Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score

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So I have to tell you a story. It's not about me, so it may

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not be as good. We may have to cut it out, but.

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Okay. Because, you know, I got held hostage and taken to a

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child's hockey game with Dave and his friend Cody.

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And Cody was telling us about

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how he has been, like, he's been working out,

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eating healthy, working out. So he took a before picture and

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then was going to take, like, a progress picture.

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Okay. So he's like, in his underwear taking a progress picture.

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I don't know who he was trying to send the picture to, but sent

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the picture and then got a text back from his boss. Oh,

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no. Because he had sent the photo of himself just shirtless

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to his boss.

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Oh, no. You need to meet him. I.

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Because when you meet. He has a child, and when you're.

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You meet him, you're like, who's raising who? Right. How.

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How does this work? Sure. I have to know, was he in,

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like, tighty whities or. I should have asked. Yeah,

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I should have asked. It seems from the little that I've, you know,

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heard of him, he seems like the type to be in a pair of

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tighty whities or boxer briefs. I don't see him in the

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boxer boxers, really.

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Or maybe boxer. Maybe boxer boxers, but not boxer brief.

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I don't know. Yeah, in my mind, I would say he's either.

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I just don't think he's quite advanced enough as a person for

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boxer briefs. What? Does your husband wear boxer

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briefs? Sure. He used to wear regular boxers.

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Yeah. Which is fine. But they're not. Please get

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some boxer briefs. We're all adults here. Like, what is the purpose of a

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boxer? I don't know. Truly, Daves are kind of like a hybrid between

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boxer brief and boxers. But Dave is like. But they're not super tight because his

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ass. He has. Dave has an ass. Dave is a hockey player. Dave has an

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ass. God, I love that. For you to fit him.

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Interesting. Yeah. No, my husband does not

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have my husband's back. And his ass are the same. Oh,

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shoot. So poor guy. He needs something tight to stay on. He does need something

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tight. But he does have, like, monster tree trunk

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legs somehow. Oh. So I'm not sure. He's a little odd

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shaped. I don't mind. Sure. It doesn't bother me. I love him anyways. I dated

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a guy once who was really oddly shaped. He had, like, hips and it

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just looked weird. He was weirdly shaped. Interesting. He didn't have nice hands.

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Oh, shoot. And that's A thing for me. He also was not very tall.

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Oh, no. He was good in bed, though. Okay, well, so where

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it counts. That's because he was a short king.

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They don't just get to ride their height through

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their relationship, so. Yeah. Yeah. My husband

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has really broad shoulders, really nice hands.

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I love big, thick man legs,

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which I really, really appreciate. And like, on a guy.

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But then his middle is very apple

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shaped and his arms are very long,

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so he kind of always, like. He always

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sort of looks like a teddy bear or something, like,

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walking around. I don't really know how else to describe it. And he kind of

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like lumbers when he walks. I was.

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I'm kind of picturing a sloth. Yeah. With like those real long arms.

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Yes. And kind of. That is a very apt. Like I said,

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the sloth. Yes. Because Sid's legs, too, are tree trunk legs.

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Yes. Yep. Very much. That's a very good description. Yeah, I know.

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You know what? She loves him anyways. Yeah. He's got a great personality and

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everybody loves him. He's good in bed. Everybody loves him. And you have so many

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orgasms. So we can look past it. Okay. Thank you. I appreciate that.

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Yeah. Well, you being kidnapped and

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forced to watch a children's hockey game is a good segue into this book because.

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Or into this series in general, because that happens a lot through the next

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three books. I don't think when we started these books

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that we were planning on doing them for the podcast. No. I read these just

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because I'd been seeing them everywhere and I wanted just something fluffy.

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And these looked fluffy. They're very fluffy.

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I've been seeing them everywhere. But I have this resistance thing where

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the more popular something is, the less I want to read it,

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which is why it took me, like six years to read acotar, so.

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But it was so worth it because I read the. I read this series and

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then I harassed you and Brooke and Carmen and my sister and anybody

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because I was like, somebody needs to read these. I. I am so obsessed

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with this book series. Yeah. So, so, so obsessed. Yeah. I haven't been

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like this in a while. Oh. With a series or a book. So I'm

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obsessed with it. I've now read the first one and the third one twice.

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I'm still getting through the second one. Yeah. The thing of it is, is that

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you really wanted me to read it so that we could talk about it,

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and now we're doing it for the podcast, so you still have to wait.

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To talk about the third book. And I'm dying. I still

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have no one, but I bought them all to borrow to my sister. Because I

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text my sister Stephanie. She's not a big reader, but she loves Hallmark movies.

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So I do think she might like these. Yes. She's capable of reading. Like,

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she just doesn't. She doesn't find anything. She reads a lot of self help books

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and Better yourself. Whatever. Mm. So I text her. I was like,

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I got this series. I think you might actually like it. They're like Hallmark.

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And she's like, oh, my gosh, that's awesome. I can't wait. And then like 10

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minutes later, I get a text back from her and it says, wait, are there

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fairies? Oh, bitch. Oh, my.

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We're anti fairies. Chill. Wow. I know. Well,

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then I was texting with Stacy and she's like, oh, yeah. I was telling Steph

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to try to, like, get her into these books and tell her,

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like, they're not fairies. No. And she just didn't get it.

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So I was like, that makes more sense now. Sure. That she texts being like,

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are you trying to get me to read fairies? Sure. Because she just doesn't get

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it. She's picturing Thumbelina. What? With a little fairy guy.

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I know that's not what this is. No, not even

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close. I think a Hallmark movie. I actually, my first

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sentence here says they are very much Hallmark movie esque books.

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So I think that's such a good way to describe them. Like, they are

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very feel good. I was devastated when they were over. I actually

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cried when I finished the epilogue of the last book. Just because

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I am a character driven person and these are character

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driven books and. But there's still some drama for me.

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There's. Yep. Exactly. Yeah. All right, well, I'm Amanda.

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I'm Nicole. And we are plot tarts. We read,

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recap, and review smutty books. Let us help you decide if this book should stay

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on your tbr. What are we reading today? We are reading things we never got

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over by Lucy. Score. And this is book one from the Knock Em

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out series. There really aren't any content warnings for

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these books because they are so feel good. But I

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did feel like there were some potentially triggering topics and so I. There are.

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Yeah. So I pulled a content warning list off of the

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trigger warning database online. So the triggers for this book would be

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child abuse and neglect, domestic abuse and violence, recounted parent with

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a substance addiction, death of a parent, off page, gun violence, kidnapping,

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and sexual themes. I felt like, yeah, the child

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stuff, it gets a little dark for a minute. Yeah, it does.

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Yeah. Well, our story starts with an uncharacteristic

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and animosity filled meet cute between our FMC Naomi and our

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MMC Nox. Naomi is having the worst day of her life

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up until this point and has stopped for a cup of coffee at a cute

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little coffee shop called Cafe Rev in Knockamount, Virginia,

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where a sign means banning. Her twin sister Tina from

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the establishment is hanging behind the counter. After an

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explanation from Naomi Witt, the barista justice gives

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her a trough of coffee, only for her to turn around and run smack dab

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into the iron chest of Knox Morgan, who has been called in to remove

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who he believes to be Tina. After giving Knox

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a good talking to, she steps outside only to discover that her car has been

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stolen and and is forced to accept the help of the grumpy enforcer Knox

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for a ride. They start with a trip to the police station to

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report her car and her purse stolen. I loved. I love

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this opening. Real immediately. I was in. I liked Naomi from

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the start. I enjoyed just.

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I can. I could picture it so well in my head. This little,

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ugh, just sexy man yelling at me.

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Hmm. So I.

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I don't know if you remember this or not, but I did text you or

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tell you at work one day that I was having a hard time getting into

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it. Yeah, it was hard for me to get into it. I think

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that it is a very specific type of writing. The characters in

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this book are abundant. They're almost like caricatures.

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They're so like a. It's like she picks a

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character trope and then they are just the most extreme version

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of that trope. I think, like, for the first bit

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of this book, it was really hard for me to get into it. I still

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to this day do not understand why Knox was called

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and not his brother Nash. Because Nash, his brother is a

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police officer. Yeah. For some reason,

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somebody in town called Knox and I just.

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I don't know. The whole thing just kind of threw me off. But we do

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have to talk a little bit about Naomi because Naomi's personality is a big part

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of this book. She's very type A.

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She is a perfectionist. She always making a list internal

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on paper. She's always routine. Yep. She's always thinking through

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every possible scenario and everything that she needs to do. She's very thoughtful.

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She's the type of woman that goes to a pizza place and orders a salad

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and she's. I think generally she is

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a romantic. 100%. Yeah. I mean, and she shows up to

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the Coffee place with her hair done up in an updo and flowers in

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her hair. Yeah. Daisies in her hair. Yeah. She's a classy lady.

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I liked her. Did you? I did like her. She did remind

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me a lot of you. Yeah, I do like Naomi. I don't

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like her as much as another character who we'll

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talk about next time. Let's go ahead and do descriptions. So Naomi.

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And also another thing I love about these books is they are adults.

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Naomi is in her late 30s. Yes. Knox is 43.

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Despite that, they still act like they're 25, but that's okay.

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Picturing these adult men.

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Oh, my God. Yeah, for sure. For me. So Naomi's in

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her late 30s. I don't know if we got an actual age for her,

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but she's tall. She has long brown hair. She has hazel

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eyes, very pale skin. He compares her to

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a Disney princess, I think multiple times. And he's the one who's constantly saying

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she's. She's a very classy lady. Yeah, I'm definitely with her.

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I was definitely imagining, like a Snow White esque alabaster

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with rosy cheeks and long flowing hair and.

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Yeah, yeah. And then Nox. Like I said, he is 43,

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very attractive. She describes him as a Viking. So he's tall,

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dirty blonde hair that's cut short on the sides and swept back on top.

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Sounds. I love, I love some good hair. Yeah, he has a

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beard and gunmetal blue eyes and then some nice,

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tattooed, muscular arms. Yeah, he's a big

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guy. Like a big guy. Like, she describes him as being

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all man. She refers to him multiple times throughout the book as Leif Erickson

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and she calls him biking. There's a scene that we get later

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where she kind of describes how, like, he's outside and he's shirtless

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and he has hair on his chest. And I just kind of. I don't know,

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I sort of loved that, like, imagery of him being, like,

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all man. Knox Morgan is all man. Agreed. For sure.

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Yeah, agreed. I love him. Yeah.

