Hey Friends! This week we are joined by Kellan McDaniel to talk about their new novel, Till Death! We're talking about vampires, queer community building and the trans dinosaurs in Jurrasic Park and much more!

Book description below

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Howard is biding his time until he can finally leave for college, where he has been promised it gets better. The last thing he expected was to meet a boy. But George reminds Howard of the movie stars from the 1960s he’s obsessed with. Plus, George is endearingly formal and well-read, and his grandpa fashion is super authentic.

After over twenty years together, George is about to lose his life partner. He met James when they were teenagers then lost track of him until they reconnected in their early sixties. Now, James is going somewhere beyond George’s reach—because George is a vampire, forever trapped in the body of a nineteen-year-old.

As the two grow closer, George begins to see a future beyond losing his first love, and Howard stops imagining himself always being alone…even if companionship comes at the cost of his mortality. When the discrimination the men have suffered their whole lives rears its ugly head to take away their happy ending, they finally strike back at the world that’s done its best to subdue them their entire lives.

Hey Friends! This week we’re talking about You’re the Problem It’s You! by Emma R. Alban. We’re talking about 19th century gentleman’s clubs, confusing family trees and our favorite Downton Abbey villain and much much more!

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Book Description below:

Bobby Mason is sick of being second: born the spare, never trusted with family responsibility, never expected to amount to much. He’s hungry to contribute something that matters, while all around him his peers are squandering their political and financial power, coasting through life. Which is exactly why he can’t stand the new Viscount Demeroven.

James Demeroven, just come of age and into the Viscountcy, knows that he’s a disappointment. Keeping his head down and never raising anyone’s expectations is how he’s survived life with his stepfather. To quiet, careful James, Bobby Mason is a blazing comet in his endless night, even more alive than he was at Oxford when James crushed on him from afar. But Mason is also brash and recklessly unapologetic, destined to shatter the fragile safety of James’s world. Worst of all, he keeps rubbing James’s failures in his face.

They can barely get through a single conversation without tensions boiling over. Neither Bobby nor James has ever met a more intriguing, infuriating, infatuating man.

If only they could avoid each other entirely. Bad enough their (wonderful but determined) cousins Beth and Gwen keep conveniently setting up group outings. But when an extortionist starts targeting their families, threatening their reputations, Bobby and James must find a way to work together, without pushing each other’s buttons (or tearing them off) in the process…

Hey friends! This week we are talking about Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend by Emma R. Alban! We’re talking about our love for Regency era media, including Bridgerton and Downton Abbey and why british people say ton instead of town!! And so much more!

It’s 1857, and anxious debutante Beth has just one season to snag a wealthy husband, or she and her mother will be out on the street. But playing the blushing ingenue makes Beth’s skin crawl and she’d rather be anywhere but here.

Gwen, on the other hand, is on her fourth season and counting, with absolutely no intention of finding a husband, possibly ever. She figures she has plenty of security as the only daughter of a rakish earl, from whom she’s gotten all her flair, fun, and less-than-proper party games.

It doesn’t take long for Gwen to hatch her latest scheme: rather than surrender Beth to courtship, they should set up Gwen’s father and Beth’s newly widowed mother. Let them get married instead.

Of course, just as their plan begins to unfold, a handsome, wealthy viscount starts calling on Beth, offering up the perfect, secure marriage.

Now Gwen must face the prospect of sharing Beth with someone else, forever. And Beth must reckon with the fact that she’s caught feelings, hard, and they’re definitely not for her potential fiancé.

That’s the trouble with matchmaking: sometimes you accidentally fall in love with your best friend in the process.

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Hey friends! Sorry we're a bit late with our end of the year picks, december was a doozy this past year, and we truly were fried/sick and couldn't upload or record this episode. We did however figure out how to get two mics into this recording (even with a slight hiccup in the middle!) We're still indie and it's hard doing tech!! We're just trying to be girlies in stem! But we're so excited to share our top picks!!

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Hey friends! This week we get to chat with the Hilarioussssss Elba Luz about her forthcoming YA Debut, Build A Girlfriend! We chat all about Build A Girlfriend and also have an incredible time chatting about family dynamics, writing processes and also Brendan clocks the cover art inspo without even knowing it!

