosts appreciate the season for its coziness, the twinkling lights, and an excuse to spike hot chocolate with Bailey’s Irish Cream before the seasonal depression really hits. Both books this round are on the lighter side, and for Holly that means just one (1) murder. 

Topics Discussed:

• The Heart (5:26): Devin discussed The Holiday Swap by Maggie Knox, a book chockablock full of fun romance tropes. Cass and Charlie are identical twin sisters living very different lives; Charlie is a glamorous cooking show co-host down in LA, while Cass helps run their parents’ bakery in their quiet, quaint hometown. Due to a series of unfortunate (or fortunate?) events, they switch places without telling anyone and get a taste for how the other twin lives. Her key takeaways were:

• Written under a penname by two Canadian journalist/authors, The Holiday Swap is a delightful combo of The Princess Switch, The Parent Trap, and the entire Hallmark Channel without, somehow, being too much in a single book. 
• Cass and Charlie are endearing protagonists and their love interests (a Physician’s Assistant and a Firefighter) are unique, interesting, and just the right amount of stereotypically hunky. 
• Unlike many holiday romances, the side characters in this novel are well-rounded and complete, adding depth to a light romance that does in fact include a small-town holiday festival with vendor booths, hot coco, and ice skating. 

• The Dagger (20:28): Holly discussed I Am Half Sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley, the fourth book in the Flavia de Luce mystery series. Set at Christmastime in 1950s England, Flavia’s family rents their derelict mansion out to a film crew for the holidays after they fall on hard times financially. Flavia is principally focused on finally catching Santa by concocting a glue that will stick him to the chimney flue, but when someone is found murdered in the mansion this 11 year-old pivots with gusto. Her key takeaways were:

• Written from Flavia’s point of view, the book runs rampant with philosophical, literary, and mythological references with lots of dry wit and humor that allows our youthful protagonist to really shine. 
• Bradley weaves in some Sherlockian moments in the novel; Flavia has chemical expertise and attention to detail that helps her notice aspects of crime scenes or corpses that the detectives all miss.
• Overall, the mystery itself was a bit lacking but the biting wit of the writing and a young narrator we can root for made this novel a true holiday delight for anyone who loves murder but also cozy season. 

• Hot On the Shelf (44:27):

• Devin: Kiss Her Once For Me by Alison Cochrun
• Holly: The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

• What’s Making Our Hearts Race (47:34):

• Devin: Single All The Way on Netflix
• Holly: The Menu (film)

Instagram: @heartsanddaggerspod

Website: www.heartsanddaggerspod.com

If you like what you hear, please tell your friends and rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify so that we can find our perfect audience.

Summary: Brrrrr, it’s cold in here! There must be murder (or love?) in the atmosphere. Today Holly and Devin explore books where the characters are snowed in. They agree that putting characters in “locked room” situations is more intriguing, especially when the author is adept at character development and turning the location into a pressure cooker for the protagonists. It was especially interesting to reflect on how the same exact situation, with a few tweaks, can logically lead to lovemaking or murder. 

Topics Discussed:

• The Dagger (3:55): Holly discussed One by One by Ruth Ware, a novel set in a rustic mountain ski chalet in the French Alps that follows a group of employees at the fictitious company Snoop as they navigate being trapped in the home after an avalanche blocks all exits. Her key takeaways were:

• Snoop, a trendy Londo tech startup, allows users to listen to whatever music a celebrity or other user is listening to right at that moment; Ware uses app features effectively to build tension as the book progresses. 
• The narrative point of view oscillates between Liz (former Snoop employee, now shareholder) and Erin (chalet housekeeper who is stuck along with Danny, the cook) to give both an insider and outsider perspective on the Snoop drama. 
• A buyout offer is brought to the table just before the avalanche hits; the power is cut off and the tension builds as the group tries to reach backup generators to no avail. Slowly, the situation becomes more and more sinister and Holly especially loved scenes where everyone has to go to sleep but cannot because they are terrified and suspicious. 

• The Heart (18:28): Devin discussed Frigid by Jennifer L. Armentrout, a novel that tracks two childhood best friends (Sydney and Kyler) as they go on the final winter break trip of college to Kyler’s family cabin at a ski resort in West Virginia. Initially intending to be a group trip, Sydney and Kyler end up being the only two to make it to the cabin before the Nor’Easter bears down on the town and makes travel impossible. Her key takeaways were:

• Written in 2013, this book leverages some classic tropes for college romances; a virginal woman hung up on the “man whore” best guy friend who is too distracted by leggy blondes to notice that his amazing brunette best friend also has great boobs. 
• Once they arrive in the ski town, a subplot emerges where an unknown entity is trying to actively hurt or sabotage them by cutting the generator, slashing tires, and even shooting buckshot into the cabin at one point. This serves to add tension to the plot, but Devin would have preferred if the characters were developed enough to have tension all on their own.
• The romance in the novel was fun and included several NSFW scenes. That being said, if you’re a stickler for grammar, character development, and don’t like the pet name “baby,” perhaps pass on Frigid. 

• Hot On the Shelf (37:32):

• Holly: Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell
• Devin: Season of Love by Helena Greer

• What’s Making Our Hearts Race (40:55):

• Holly: White Lotus on HBO Max
• Devin: Falling for Christmas on Netflix 

Instagram: @heartsanddaggerspod

Website: www.heartsanddaggerspod.com

If you like what you hear, please tell your friends and rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify so that we can find our perfect audience.