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He's not my favorite. But that's literally only because

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his description. Says dirty blonde hair throughout this entire book. Almost every

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single scene that I read with him, I was like, oh, this is Nicole's ideal

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man. Well, their next stop on their little tour of Knock

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Em out is a seedy motel outside of town that Naomi is staying at.

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And while they were at the police station, she kind

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of came to grips with the fact that Tina had stolen her car. Yeah.

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So it wasn't. She thought it was Originally towed. And it was not towed,

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it was stolen. So honestly,

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Naomi is kind of an airhead here. Yeah. Because you

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were supposed to meet your sister at this coffee shop. You go outside.

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Why would she want to meet you there? She's banned. You go outside and your

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car is gone and your sister called you asking for money. The thing of it

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is, is that Naomi is 100% one of those

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people who always just sees the best in everybody. And even though, like, Tina has

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consistently been just like a piece of shit to her, she still is just like,

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nope, my car is towed. Like, my sister wouldn't do that to me.

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She really romanticizes everything in her life, including her relationships with

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other people. They arrive to the hotel and discover that Tina has used Naomi's

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keys to break into her hotel room, steal her stuff, including an envelope

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of cash, and left her 11 year old daughter Waylay watching

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TV on her bed. And after calling her sister from

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Knox's phone, she confirms that Tina did in fact steal her car and her

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stuff and intentionally left her daughter at the motel for Naomi to take care of.

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Knox calls the cops and it turns out the chief of police is his brother

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Nash, as we've already discussed. And it's clear based on Nash's interaction with

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Naomi, that they are into each other. So there's like some heavy

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flirting happening. Here, which drives Knox crazy.

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Yes. Which drove me crazy when Nash is like

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kind of flirting with Naomi and she's having it and

225
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Knox is in his head thinking like that, nope, that's not fucking happening.

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I'm not gonna have her. I don't want her. He's not going to have her

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either. Yeah, I. Oh yeah, that's. He literally mentally

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calls dibs on her and just assumes that the whole town should know that.

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Yeah. And nobody else is allowed to talk to her and. Oh my God,

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was that for me? Oh, wow.

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So I did not like that,

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if you can imagine. I truly believe if

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this was true life and not a Hallmark movie,

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that Nash and Naomi would have ended up together. They seem

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like very much like, meant to be.

236
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One of like the little stunts that Knox pulls here is that

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like Naomi and Nash are flirting with each other and

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he gets this in his head and then he calls one of his buddies who's

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like a motorcycle guy to drive by the motel speeding.

240
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And so then he's like, oh, shoot, Nash, gonna have to go

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and get your buddy, you know? Oh my

242
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God, I love that so much. Yeah, it's pretty

243
00:15:41,410 --> 00:15:45,070
funny. It's important to note here that Naomi didn't know that she had a niece.

244
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No. Waylay is 11. Yeah, I know.

245
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Well, Naomi agrees to take temporary guardianship of Wei Lei.

246
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And after visiting the trailer park where they live and that Tina is currently being

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evicted from, Nox forces them into back into

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his truck and then takes them to this, like, little house in the woods where

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the terms of their rent are to be determined at

250
00:16:09,660 --> 00:16:12,560
a mandatory dinner that evening with the home's owner.

251
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At this point, Naomi literally has no idea what's

252
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going on. She doesn't know who the owner of the home is.

253
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Well, she quit her job. Yep. She has the money that's in her account.

254
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Her car's been stolen. She lost her phone on a turnstile.

255
00:16:27,680 --> 00:16:31,000
She doesn't even have the money in her account because her account is overdrawn by

256
00:16:31,500 --> 00:16:35,100
Tina. So she has, like, a little emergency reserve of cash,

257
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and, like, that's it. And, like. And she's still just trying to see the positive

258
00:16:39,920 --> 00:16:43,340
in things. Yeah. I did, like, really kind of

259
00:16:43,840 --> 00:16:47,140
hate the way that she just, like, falls into motherhood again.

260
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I think this is why it was so hard for me to get into this

261
00:16:49,960 --> 00:16:53,260
book. I felt like that was realistic. Oh, God, I hated. It was like.

262
00:16:53,500 --> 00:16:56,740
She's like. She finds out that she's got a niece and that

263
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her niece is in her bedroom and that she's going to be the guardian of

264
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her niece, like, in a matter of two minutes. And then Knox is

265
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like, oh, well, let me grab you something from the vending machine. And she's like,

266
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I'll have a water. And then her niece is like, I'll have

267
00:17:11,280 --> 00:17:14,340
a Surge or a Mountain Dew or whatever. And Naomi, in her

268
00:17:14,840 --> 00:17:17,820
head is like, oh, no, that's too much sugar for her. She shouldn't have that.

269
00:17:18,320 --> 00:17:21,860
And it's like, meow. But you need to think about. Think about how you react.

270
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Your entire life is falling apart. It's that whole thing where, like.

271
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Like what? You're falling apart. Sure. Until somebody else is falling

272
00:17:30,130 --> 00:17:33,390
apart, and then you suddenly have to take control. Sure. So that,

273
00:17:33,890 --> 00:17:37,350
to me, felt super realistic, because if she showed up here and she was

274
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planning to go home, if she had something to leave for.

275
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Yeah. I don't know that she would have done this. Yeah. I just didn't

276
00:17:45,490 --> 00:17:48,990
like. I just, like, don't like the mommy trope. It bothers me. The fact

277
00:17:49,490 --> 00:17:52,230
that she's like, an instant mom is just like, I don't know. And then they

278
00:17:52,730 --> 00:17:55,510
go to the grocery store, and Naomi is like, I don't know. Can we talk

279
00:17:56,010 --> 00:17:59,070
about, though, the fact that. Cause she doesn't have a car. Yeah. They got to

280
00:17:59,570 --> 00:18:02,910
the grocery store riding bikes. I. I wrote it down. I was

281
00:18:03,410 --> 00:18:06,670
like, no, we would have starved. Yeah.

282
00:18:07,170 --> 00:18:10,910
Until I'm not. Because she's like, oh, there's a basket on the bike. No.

283
00:18:11,150 --> 00:18:14,670
Yeah. Well, after a trip to the grocery store, Weyla and Naomi

284
00:18:15,170 --> 00:18:18,830
find themselves back at Cafe Rev, where they are approached by another small town

285
00:18:19,330 --> 00:18:22,630
character by the name of Sherry Fiasco, who introduces herself

286
00:18:23,130 --> 00:18:26,190
as a business manager and offers Naomi a serving job at a local restaurant and

287
00:18:26,690 --> 00:18:29,910
bar called the Honky Tonka. And there's going to be, like, so many

288
00:18:30,410 --> 00:18:33,990
characters because this book is like if Gilmore

289
00:18:34,490 --> 00:18:37,870
Girls had, like, smut in drama. These people basically live in Stars

290
00:18:38,370 --> 00:18:42,710
Hollow and they have a bunch of, like, unique characters.

291
00:18:43,030 --> 00:18:46,190
They are all such minor people, but they have such a big impact on the

292
00:18:46,690 --> 00:18:49,710
story. Well, it turns out the owner of the cabin and

293
00:18:50,210 --> 00:18:53,800
the person whose home Naomi is going to for dinner is

294
00:18:54,300 --> 00:18:57,120
Liza J. Knox and Nash's grandmother.

295
00:18:57,680 --> 00:19:00,920
Nash is trying to find reasons to see Naomi, so he shows up,

296
00:19:01,420 --> 00:19:04,560
and the boys get into a physical fist fight. And Naomi and Way arrive

297
00:19:05,060 --> 00:19:08,800
to break it up. And we get our first glimpse of head over heels

298
00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:12,200
Knox here because Naomi bends

299
00:19:12,700 --> 00:19:15,200
down to pet his dog. He has a basset hound named Waylon.

300
00:19:15,840 --> 00:19:19,160
And she's, like, holding these flowers that she bought

301
00:19:19,660 --> 00:19:23,020
for Liza J. For the dinner that night. And we get his perspective,

302
00:19:23,520 --> 00:19:26,100
and he says he feels like everything fades away.

303
00:19:26,740 --> 00:19:30,460
This is the very first moment where we're like, I mean, this idiot was

304
00:19:30,960 --> 00:19:34,340
in love from the beginning. Yes. Which, again, is for me.

305
00:19:34,580 --> 00:19:38,660
I know. A man obsessed with me. A man willing to fight his brother

306
00:19:39,220 --> 00:19:42,900
over me. They're literally fighting over her. And Eliza J.

307
00:19:43,400 --> 00:19:46,980
Knows. Everybody knows that they're fighting over a woman. Yeah. Of what's happening. Yeah.

308
00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:50,720
Except Naomi. Yes. Well, we're kind of starting to get,

309
00:19:51,220 --> 00:19:54,560
like, pieces of the backstory here, so Nicole

310
00:19:55,060 --> 00:19:58,320
kind of already covered it. But basically, Naomi is in Knock him out because Tina

311
00:19:58,820 --> 00:20:02,280
called her, asking her for money. We learn that Tina has a long history

312
00:20:02,780 --> 00:20:06,280
of drug abuse and of abandonment of Waylay, so she leaves her

313
00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:09,960
often. And we also learned that Naomi left her

314
00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:13,960
fiance at the altar and showed up in Knock him out with Daisies

315
00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:17,970
from her wedding still in her hair. And Knox has taken to

316
00:20:18,470 --> 00:20:21,490
calling her Daisy as a result. How did you feel about that?

317
00:20:22,050 --> 00:20:25,730
I hated the nicknames. I'm not a pet name girl.

318
00:20:26,230 --> 00:20:29,890
I'm not either. It's just not for me. And every person,

319
00:20:30,930 --> 00:20:34,530
every one of the three main couples that each of

320
00:20:35,030 --> 00:20:39,050
These books is about. They each have nicknames for each other. Yeah. So Naomi

321
00:20:39,550 --> 00:20:44,350
calls him Viking and he calls her Daze Daisy, and I

322
00:20:44,850 --> 00:20:48,350
get it, but I hate that cutesy shit is not for me. And I just.

323
00:20:48,850 --> 00:20:51,550
My name is Amanda, and if you're not gonna talk to me then, or you're

324
00:20:52,050 --> 00:20:53,670
not gonna call me that, then don't fucking talk to me. I love when people

325
00:20:54,170 --> 00:20:57,350
use my name 100%. I do have an exception to that rule,

326
00:20:57,850 --> 00:21:01,630
though, which would be darling. I have a darling kink. Oh my God.