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Book description down below!

To the surprise of no one, Amelia Hernandez is once again single. It’s her family curse at work; whether it’s by heartbreak, scandal, or even accidental death, every romantic relationship that a Hernandez woman has will meet its demise eventually. And that may be fine with Amelia’s sisters, mom, and aunts, but definitely not with Amelia.

So, convinced that she is the problem, Amelia decides to embark on an “Ex Retrospective:” tracking down her exes, finding out where she went wrong, and using that information to finally become un-break-up-able for whenever her next relationship comes along. Because Amelia is determined to be free of the family curse…and her family.

However, when Amelia is unwillingly reunited with Leon, the ex to end all exes, she can’t resist having a little revenge on the side, too. After all, what better way to test out her new persona of perfect girlfriend traits than on the boy who broke her heart?

But old loves die hard, and as Amelia’s feelings grow more complicated, she suspects that she may be in for more than she bargained for.

Hello Friends! This week we are talking about This Ravenous Fate by Haley Dennings! We’re talking about vampires, the roaring 20s and also a lot of Ethan Hawk movies? Join us while we dive into this fantastic novel just in time for spooky season!

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Book description below:

It's 1926 and reapers, the once-human vampires with a terrifying affliction, are on the rise in New York. But the Saint family's thriving reaper-hunting enterprise holds reign over the city, giving them more power than even the organized criminals who run the nightclubs. Eighteen year-old Elise Saint, home after five years in Paris, is the reluctant heir to the empire. Only one thing weighs heavier on Elise's mind than her family obligations: the knowledge that the Harlem reapers want her dead.

Layla Quinn is a young reaper haunted by her past. Though reapers have existed in America for three centuries, created by New World atrocities and cruel experiments, Layla became one just five years ago. The night she was turned, she lost her parents, the protection of the Saints, and her humanity, and she'll never forget how Elise Saint betrayed her.

But some reapers are inexplicably turning part human again, leaving a wake of mysterious and brutal killings. When Layla is framed for one of these attacks, the Saint patriarch offers her a deal she can't refuse: to work with Elise to investigate how these murders might be linked to shocking rumors of a reaper cure. Once close friends, now bitter enemies, Elise and Layla explore the city's underworld, confronting their intense feelings for one another and uncovering the sinister truths about a growing threat to reapers and humans alike.

Hey friends! This week we're back to our regularly scheduled book talks! We're reading Moby Dyke by Krista Burton! We're talking about gay bars! Lesbian bars! Queer bars! What does that even mean in 2024? The importance of queer spaces and also what it means to be "allowed" into queer spaces in the first place!

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Lesbian bars have always been treasured safe spaces for their customers, providing not only a good time but a shelter from societal alienation and outright persecution. In 1987, there were 206 of them in America. Today, only a couple dozen remain. How and why did this happen? What has been lost—or possibly gained—by such a decline? What transpires when marginalized communities become more accepted and mainstream?

Moby Dyke is an insightful and hilarious travelogue that celebrates the kind of community that can only be found in windowless rooms soundtracked by Britney Spears-heavy playlists and illuminated by overhead holiday lights no matter the time of year.

Hi friends! We’re still on summer break but we’re excited to let you know we’ve been invited to the Downstage @ the Mann! This exciting series of summer concerts features amazing artists and allows the audience (you!) to sit on stage and enjoy an intimate performance!

Amythyst Kiah is a Grammy nominated artists who explores her identity as a Black and LGBTQ woman with her raw songwriting!

Check out more info for this entire series at www.manncenter.org!

See you at the Mann!

Hi Friends! This week we are talking about the Netflix drama Young Royals! We talk about our favorite characters, talk in silly Swedish accents and think about the connections between some of the books we've read about OTHER royals and much more!

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Hey friends! We are bringing you a very very special Pride Episode! At the beginning of pride month we were the keynote speakers for an event held by Best Egg; a company in Delaware, to speak about the importance of pride, and queer voices, amongst so much more. We discussed our favorite reads, some spicy takes about books we wouldn't want to read again, and the joy of being able to speak with authors about their work!

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