327
00:21:01,710 --> 00:21:05,150
Fucking call me darling, please. I want to get a

328
00:21:05,650 --> 00:21:09,450
tattooed on my body. I do have like a kind of a quote here,

329
00:21:09,850 --> 00:21:13,290
and I think that this is a really good representation of sort

330
00:21:13,790 --> 00:21:16,650
of just like, what to expect when you're reading this book in terms of,

331
00:21:17,150 --> 00:21:20,250
like, how these characters interact with each other and like, what type of dialogue you're

332
00:21:20,750 --> 00:21:24,650
going to experience. So they're all basically sitting around Liza J's table

333
00:21:25,150 --> 00:21:28,650
for dinner. So what were you fighting over this time? Liza asked her grandsons,

334
00:21:28,730 --> 00:21:31,810
magnanimously changing the subject. Nothing. Knox and

335
00:21:32,310 --> 00:21:35,330
Knox. Knox and Nash said in unison. The glare that passed between them made me

336
00:21:35,830 --> 00:21:39,360
think they didn't like being on the same page about everything. Aunt Naomi

337
00:21:39,860 --> 00:21:43,200
broke em up, Weyla reported, studying a slice of tomato with suspicion. Eat your

338
00:21:43,700 --> 00:21:47,320
salad, I told her. Who was winning? Liza asked me. The brothers

339
00:21:47,400 --> 00:21:51,160
announced together. The pronouncement was followed by another chilly silence.

340
00:21:51,560 --> 00:21:54,399
The reason I chose this quote is because I think you get a lot of,

341
00:21:54,899 --> 00:21:58,360
like, there's a lot of chaos because there's a lot of people, there's a lot

342
00:21:58,860 --> 00:22:02,760
of characters, and there's a lot of, like, personalities bumping

343
00:22:03,260 --> 00:22:06,840
up against each other, like, throughout this whole book. And you have a lot happening.

344
00:22:07,340 --> 00:22:09,810
That was like five sentences. Yeah.

345
00:22:10,290 --> 00:22:13,970
So anyways, Liza J. Lives in an old ski resort that's

346
00:22:14,470 --> 00:22:17,570
been shut down since her husband's passing.

347
00:22:18,050 --> 00:22:21,930
Naomi agrees to free rent for assisting

348
00:22:22,430 --> 00:22:25,970
Liza J. In getting the old place cleared out, cleaned, and organized.

349
00:22:26,530 --> 00:22:30,010
Naomi learns that the cabin home next doors to

350
00:22:30,510 --> 00:22:34,050
hers is Knox's when he steps outside the morning after dinner while she's

351
00:22:34,550 --> 00:22:37,840
making a list on the back porch. Go figure. And he pulls his dick

352
00:22:38,340 --> 00:22:42,080
out to pee off his back deck. And then Naomi is thoroughly scandalized.

353
00:22:42,560 --> 00:22:46,320
She comes inside and Wei Lei is like, why are you. Are you

354
00:22:46,820 --> 00:22:50,400
sunburnt? What's wrong with your face? We meet our

355
00:22:50,900 --> 00:22:54,360
next knockout character when the ladies visit the library. The knock

356
00:22:54,860 --> 00:22:58,480
him out librarian, a young woman named Sloan, who is described as

357
00:22:58,980 --> 00:23:02,780
being the farthest thing from a librarian, as Naomi can imagine. Which I

358
00:23:03,280 --> 00:23:07,780
also took offense to on behalf of all librarians everywhere. I know I.

359
00:23:07,940 --> 00:23:11,180
You know this. Like, I. When I. I spent most

360
00:23:11,680 --> 00:23:14,180
of, like, my childhood at the library, I wanted to be a librarian when I

361
00:23:14,680 --> 00:23:16,660
grew up. And then it turns out you need, like, a doctor to be a

362
00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:19,780
librarian, basically, and then you make like, $20,000 a year.

363
00:23:19,940 --> 00:23:23,100
Sloan is not how I would be as a library look

364
00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:26,020
as a librarian. I don't know. Sloan is exactly how I would look as a

365
00:23:26,520 --> 00:23:29,790
librarian. Really? 100%. Yes. Maybe I spend too much

366
00:23:30,290 --> 00:23:33,590
time online because I follow a bunch of librarians online and they're like,

367
00:23:34,090 --> 00:23:37,670
literally the coolest people in the whole world. I would have been a librarian.

368
00:23:37,910 --> 00:23:41,430
Like Evie from the Mummy. Oh, my God.

369
00:23:42,230 --> 00:23:45,710
That is. Wow. You're a genie. You can have that. That's yours. I,

370
00:23:46,210 --> 00:23:49,430
like, can't even take that idea from you. It's so genius. Yes, 100%.

371
00:23:49,750 --> 00:23:52,630
That's how I would be, like, looking real classy, professional,

372
00:23:53,190 --> 00:23:56,630
putting my hair up. And I would definitely have some glasses. Oh, my God.

373
00:23:57,130 --> 00:24:00,770
Yeah. I would look like. Can we just talk about Brandon Fraser in that movie?

374
00:24:01,270 --> 00:24:04,930
God. Between Brandon

375
00:24:05,430 --> 00:24:08,690
Fraser in that movie and the guy, the guide.

376
00:24:08,850 --> 00:24:10,930
Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

377
00:24:11,570 --> 00:24:14,570
Wow. That movie. Talk about between the three of them.

378
00:24:15,070 --> 00:24:18,530
Talk about a sexual awakening. All of them. Yeah, that whole entire movie.

379
00:24:18,930 --> 00:24:22,530
I would have sex with all of them. Yes. Oh, my God. Even the mummy.

380
00:24:22,850 --> 00:24:26,910
100. 100. Yes. So cute. Oh, my God. That I

381
00:24:27,410 --> 00:24:31,270
need to watch that movie again. Yeah. It's Brenan frasier in the 90s.

382
00:24:31,590 --> 00:24:35,190
My God, I love him. Even now I know that he's not attractive anymore.

383
00:24:35,750 --> 00:24:39,670
Technically. I still think that he's attractive just because he's just

384
00:24:39,750 --> 00:24:42,910
like, I'm a personality person through and through. And I just like.

385
00:24:43,410 --> 00:24:46,830
He's such a doll. And I just, like, love his personality so

386
00:24:47,330 --> 00:24:50,960
much. Naomi's getting to Knox. He's not

387
00:24:51,460 --> 00:24:55,120
sleeping. He's dreaming about her sucking his dick. And he's

388
00:24:55,620 --> 00:24:59,200
calling her Naomi. Fucking flowers in her hair. Wit in his head.

389
00:24:59,520 --> 00:25:02,760
He's surlier than usual when he goes into work that morning at the hair

390
00:25:03,260 --> 00:25:06,639
salon that he owns called Whiskey Clippers, we get a few

391
00:25:07,139 --> 00:25:10,720
more town characters. Stacia, short for Anastasia,

392
00:25:11,120 --> 00:25:14,600
one of the stylists, and Jeremiah, the other

393
00:25:15,100 --> 00:25:19,290
stylist and the co owner, owner of the salon, who also happens to be bi.

394
00:25:20,090 --> 00:25:23,650
Knox locks himself in his office, a space that no one

395
00:25:24,150 --> 00:25:27,690
is allowed in, and then proceeds to online stock.

396
00:25:27,850 --> 00:25:31,850
I loved this so much. He's so obsessed.

397
00:25:32,570 --> 00:25:36,010
He is. He's like, comparing himself to her ex fiance

398
00:25:36,330 --> 00:25:39,930
and. And he's like, oh, I just knew she was gonna be, like, uppity and

399
00:25:40,170 --> 00:25:44,010
all of this. I knew she was so classy and. Yeah. Yeah.

400
00:25:44,170 --> 00:25:47,450
Please sit in your office at work and cyberstalk me. Yeah.

401
00:25:49,280 --> 00:25:52,400
Please do that. Please do not do that to me.

402
00:25:53,600 --> 00:25:57,000
We're so different. We are. All right, well, knock him out

403
00:25:57,500 --> 00:26:00,560
has taken to calling Naomi, not Tina, and we get our first

404
00:26:01,060 --> 00:26:04,560
piece of small town gossip, which every single time that

405
00:26:05,060 --> 00:26:07,520
this. That kind of gossip comes up, I'm gonna try to share it because I

406
00:26:08,020 --> 00:26:10,880
think it's such a important part of these books.

407
00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:14,750
The whole thing is, is that this is a small town and

408
00:26:15,250 --> 00:26:19,150
gossip travels through this town the way like a game of telephone is played

409
00:26:19,470 --> 00:26:23,390
where it's so true. Yes. Where every, like, every single

410
00:26:23,890 --> 00:26:27,470
time, it is, like, misconstrued a little bit more and a little bit more.

411
00:26:27,550 --> 00:26:31,110
Yeah. And so this particular piece of gossip comes

412
00:26:31,610 --> 00:26:34,870
from another small town character named Doris Bacon. She comes in for a haircut

413
00:26:35,370 --> 00:26:39,070
and she mentions that she heard that there's a warrant out for Tina

414
00:26:39,570 --> 00:26:43,180
and that not Tina helped her escape. That reminds me of

415
00:26:44,140 --> 00:26:46,700
my family from small towns in Wisconsin.

416
00:26:47,180 --> 00:26:50,860
And my dad, a few years ago, he fell out of his tree stand.

417
00:26:50,940 --> 00:26:54,380
Like, super bad concussion. It was fine. Like,

418
00:26:54,460 --> 00:26:57,660
he didn't even have to stay overnight. Just like some tests and stuff.

419
00:26:58,060 --> 00:27:01,380
It was a bad concussion. He fell out of a tree stand. Yeah. Long way

420
00:27:01,880 --> 00:27:05,180
down. My cousin the next day calls me my cousin's sister,

421
00:27:05,740 --> 00:27:09,150
and she's like, hey, like, are you doing okay?

422
00:27:09,650 --> 00:27:11,470
Like, let me know if you need anything. And I was like, what the fuck

423
00:27:11,970 --> 00:27:14,270
are you talking about? She's like, I heard your dad's in the hospital in a

424
00:27:14,770 --> 00:27:17,670
coma. Oh, my God. No, honey.

425
00:27:19,510 --> 00:27:23,070
I want to know who dropped the ball on the information in the line of

426
00:27:23,570 --> 00:27:27,510
communication on that. Like, it's just. It's small town gossip

427
00:27:28,010 --> 00:27:31,670
is another fucking level. Yeah. That's so funny. Yeah.

428
00:27:32,150 --> 00:27:35,590
As it turns out, the honky tonk where Naomi has

429
00:27:36,090 --> 00:27:38,910
gotten a job is attached to the Whiskey Clipper.

430
00:27:39,470 --> 00:27:42,990
And who should own them both?

431
00:27:43,550 --> 00:27:47,870
None other than Knox Clucking Morgan. And he decidedly

432
00:27:48,370 --> 00:27:52,190
does not want Naomi working for him, even though he spends her entire

433
00:27:52,690 --> 00:27:56,150
shift in his office daydreaming about her and forcing her to let

434
00:27:56,650 --> 00:27:59,990
him give her a ride home after Nash. Nash shows up to offer her

435
00:28:00,490 --> 00:28:03,790
a ride. I'm so. I was so obsessed with that part. When Nash shows up

436
00:28:04,290 --> 00:28:07,630
and Knox is like this mother fresh you would gonna try to run

437
00:28:08,130 --> 00:28:11,910
in here. And then Nash is Doing a good. Job of pursuing her.

438
00:28:12,410 --> 00:28:15,870
Oh, yeah, he really is. And the thing of it is, is, like, I think

439
00:28:16,370 --> 00:28:19,710
as generic at these characters are written, I think that there is some

440
00:28:20,210 --> 00:28:23,990
truth to, like, had this been a Nash and Naomi book, even though they're

441
00:28:24,490 --> 00:28:26,710
more well suited for each other,

442
00:28:27,350 --> 00:28:31,150
she would never have made the leap for Nash. No. Not coming out.

443
00:28:31,650 --> 00:28:34,110
Not, like, reeling the way that she is. It never would have been for a

444
00:28:34,610 --> 00:28:38,190
Nash. It would be for. For a big dumb idiot. Yes. Walking around,

445
00:28:38,690 --> 00:28:42,430
bumping into things and fighting for her attention. Which is essentially what.

446
00:28:42,930 --> 00:28:47,070
What Nox is doing forces her, basically. Yeah. Knox is constantly. He literally.

447
00:28:47,570 --> 00:28:49,950
Knox says, I'm giving her a ride home. You don't have to. It's out of

448
00:28:50,450 --> 00:28:54,670
your way. You live upstairs. What are you gonna do? Yeah, he literally is forcing

449
00:28:55,170 --> 00:28:58,390
himself to be around her. Then we get a conversation here while they're in

450
00:28:58,890 --> 00:29:02,700
the car, and basically Knox is like, cards on the table. You're not

451
00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:06,660
my type. And she's just like, you gotta fucking break it down for me.

452
00:29:07,160 --> 00:29:10,660
And he's basically like, my dick doesn't care that

453
00:29:11,160 --> 00:29:13,980
you're not my type. And I like,

454
00:29:14,460 --> 00:29:17,579
She's. I don't know, it. The whole banter back and forth is like.

455
00:29:17,660 --> 00:29:21,260
They have a brief conversation about her not having a phone and, like, needing one,

456
00:29:21,760 --> 00:29:25,660
which Knox is like, that's so irresponsible and you need to get a phone parent.

457
00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:30,300
Yeah. Since this morning. Yeah, exactly. And Naomi is like, I'm literally the most responsible

458
00:29:30,800 --> 00:29:33,400
person in the world, so, like, why don't you just show the up out?

459
00:29:33,720 --> 00:29:37,000
And then he follows it up with, like, you come with too many

460
00:29:37,160 --> 00:29:40,480
complications. And, like, you wouldn't be satisfied with just a quick. And then

461
00:29:40,980 --> 00:29:44,200
Naomi is like, well, Max Morgan just said that he'd never be able to

462
00:29:44,700 --> 00:29:48,000
satisfy me. Like, you know, and then he follows it up and is like,

463
00:29:48,500 --> 00:29:52,480
I would be able to satisfy you. And then she says, you're annoying.

464
00:29:52,980 --> 00:29:55,280
And he's like, no, you're annoying. And he's like, you can slap me tomorrow.

465
00:29:55,780 --> 00:29:57,640
And she's like, it'll probably just make you want me more. And he's like,

466
00:29:58,140 --> 00:30:00,120
you're a pain in my ass. And she's like, you're just mad because I'd have

467
00:30:00,620 --> 00:30:02,680
to. You have to find a new way place to pee in the morning.

468
00:30:03,180 --> 00:30:06,240
And it's just like, the whole thing is like, these two are going to be

469
00:30:06,740 --> 00:30:10,400
married. Yeah. Every single thing about the conversation is just so, like,

470
00:30:10,960 --> 00:30:14,160
unserious and aggressive. Just like,

471
00:30:14,240 --> 00:30:18,040
yes. I don't know. I ate it all up. I. Yeah.

472
00:30:18,540 --> 00:30:21,960
I believe that this conversation gives me the ick. If somebody

473
00:30:22,460 --> 00:30:25,680
talked to me the way that Knox Morgan talks to her about his dick.

474
00:30:26,180 --> 00:30:30,280
Standing at attention. Yeah. When I'm around, I would literally be

475
00:30:30,360 --> 00:30:33,560
so fucking repulsed. Do not fucking

476
00:30:34,060 --> 00:30:37,880
talk to me about your fucking dick unless we're about

477
00:30:38,380 --> 00:30:42,000
to have sex. I do much prefer it just me just seeing that it's

478
00:30:42,500 --> 00:30:46,200
hard. See? And I would, like, wanna know, like, a retrospect.

479
00:30:46,600 --> 00:30:49,160
You know what I mean? Like, yeah. Like, oh, I was so hard when I

480
00:30:49,660 --> 00:30:53,320
was yelling at you. Yeah. Something like that. Versus, like, in the moment.

481
00:30:53,400 --> 00:30:56,520
You're like, my dick's at attention right now. And it's just.

482
00:30:56,700 --> 00:30:59,100
I don't know. He just. And she doesn't know him.

483
00:30:59,660 --> 00:31:03,300
They've literally known each other for 24 hours. And it's like, can you just shut

484
00:31:03,800 --> 00:31:07,140
the fuck up about your penis? Like, what are we talking about? Anyways, I have

485
00:31:07,640 --> 00:31:11,780
to point this out. I've dated a man who is literally in every

486
00:31:12,280 --> 00:31:15,180
single way, shape and form, except for his size and his money.

487
00:31:15,580 --> 00:31:19,020
Exactly like Knox Morgan. He was the one

488
00:31:19,420 --> 00:31:23,050
who, when I broke up with him, lost his mind. Yeah.

489
00:31:23,550 --> 00:31:27,310
So spiraled, got fired from his job, took out his 401k,

490
00:31:27,470 --> 00:31:31,590
drove across the country to California and wrote I love and

491
00:31:32,090 --> 00:31:35,630
then my initials in the sand on a beach in giant

492
00:31:36,130 --> 00:31:39,150
letters and then climbed a cliff to take a photo of it.

493
00:31:39,630 --> 00:31:43,110
I thought you were gonna say he jumped off it. No. Thought the

494
00:31:43,610 --> 00:31:47,230
story was going somewhere else. That's a much better story. Let me work

495
00:31:47,730 --> 00:31:50,750
it back. Yeah. And then I can retell it. Yeah. No, he took a photo

496
00:31:51,250 --> 00:31:54,830
of it and then he printed it off on 8 and a half by 11

497
00:31:55,070 --> 00:31:58,830
and put it in a frame with, like, love and like,

498
00:31:59,230 --> 00:32:02,910
amore and, like, all the shit around the frame and then left it on

499
00:32:03,410 --> 00:32:06,510
my front. I feel

500
00:32:07,010 --> 00:32:10,870
like. Which Knox motherfucking Morgan would do. See, I feel

501
00:32:11,370 --> 00:32:14,390
like Knox is more the type, kind of like Dave, where I

502
00:32:14,890 --> 00:32:17,360
would try to break up with Dave, and he'd just be like, we're not doing

503
00:32:17,860 --> 00:32:21,240
that. Oh, sure. Like, you try to leave

504
00:32:21,320 --> 00:32:24,760
and. Yeah. No. Yeah. That's not what you're

505
00:32:25,260 --> 00:32:28,960
gonna do. Oh, wow. I feel like that's more. I feel

506
00:32:29,460 --> 00:32:32,880
like that just, like, takes all the stress off of it. Right? Yeah. The number

507
00:32:33,380 --> 00:32:36,360
of times I tried. I'm a very flighty, irrational, crazy person.

508
00:32:36,520 --> 00:32:38,680
Yeah. The number of times I tried to break up with Dave and he was

509
00:32:39,180 --> 00:32:42,360
just like, we're not doing that. Yeah. Grow up.

510
00:32:43,250 --> 00:32:46,810
That's what I get out of Knox. Yeah. Well, I hate Knox, so he's not

511
00:32:47,310 --> 00:32:50,770
for me. We get our next piece of town gossip.

512
00:32:51,250 --> 00:32:54,530
When Liza J. Wayleigh and Naomi got for pizza at the local pizza joint,

513
00:32:55,030 --> 00:32:58,290
Nisi the waitress, tells them she heard that Naomi and Knox

514
00:32:58,790 --> 00:33:01,970
got into a screaming match at the cafe and Honky tonk. And then he apologized,

515
00:33:02,470 --> 00:33:05,410
but that Naomi broke a chair over his head and that he needed six dishes.

516
00:33:07,810 --> 00:33:11,250
You know, I'm a fucking nosy bitch, and I

517
00:33:11,750 --> 00:33:15,170
just live for the town gossip. And I realize that I've been doing

518
00:33:15,670 --> 00:33:19,610
gossip wrong because I've always been like, when I gossip with you, especially where

519
00:33:20,110 --> 00:33:22,810
I'm like, I have to tell you what happened. I'm always giving you real life

520
00:33:23,310 --> 00:33:26,650
accurate information. Oh, I never am. I need. When I tell

521
00:33:27,150 --> 00:33:30,810
people something, it's always. It's mostly true. We've been there. When I've

522
00:33:31,310 --> 00:33:34,250
told stories about things you've said to me, it's. It's true adjacent,

523
00:33:34,750 --> 00:33:38,320
but I'm definitely making it a better story. That is. Is actually the truest.

524
00:33:39,040 --> 00:33:42,400
You tell every single story that you tell,

525
00:33:42,640 --> 00:33:46,320
there is a spin on it where you are the victim. And everyone obviously.

526
00:33:47,120 --> 00:33:51,080
Obviously. In an

527
00:33:51,580 --> 00:33:55,040
attempt to socialize with Weiley, Naomi throws a little garden party

528
00:33:55,540 --> 00:33:59,120
at her place, which is so Naomi. Naomi will

529
00:33:59,620 --> 00:34:02,040
just be like, oh, I'm just gonna have a couple of people over tonight,

530
00:34:02,540 --> 00:34:06,800
and then, like, throw a party with, like, appetizers and bonfires and, like, decorations and

531
00:34:06,880 --> 00:34:10,499
flowers. And I don't know how she coordinate or plans or executes

532
00:34:10,999 --> 00:34:14,619
on any of that, but she invites all of the little town characters,

533
00:34:15,119 --> 00:34:17,659
and Knox and Jeremiah crash it.

534
00:34:17,979 --> 00:34:21,779
So Knox and Jeremiah were like, hanging out. He lives right

535
00:34:22,279 --> 00:34:26,219
next door, and he's like, oh, she's having a party. Nash brings Naomi flowers.

536
00:34:26,719 --> 00:34:30,059
It makes Nox lose his mind. And then

537
00:34:30,559 --> 00:34:34,419
Naomi and Nox end up exchanging words. And just as Naomi tells

538
00:34:34,919 --> 00:34:38,570
Knox to go screw himself, the caseworker for their guardianship

539
00:34:39,070 --> 00:34:42,690
case shows up to introduce herself. A few days later,

540
00:34:43,190 --> 00:34:46,690
Knox takes Naomi and Wei Lay into town to the mall so

541
00:34:47,190 --> 00:34:50,690
that Naomi can take Weilei school shopping. And he buys Weilei a pair of

542
00:34:50,770 --> 00:34:54,370
sneakers and then sneak attacks Naomi with a brand new phone

543
00:34:54,870 --> 00:34:57,330
that he had arranged to be ready for her when they showed up.

544
00:34:57,810 --> 00:34:59,490
This part is for me.

545
00:35:00,610 --> 00:35:04,450
This part is for me. Please, please take something off my plate.

546
00:35:04,710 --> 00:35:07,830
Good fucking God. And just show me that you were

547
00:35:08,330 --> 00:35:12,150
thinking about me. Sure. Like, I think I'm more of.

548
00:35:12,870 --> 00:35:15,830
What is it? A gifts. Give me gifts.

549
00:35:15,990 --> 00:35:19,510
Sure. Maybe your love language is gifts. You don't know what it

550
00:35:20,010 --> 00:35:23,190
is because I just like to know that you were thinking about me no matter

551
00:35:23,350 --> 00:35:26,710
what. Sure. And a phone would do

552
00:35:27,210 --> 00:35:29,750
that. You had the foresight to have this phone ready for me.

553
00:35:30,810 --> 00:35:34,090
He programs his phone number into it. I don't really

554
00:35:34,590 --> 00:35:37,930
care if anybody is thinking about me ever. I want everybody

555
00:35:38,430 --> 00:35:40,490
to be thinking about me all the time. I would prefer it if people were

556
00:35:40,990 --> 00:35:44,370
not thinking about me all the time, but I simultaneously just want

557
00:35:44,870 --> 00:35:48,210
people to take things off my plate. Sure. Like. Like,

558
00:35:48,710 --> 00:35:51,610
that's my thing, is like. And I know that in order for people to do

559
00:35:52,110 --> 00:35:54,650
that, they'd have to be thinking about me, they'd have to be considering me,

560
00:35:54,890 --> 00:35:57,930
but it's just like, just make my life a little bit easier,

561
00:35:58,420 --> 00:36:01,820
you know? Yeah. Naomi, I think, is, like, a little

562
00:36:02,320 --> 00:36:05,940
overwhelmed here by this. And she's kind of trying to, like, get some space

563
00:36:06,180 --> 00:36:09,820
from Knox, who is like, I think, generally just kind of

564
00:36:10,320 --> 00:36:12,460
freaking her out because she's like, why are you being so nice to me?

565
00:36:12,960 --> 00:36:16,460
You're always an asshole. And so she, like, tries to

566
00:36:16,960 --> 00:36:20,140
hide in a lingerie store, but then Knox follows

567
00:36:20,640 --> 00:36:24,900
her in and then forces, like, several pairs of underwear

568
00:36:25,400 --> 00:36:28,960
onto the waiting sales lady. And when Naomi is like, I'm not paying for

569
00:36:29,460 --> 00:36:31,720
all of those, he's like, I'll pay for them. And she's like, you're not going

570
00:36:32,220 --> 00:36:35,600
to buy me underwear. And he's like, if buying them for her is what it

571
00:36:36,100 --> 00:36:39,200
takes to get out of this fucking store without passing out from a goddamn hard

572
00:36:39,700 --> 00:36:42,680
on. He's buying her the fucking underwear. That's what he says. Oh, my God,

573
00:36:43,180 --> 00:36:46,320
he's so obsessed. You love that. Yep. Wow. I love

574
00:36:46,820 --> 00:36:50,440
that so much. Yeah. You're so cute. They get home and the

575
00:36:50,940 --> 00:36:54,970
world's most perfect male specimen is waiting for Naomi

576
00:36:55,470 --> 00:36:59,290
on her front porch. I literally. My note is that. Why do

577
00:36:59,790 --> 00:37:02,890
I feel like Steph is your perfect man? Oh, God, he's. Because he's perfect.

578
00:37:03,390 --> 00:37:07,010
He. He is. He's literally perfect in every way. He cooks and he's

579
00:37:07,510 --> 00:37:10,970
thoughtful and he's wealthy and he's a little mysterious and funny.

580
00:37:11,470 --> 00:37:14,210
He's gorgeous. He's funny. He looks like Henry Golding,

581
00:37:14,690 --> 00:37:17,810
which is your ideal man. My ideal man? Yes,

582
00:37:18,310 --> 00:37:22,060
absolutely. Steph is Naomi's best friend.

583
00:37:22,780 --> 00:37:27,180
He hasn't seen her since she ran out on her wedding day. And Knox,

584
00:37:27,500 --> 00:37:31,180
not realizing that Stefan is a gay man, gets jealous

585
00:37:31,500 --> 00:37:34,780
and turns into a five year old. Yeah. He gets out

586
00:37:35,280 --> 00:37:37,100
of the truck and is like, where do you want your. And then, like,

587
00:37:37,600 --> 00:37:40,780
throws a temper tantrum and, like, storms off. And I Just. I can't. It's just.

588
00:37:41,280 --> 00:37:43,700
It's not for me. Why don't you go back to the store and buy me

589
00:37:44,200 --> 00:37:47,480
some more to put up with your crap? Naomi gives

590
00:37:47,980 --> 00:37:51,680
stuff the rundown on Knox, and then the next morning, Steph, who is an actual

591
00:37:52,000 --> 00:37:56,000
gentleman, goes over to Knox's place so that they can clear the

592
00:37:56,500 --> 00:38:00,560
air, and they agree on a truce based on their mutual concern for Naomi's

593
00:38:01,060 --> 00:38:04,760
well being. That's what real men do. Thank you. Knox would have never bridged

594
00:38:05,260 --> 00:38:09,160
that gap. No, never. Nope. He would not have. Stefan is perfect

595
00:38:09,660 --> 00:38:13,310
in every way. Stefan needs a book. Agreed.

596
00:38:13,870 --> 00:38:16,590
Stefan needs a book. Lucy, score. Stefan needs a book.

597
00:38:16,910 --> 00:38:20,310
Yes, please. I'm devastated that

598
00:38:20,810 --> 00:38:23,990
it could have even. Been a cute holiday novella. Yes. How adorable. Oh,

599
00:38:24,490 --> 00:38:27,870
my God. It would have been perfect. Honestly, there's still time. There really is.

600
00:38:28,590 --> 00:38:32,070
All right, well, the ladies and Steph go to whiskey clippers for back to school

601
00:38:32,570 --> 00:38:36,430
here. And here's where we learn that Tina cut

602
00:38:36,930 --> 00:38:40,160
Waylay's hair as punishment. And while everyone in the salon is

603
00:38:40,660 --> 00:38:44,480
distraught, it's actually Nox who speaks up with

604
00:38:44,980 --> 00:38:48,960
a heroic monologue on how Tina was an asshole and Naomi wasn't

605
00:38:49,460 --> 00:38:52,320
going to be like that with her. And then he tells Weyla to come find

606
00:38:52,820 --> 00:38:56,560
him if anyone ever attempts to get near her without her permission ever again.

607
00:38:57,280 --> 00:39:00,960
I will say one thing about this book is that this author

608
00:39:01,280 --> 00:39:05,320
is. She does lean more progressive and it reads

609
00:39:05,820 --> 00:39:08,690
into the way that she wrote this book and. And some of, like,

610
00:39:09,190 --> 00:39:13,130
the dialogue that they have and some of the stances that they take, and we're

611
00:39:13,630 --> 00:39:15,570
gonna see that a little bit more in kind of some of the books to

612
00:39:16,070 --> 00:39:19,530
come. But I think it's also worth noting that there are a lot of bipoc

613
00:39:20,030 --> 00:39:23,930
people in this book. Yeah, I felt like this was done well where other authors

614
00:39:24,430 --> 00:39:27,770
have not done it well. This. This book was done much better

615
00:39:27,930 --> 00:39:31,530
than the way that Nevesa Allen did it.

616
00:39:32,170 --> 00:39:35,370
Knox hosts an illegal high stakes poker game in the back of his bar,

617
00:39:35,870 --> 00:39:39,210
which Naomi is serving. And we meet more Char,

618
00:39:39,830 --> 00:39:43,030
including married Ian, Fidgety Ginger Tanner,

619
00:39:43,530 --> 00:39:46,830
biker crime lord Grim, the only woman in the room besides Naomi,

620
00:39:47,330 --> 00:39:49,670
Winona, and Satan himself. Lucian.

621
00:39:51,990 --> 00:39:55,430
I love Lucian so, so, so, so much.

622
00:39:55,750 --> 00:39:59,190
Yeah, it really only is because he has dark hair and

623
00:39:59,690 --> 00:40:02,830
he's a little. Yeah, it's really only because he has dark hair. Oh, wow.

624
00:40:03,330 --> 00:40:07,360
I think that's it. Interesting. I'm wondering why you couldn't just imagine.

625
00:40:07,760 --> 00:40:10,640
I'm not sure. Interesting. I'm not sure how my brain works.

626
00:40:10,960 --> 00:40:13,760
Yeah. But I love. She does reinforce,

627
00:40:14,260 --> 00:40:17,800
like the blonde hair and blue eyes a lot. Yeah. And also, like I

628
00:40:18,300 --> 00:40:21,960
told you, Lucian gets his own book. And the trope in his book

629
00:40:22,460 --> 00:40:25,800
is my ultimate thing. Yeah, stay tuned

630
00:40:26,300 --> 00:40:27,920
for that. Can't wait.

631
00:40:28,880 --> 00:40:32,640
Lucian is Nox and Ash's like longtime childhood friends.

632
00:40:33,140 --> 00:40:37,060
So they've been friends since they were small. Despite Knox's protests

633
00:40:37,560 --> 00:40:40,900
about Naomi serving the very dangerous players as he refers to them,

634
00:40:41,220 --> 00:40:45,140
Naomi makes best friends with them and then they bring her in on a

635
00:40:45,640 --> 00:40:48,900
game where she wins $20,000. And I have to say, like,

636
00:40:49,400 --> 00:40:51,780
if anybody's going to be able to do that, it's going to be a naomi.

637
00:40:52,580 --> 00:40:55,900
Honestly. Yeah, 100%. Those big scary people

638
00:40:56,400 --> 00:41:00,020
love it when they get the opportunity to save a.

639
00:41:00,180 --> 00:41:03,570
Sweet little innocent lady. You know better

640
00:41:04,070 --> 00:41:08,730
than anybody I know. Because you're just sweet,

641
00:41:09,230 --> 00:41:12,730
innocent. Nicole just needs people to take care of her. And yeah,

642
00:41:15,050 --> 00:41:18,370
the reason Knox and Nash are on the outs is because Knox won

643
00:41:18,870 --> 00:41:22,450
the lottery and attempted to force the some of the

644
00:41:22,950 --> 00:41:26,650
winnings onto Nash, who initially refused to accept

645
00:41:27,150 --> 00:41:30,690
them, but then years, for years. And then eventually did accept it

646
00:41:31,190 --> 00:41:33,370
and then used it to upgrade the town police department.

647
00:41:34,170 --> 00:41:37,410
Knox, Nash and Lucian had some run

648
00:41:37,910 --> 00:41:41,130
ins with the police when they were younger. So Knox was extra pissed.

649
00:41:41,630 --> 00:41:44,570
Yeah, it's like for him, it's like, this is personal. Yeah.

650
00:41:44,730 --> 00:41:48,530
It was like an insult. Anyway, so Knox has money and after

651
00:41:49,030 --> 00:41:52,730
finding out that the library could potentially have a part time position

652
00:41:52,810 --> 00:41:55,530
for Naomi if they had some funding come through,

653
00:41:55,770 --> 00:41:59,210
he makes an anonymous donation via a grant

654
00:41:59,850 --> 00:42:03,650
that Sloan comes into Honky Tonk to let her

655
00:42:04,150 --> 00:42:07,810
know that she got the job because they have the funding. Came through. And then

656
00:42:08,310 --> 00:42:12,490
we get Sloane and Lucian bumping into each other and then it's just

657
00:42:12,570 --> 00:42:16,050
so sexy. Yeah. My every interaction with

658
00:42:16,550 --> 00:42:20,390
them, I was literally. I don't even know what to call

659
00:42:20,890 --> 00:42:24,270
it. Yeah, I love them. We don't have to talk about it right now.

660
00:42:24,770 --> 00:42:27,910
We can talk about it when we get to their book. But the Lucian and

661
00:42:28,410 --> 00:42:31,150
Sloane in this book are very different than the Lucian and Sloane that we get

662
00:42:31,650 --> 00:42:34,870
in their book. Lucian is dancing in this scene. Yes.

663
00:42:35,190 --> 00:42:38,830
He's dancing with Naomi and telling her what

664
00:42:39,330 --> 00:42:42,470
a great gal she is and being kind and being. And that's not

665
00:42:42,970 --> 00:42:46,390
Lucien. No, his book. He is very different. In his book.

666
00:42:46,890 --> 00:42:50,390
You wouldn't be able to say hello to him without him chewing your face off.

667
00:42:50,820 --> 00:42:54,580
For him to be dancing with a stranger that he just met tonight is.

668
00:42:55,620 --> 00:42:58,340
It's pretty crazy. Anyways,

669
00:42:58,660 --> 00:43:02,140
Sloane and Lucien have their little standoff

670
00:43:02,640 --> 00:43:05,380
and Then both storm out of the bar because they can't be in the same

671
00:43:05,880 --> 00:43:09,300
room as each other under any circumstances. So sexy. The whole thing between

672
00:43:09,800 --> 00:43:12,700
Sloane and Lucian is giving like, I'm leaving. No,

673
00:43:13,200 --> 00:43:16,020
I'm leaving. Yeah. Then they both leave kind of a thing,

674
00:43:16,770 --> 00:43:20,290
and it kind of leaves Naomi on the dance floor, and she's kind of reeling,

675
00:43:20,790 --> 00:43:24,610
like, what the fuck just happened? Am I dancing with, like, my new bosses and

676
00:43:25,110 --> 00:43:28,290
my only friends? Like, X? Like, what is this?

677
00:43:28,770 --> 00:43:31,810
Yeah. Oh, poor Naomi. I know. She's,

678
00:43:32,310 --> 00:43:35,570
like, standing there, spiraling. And then she gets a phone call, and it's

679
00:43:35,650 --> 00:43:39,130
Steph calling because he was hanging out with Liza J.

680
00:43:39,630 --> 00:43:43,340
And Wei Lei when Liza J. Received a phone call about Nashville,

681
00:43:43,650 --> 00:43:46,610
who had been shot and was in critical condition in the hospital.

682
00:43:47,330 --> 00:43:49,970
This scene, I think I text you about this.

683
00:43:50,450 --> 00:43:54,130
This scene is my favorite scene in the whole book. This is where I

684
00:43:54,630 --> 00:43:58,410
started to fall in love with the book. Because Naomi

685
00:43:58,910 --> 00:44:01,890
is, like, standing in the middle of the dance floor. She's completely distraught.

686
00:44:02,290 --> 00:44:06,050
And then Knox sees her face and literally

687
00:44:06,290 --> 00:44:09,090
launches himself over the bar,

688
00:44:09,960 --> 00:44:13,800
rushes over to her and, like, what's wrong? Like, are you okay? And she's

689
00:44:14,300 --> 00:44:17,800
like. She's like, knox. And he's like, I'm right here, baby. What happened?

690
00:44:17,880 --> 00:44:21,560
They're not together. They've had no indication that

691
00:44:22,060 --> 00:44:25,800
she walked. Out on her wedding three days ago. And he's like, I'm right here,

692
00:44:26,300 --> 00:44:29,920
baby. And I'm like, oh, my God, please somebody

693
00:44:30,420 --> 00:44:34,160
be there to support me. It's. That's literally all it takes. And I will

694
00:44:34,660 --> 00:44:36,760
be so happy. So anyways, I love that scene.

695
00:44:37,710 --> 00:44:41,950
Against his wishes, Naomi goes to the hospital late that evening and

696
00:44:42,590 --> 00:44:46,310
tries to be there for Nox, who is pushing her away and telling

697
00:44:46,810 --> 00:44:49,950
her he doesn't want her there. And she just kind of keeps telling him how

698
00:44:50,450 --> 00:44:53,950
sorry she is and hugging him, and he's like, stop. Let me go. And basically,

699
00:44:54,450 --> 00:44:57,670
eventually, he just gives in to her, comforting him and tells her what happened between

700
00:44:58,170 --> 00:45:01,310
him and his brother. I also like this scene a lot because, like,

701
00:45:01,810 --> 00:45:05,200
it's a very serious scene. And they're, like, hugging, and she's

702
00:45:05,700 --> 00:45:08,760
like, do you want to know what I think? And Knox is like,

703
00:45:09,400 --> 00:45:12,960
yeah, I do. And Naomi is like, I think you're both idiots. Yeah.

704
00:45:13,460 --> 00:45:17,160
And it's just like, grow up. Yes. Yes. Yep.

705
00:45:17,660 --> 00:45:21,040
And I can just imagine her delivering that advice with

706
00:45:21,540 --> 00:45:25,080
just, like, so much care. This is where the book really starts

707
00:45:25,580 --> 00:45:27,400
to get to me. I really start to fall in the love with the book.

708
00:45:27,900 --> 00:45:31,170
For Pearl, you've been in Love with the book. Since. Since literally the first.

709
00:45:31,410 --> 00:45:35,170
First sentence. We get our first kiss between Naomi

710
00:45:35,670 --> 00:45:38,290
and Nox, which is brief but good.

711
00:45:38,530 --> 00:45:41,890
Nox gets to see his brother. And then the next day,

712
00:45:42,370 --> 00:45:45,490
Knox shows up at Naomi's front door and they have this,

713
00:45:45,990 --> 00:45:49,890
like, little awkward standoff before Nox closes the distance between them

714
00:45:50,450 --> 00:45:54,050
and Naomi is like, nox, this isn't what you want. And he says,

715
00:45:54,550 --> 00:45:57,820
no, it's what I need. Nicole's face. Yeah,

716
00:45:57,900 --> 00:46:01,940
Nicole's eye. Nicole. She gets excited. She. Her lips

717
00:46:02,440 --> 00:46:05,900
press together, and then her eyebrows lift up and her shoulders

718
00:46:06,400 --> 00:46:10,380
lift up. I see it.

719
00:46:10,880 --> 00:46:14,140
Loves this. I don't know if the second book has anything like this, but the

720
00:46:14,640 --> 00:46:18,140
third one does. And. Oh, my God, Men just not being able to control themselves

721
00:46:18,640 --> 00:46:22,000
around me. Yeah. Is a thing. You guys all know that. This is

722
00:46:22,500 --> 00:46:26,240
so hot. It's pretty hot. He undresses her, and then he fingers her against

723
00:46:26,740 --> 00:46:30,040
the fridge in her kitchen before moving to her bedroom, where he goes down on

724
00:46:30,540 --> 00:46:34,120
her. And then they agree. He literally picks her up

725
00:46:34,620 --> 00:46:38,040
and takes her over his shoulder and walks her to the bedroom. Because he's just

726
00:46:38,540 --> 00:46:41,840
like, I need to be inside you right now. He can't even make sentences.

727
00:46:41,920 --> 00:46:45,360
No, he's like, need bedroom. Yeah. Must go. Like,

728
00:46:45,600 --> 00:46:49,200
which door? And then they agree, like, it's a one time thing.

729
00:46:49,700 --> 00:46:53,080
And then he her while she hangs on to her brass headboard.

730
00:46:53,580 --> 00:46:55,720
Which I read that part and I was like, okay, Nicole is gonna be,

731
00:46:56,220 --> 00:46:59,440
like, losing her mind about this scene. Yep. And. But it's like

732
00:46:59,940 --> 00:47:02,800
a good scene because Naomi is also kind of at a loss for words.

733
00:47:03,300 --> 00:47:05,520
And he says something along the lines of like, oh, so it just takes a

734
00:47:06,020 --> 00:47:09,360
good fuck to make you lose that fancy vocabulary of yours, huh?

735
00:47:09,860 --> 00:47:13,080
And, like, she, like, mentions that she's, like, not wearing a bra, but she's wearing

736
00:47:13,580 --> 00:47:17,040
ugly underwear. And she's like, loose titties plus granny panties equals

737
00:47:17,740 --> 00:47:21,500
each other out. Yeah. Sickly men don't care.

738
00:47:21,660 --> 00:47:25,260
No, they. Oh, my God. Not care. They do not care. No.

739
00:47:25,420 --> 00:47:29,180
It's a good scene. It's a very, very sexy scene. It's a long scene.

740
00:47:29,260 --> 00:47:32,060
I enjoyed this scene. This one was probably my favorite.

741
00:47:32,620 --> 00:47:35,580
Really? Out of this book? Oh,

742
00:47:36,080 --> 00:47:39,020
sure. Okay. Not out of all of them. Sure, sure, sure. No, no,

743
00:47:39,520 --> 00:47:42,380
no. Okay. Some of my favorite scenes of all time are in the third book.

744
00:47:43,110 --> 00:47:46,430
Oh, really? I think a lot of what motivated us to

745
00:47:46,930 --> 00:47:49,390
do this entire series was just because we wanted to talk about the third book.

746
00:47:49,890 --> 00:47:53,630
100. And I am somebody who insists on

747
00:47:54,130 --> 00:47:57,910
doing everything incomplete. So we have to do this verse, two, in order

748
00:47:58,410 --> 00:48:00,310
for us to talk about it. I'm not mad about it. And I see why

749
00:48:00,810 --> 00:48:04,950
she waited until the end for those two. Because, like, her name is Lucy.

750
00:48:05,670 --> 00:48:08,830
His name is Lucian. They call him Lucy. You get a

751
00:48:09,330 --> 00:48:13,240
clear vibe and he's in. Like, him and Sloane have these little clips.

752
00:48:13,740 --> 00:48:16,320
I haven't gotten to any in the second book, but I'm only like 25% in.

753
00:48:16,880 --> 00:48:19,600
But they have little, like run ins this whole book.

754
00:48:20,240 --> 00:48:24,000
I think you can kind of tell that they're her favorite.

755
00:48:24,400 --> 00:48:28,560
Yeah. Oh, a hundred percent. I wouldn't be surprised if the third book

756
00:48:29,060 --> 00:48:32,080
was written first and then these books came after it. Yeah,

757
00:48:32,580 --> 00:48:36,200
for sure. They fall asleep and then they are woken up by

758
00:48:36,700 --> 00:48:40,290
Naomi's mom and dad making a surprise visit because

759
00:48:40,790 --> 00:48:44,570
Naomi has finally told her parents, like, surprise Tina.

760
00:48:45,070 --> 00:48:48,410
She sent him an email. Yeah, she sends him an email. She's like, surprise.

761
00:48:48,910 --> 00:48:52,890
Tina's got an 11 year old. And they. Yeah, they show

762
00:48:53,390 --> 00:48:56,930
up, like basically unannounced. And then like very shortly

763
00:48:57,430 --> 00:49:00,970
after that, they get another surprise visit from the caseworker. And the whole

764
00:49:01,470 --> 00:49:05,210
scene is like, really funny. So chaotic. It's so chaotic.

765
00:49:05,710 --> 00:49:09,570
Like, Naomi is hoping that Knox is going to stay sleeping and,

766
00:49:10,070 --> 00:49:13,370
like realizes that there's a trail of clothing, like, leading from her kitchen

767
00:49:13,870 --> 00:49:17,570
to her bedroom. So she starts, like stuffing clothing under the sink. And like,

768
00:49:17,730 --> 00:49:21,010
Knox comes downstairs, he has no clothes. He doesn't

769
00:49:21,510 --> 00:49:25,090
know what's going on. She's like, he's like, why are my pants underneath your

770
00:49:25,590 --> 00:49:29,610
sink? And. And everybody is like, yes, good job.

771
00:49:30,110 --> 00:49:33,490
Girl goes up, hugs this naked man, says, welcome to the family.

772
00:49:34,580 --> 00:49:38,020
This again. This girl walked out on her wedding just a few days before

773
00:49:38,520 --> 00:49:42,100
and her mom was like, elated. Yes, 100%, yes. Her mom's name is

774
00:49:42,600 --> 00:49:46,140
Amanda. Yep. And yeah. And her mom is like, oh, so where this is

775
00:49:46,640 --> 00:49:49,940
how they make the men and knock them out. And it's so, so funny.

776
00:49:50,580 --> 00:49:53,980
Naomi's parents basically assume that she is in

777
00:49:54,480 --> 00:49:57,340
a relationship with Knox. They don't realize that these two have agreed to a one

778
00:49:57,840 --> 00:50:00,900
time thing. And because the caseworker also showed up,

779
00:50:01,350 --> 00:50:03,790
she's kind of like, well, I don't want the caseworker to think that I have

780
00:50:04,290 --> 00:50:08,030
like a string of men coming and going. So they decide

781
00:50:08,530 --> 00:50:11,070
that they're going to pretend to be in a relationship and they have to kind

782
00:50:11,570 --> 00:50:15,350
of keep up the charade from here on out. But the lines blur

783
00:50:15,910 --> 00:50:19,830
a lot. They have a brief tryst at a barbecue where

784
00:50:19,990 --> 00:50:23,390
he like, sucks on her nipples underneath the

785
00:50:23,890 --> 00:50:26,630
deck while Everybody is up on the deck, like, putting dinner together,

786
00:50:27,700 --> 00:50:32,220
and they go after Weilei.

787
00:50:32,720 --> 00:50:36,100
She, like, runs away, and they pull a. To pull a prank on a teacher.

788
00:50:36,600 --> 00:50:40,020
And Naomi and Knox work together to stand up to her. And then after that

789
00:50:40,520 --> 00:50:43,740
happens, the adrenaline gets them all worked up, so they pull over into a field

790
00:50:44,240 --> 00:50:48,100
to have sex in Knox's pickup truck, where Naomi rides him

791
00:50:48,600 --> 00:50:51,620
in his driver's seat. And then they agree to have sex without condoms. Was that

792
00:50:52,120 --> 00:50:55,790
your favorite scene? Yeah. I love men playing with titties,

793
00:50:56,290 --> 00:50:59,470
and I love being on top, so I don't know. I just think it was

794
00:50:59,970 --> 00:51:02,790
a good scene. And I love, like, this scene. It's like,

795
00:51:03,270 --> 00:51:06,670
if sitcoms were smutty, this is how they would be written.

796
00:51:07,170 --> 00:51:10,070
Yeah. Because VOX is like, all right, so this is what I'm gonna do.

797
00:51:10,570 --> 00:51:12,870
I'm gonna lift you up, and then I'm gonna drive into you from underneath.

798
00:51:12,950 --> 00:51:16,350
And then Naomi is like, all right, I like it. We have a

799
00:51:16,850 --> 00:51:20,070
plan. Like, it's just. I don't know. Yeah,

800
00:51:20,460 --> 00:51:24,500
it's just so cheesy and good. And they become even more entwined

801
00:51:25,000 --> 00:51:28,620
when, over the course of the next few days, they do several family activities together,

802
00:51:29,120 --> 00:51:33,020
including family brunches, barbecues, lunch breaks, and Knox

803
00:51:33,100 --> 00:51:37,020
showing up to sideline parent coach Weyla's soccer games,

804
00:51:37,100 --> 00:51:40,620
which are attended by Steph, Naomi's parents, who have

805
00:51:41,120 --> 00:51:44,380
stuck around and are staying at Liza J's, and Sloan,

806
00:51:44,780 --> 00:51:48,090
whose niece Chloe is on the team. Again,

807
00:51:48,170 --> 00:51:50,730
we're really getting a sense of, like, this is a community.

808
00:51:51,130 --> 00:51:54,850
Yes, there are. And these people are deeply ingrained in one another's

809
00:51:55,350 --> 00:51:58,810
lives. Naomi's ex, Warren or

810
00:51:59,310 --> 00:52:03,090
Warner. I can't remember his name, shows up when Naomi is working a

811
00:52:03,590 --> 00:52:07,850
shift at Honky Tonk and tries to force her to leave with him. And although

812
00:52:08,350 --> 00:52:12,010
Lucien ends up getting rid of him, Naomi is so shook up that Nox,

813
00:52:12,250 --> 00:52:15,290
trying to comfort her, brings her back to his office sanctuary.

814
00:52:15,960 --> 00:52:19,480
And also gives her the code so that she can access the space

815
00:52:19,980 --> 00:52:23,200
at any time. At any time, even though nobody else is even allowed in that

816
00:52:23,700 --> 00:52:27,120
room, let alone allowed to have the code. Then he forces her

817
00:52:27,620 --> 00:52:31,240
to tell him what happened with her ex, and it turns out, big fucking surprised.

818
00:52:31,640 --> 00:52:36,120
He was an elitist and a drunk. And the night of her wedding slapped

819
00:52:36,200 --> 00:52:40,120
Naomi, or the morning of her wedding, slapped Naomi when she

820
00:52:40,620 --> 00:52:43,880
confronted him about his mom. That's an issue she was having with his mom.

821
00:52:44,560 --> 00:52:48,360
Knox comforts Naomi by fingering her and going down on her

822
00:52:48,860 --> 00:52:52,040
to orgasm against the door of his office. And then Naomi thanks him by giving

823
00:52:52,540 --> 00:52:55,960
him a head. Yep. That's their love language. Is having sex with each other.

824
00:52:56,460 --> 00:52:58,880
Oh, my God. Yeah. He knows how to make her forget about stuff.

825
00:52:59,440 --> 00:53:02,640
Yeah. I don't know if it's,

826
00:53:03,140 --> 00:53:06,400
like, in a later note or not, but one thing that I will say is

827
00:53:06,900 --> 00:53:10,870
that Nox to me is this is

828
00:53:11,370 --> 00:53:14,710
the most realistic man I've ever read. Agreed. Like, the fact that he's,

829
00:53:15,210 --> 00:53:18,590
like, the first night is, like, dreaming of her sucking

830
00:53:19,090 --> 00:53:22,470
his dick. Like, that is more realistic than some of the other

831
00:53:22,970 --> 00:53:25,830
things that we've heard these men. Like, some of the other fantasies, like, yeah,

832
00:53:26,330 --> 00:53:30,510
it's more realistic that this guy is, like, driven pretty much solely

833
00:53:31,010 --> 00:53:34,070
on jealousy. This whole thing is just screaming, like,

834
00:53:34,570 --> 00:53:37,190
Midwest man to me. 100%, so. Oh. Which is for me.

835
00:53:39,840 --> 00:53:42,960
Wow. Lots of fish in the sea. Free. Well, no, because you have the six

836
00:53:43,460 --> 00:53:46,680
foot. All right, so you have standards. Yeah. Yeah. You gotta narrow it down somehow.

837
00:53:47,180 --> 00:53:50,160
And I, you know, I found my soulmate, so. Yeah, that's true.

838
00:53:50,640 --> 00:53:54,160
A nice brunette Viking. Oh, my God, look at

839
00:53:54,660 --> 00:53:56,720
me. So cute. Not settling. So pretty.

840
00:53:58,320 --> 00:54:01,600
A series of strange events have been going on in the background throughout our story.

841
00:54:02,100 --> 00:54:05,640
Naomi noticing that her closet is left open. Knox noticing that

842
00:54:06,140 --> 00:54:10,260
her back door is unlocked. A strange man visiting the library looking for Weilei and

843
00:54:10,760 --> 00:54:14,100
giving Naomi the heebie jeebies. There was a break in at a local storage

844
00:54:14,600 --> 00:54:18,220
facility, and photos from the crime scene show Tina there in a dress

845
00:54:18,300 --> 00:54:21,540
belonging to Naomi, which they assume she took when

846
00:54:22,040 --> 00:54:25,380
she broke into her motel room at the beginning of the book. And Tina is

847
00:54:25,880 --> 00:54:29,220
impersonating Naomi, so she's cut her hair and colored her hair

848
00:54:29,720 --> 00:54:32,420
the same way as Naomi's. Well, and Nox is one who realizes based on that

849
00:54:32,920 --> 00:54:36,620
picture that he's seen Naomi in that dress. So it had to have been

850
00:54:37,120 --> 00:54:40,300
after the motel break in. Yeah, but they don't. He. So believe him.

851
00:54:40,380 --> 00:54:42,780
Yeah, of course that's what you took.

852
00:54:46,060 --> 00:54:49,620
I was more annoyed at the fact that, like, he says that to

853
00:54:50,120 --> 00:54:52,700
them and. Or they're, like, talking about it and she's like,

854
00:54:52,940 --> 00:54:56,180
this isn't how Tina does things. She destroys things. Like,

855
00:54:56,680 --> 00:54:59,260
if she was in my house, like, I would know. And it's like, again,

856
00:54:59,340 --> 00:55:02,750
giving her the benefit of the doubt. Ma', am, you're so

857
00:55:03,250 --> 00:55:06,150
pretty. Come on. Like, what are we doing now?

858
00:55:06,310 --> 00:55:09,750
Naomi arrives home to find out that her place has been ransacked.

859
00:55:10,150 --> 00:55:13,590
Naomi and Weiley temporary, temporarily move in with Liza J.

860
00:55:13,670 --> 00:55:17,430
However the damage has been done, Nox is starting to feel all the feelings

861
00:55:18,149 --> 00:55:21,350
and basically decides that he's going to be a proper asshole and end things

862
00:55:21,850 --> 00:55:25,030
with Naomi, which he does in public at Dino's Pizzeria.

863
00:55:25,530 --> 00:55:28,010
That, again, was realistic. Yeah.

864
00:55:28,400 --> 00:55:30,880
Stupid. I was so mad.

865
00:55:31,600 --> 00:55:34,800
100%. But Naomi, the way Naomi handles it,

866
00:55:35,360 --> 00:55:38,760
this is how I would handle things. I'll ignore you. I won't text you

867
00:55:39,260 --> 00:55:42,880
back. I will. You are dead to me. None of my friends can do this.

868
00:55:43,120 --> 00:55:47,200
I'm like you guys. It will drive the men crazy if you just leave

869
00:55:47,700 --> 00:55:50,840
them alone. If they're texting you, don't respond. Don't send them paragraphs.

870
00:55:51,340 --> 00:55:54,850
Don't stalk them. Don't leave them alone. Yeah, they want to be

871
00:55:55,350 --> 00:55:57,530
done with you. They can be fucking done with you. It's funny that you said

872
00:55:58,030 --> 00:55:59,930
none of your friends can do that because I literally have a note here that

873
00:56:00,430 --> 00:56:03,330
says, this is exactly what I would have done. Yeah. Yeah, you would.

874
00:56:03,650 --> 00:56:06,610
Yeah. I would literally forget about him the next day.

875
00:56:07,110 --> 00:56:10,410
I'd be like, oh, wow, that was super f. Cking mean. And you're

876
00:56:10,910 --> 00:56:13,890
fucking out. Bye. I wouldn't. Yeah, I would.

877
00:56:14,450 --> 00:56:17,730
It would be probably, like, killing me inside because she already. She knows she's in

878
00:56:18,230 --> 00:56:21,220
love with him. So it would be killing me inside the level of stubborn that

879
00:56:21,720 --> 00:56:24,780
I have. Fine. You don't want to date me. You want to

880
00:56:25,280 --> 00:56:28,060
break up with me in public at a pizza shop. I will never talk to

881
00:56:28,560 --> 00:56:31,900
you again, but I'll be civil enough so that it drives you fucking crazy.

882
00:56:32,060 --> 00:56:35,100
It actually, though, is like. It brings me back to your first point as well.

883
00:56:35,600 --> 00:56:38,980
The first point that you made about how she, like, moves on, because now it's

884
00:56:39,480 --> 00:56:43,060
like she's got somebody else to care about. She 100% does that here, where she's

885
00:56:43,560 --> 00:56:46,710
kind of like, I can't wallow over some guy that I've been pretend

886
00:56:47,210 --> 00:56:50,950
dating for a week. Like, I have somebody to take care of and fuck,

887
00:56:51,450 --> 00:56:53,830
I can kind of relate. I don't want to be like Naomi. I want to

888
00:56:54,330 --> 00:56:56,590
be like you are, though. I know when you asked me who you are,

889
00:56:57,090 --> 00:57:00,190
and I want. I also want to see you as Lena. Yeah. Because, like,

890
00:57:00,690 --> 00:57:04,670
you're so cool. But when Naomi

891
00:57:05,170 --> 00:57:09,350
first sees Lena. Yeah, it's you. You are Naomi

892
00:57:09,850 --> 00:57:13,390
being like, does I think she wants to be my best friend? Do I want

893
00:57:13,890 --> 00:57:17,670
to be her? Yeah. Yeah. It's kind of. Dang it.

894
00:57:18,710 --> 00:57:21,990
Well, I love this whole thing because the town. The whole town turns on.

895
00:57:22,490 --> 00:57:26,270
On Knots real quick. He's lived there forever. He owns

896
00:57:26,770 --> 00:57:29,950
half the town. Yes. And they are not

897
00:57:30,450 --> 00:57:34,550
having. They are canceling appointments to get their haircut and booking with Jeremiah.

898
00:57:35,350 --> 00:57:38,750
Yeah. Nash makes a trip over to his place to punch him in the face.

899
00:57:39,250 --> 00:57:42,350
And then his servers from the Honky Tonk, who work with Naomi,

900
00:57:42,850 --> 00:57:45,620
Max, Silver, and Fi, they all boo him when he shows up for work.

901
00:57:46,100 --> 00:57:48,420
And it's just. I don't know, it's just great. And,

902
00:57:48,900 --> 00:57:51,980
yeah, Naomi ices him out, which kills him. And then she

903
00:57:52,480 --> 00:57:56,020
gets a glamour makeover and she throws a party, which Knox is not invited to.

904
00:57:56,340 --> 00:58:00,500
This part. Oh, my God. This part. I. I'm curious.

905
00:58:01,000 --> 00:58:02,980
I'm going to. I'm going to tell the part, and then I want to hear

906
00:58:03,480 --> 00:58:06,540
what you think about it. Okay. I think I probably picked up on something else

907
00:58:07,040 --> 00:58:10,690
from this part. Oh, Jesus, I'm going to be so mad at you. Look.

908
00:58:10,770 --> 00:58:14,410
So Knox crashes the party after he sees from

909
00:58:14,910 --> 00:58:18,770
his house that Nash is flirting with Naomi. And so Nash

910
00:58:19,270 --> 00:58:22,290
was invited. Yeah, because Lucian were invited to the party. Yes. Yeah. Nash,

911
00:58:22,370 --> 00:58:25,090
Lucian, Sloan, the whole. Basically all of the,

912
00:58:25,250 --> 00:58:28,410
like, main players in the town are there. And he storms

913
00:58:28,910 --> 00:58:32,250
over there with a beer, and Nash asks him if he has a problem,

914
00:58:32,750 --> 00:58:36,250
and he responds, problem with you helping yourself to my leftovers?

915
00:58:36,750 --> 00:58:40,030
Nah, better she doesn't go to waste. I would have lit him on fire.

916
00:58:40,110 --> 00:58:43,070
I would have lit him on fucking fire.

917
00:58:43,150 --> 00:58:46,470
I fucking. I literally just have hate

918
00:58:46,970 --> 00:58:49,750
him. I just would have hate him. Is my note here? Would have lit him

919
00:58:50,250 --> 00:58:53,350
on fire. Oh, my God. I like this. I do like this scene.

920
00:58:53,850 --> 00:58:58,750
Because again, men being completely unwound is

921
00:58:59,250 --> 00:59:02,430
for me. I would have lit him on fire here. Sure.

922
00:59:02,930 --> 00:59:05,980
Oh, my God. And he's such a dick to everybody. Yeah. But Luciana and Sloane

923
00:59:06,480 --> 00:59:09,820
are there, so. Yeah, well, Sloane steps in and is like,

924
00:59:10,320 --> 00:59:11,900
you're out of line and you have to get the fuck out of here.

925
00:59:12,400 --> 00:59:16,340
And then Nox gets in Sloan's face, and Lucian steps

926
00:59:16,840 --> 00:59:19,740
into his face and is like, you've taken it too far. Yep. And now you

927
00:59:20,240 --> 00:59:23,340
have to fucking get the fuck out of here. And again, I have to go

928
00:59:23,840 --> 00:59:27,980
back to. This is a weird version of them in this book, because this the

929
00:59:28,480 --> 00:59:31,540
way. That I interpreted anybody getting in Sloane's face.

930
00:59:32,040 --> 00:59:35,480
Lucian would have something to say about that. He was always.

931
00:59:35,640 --> 00:59:39,200
He at her dad's funeral, brings her a sandwich. He's always

932
00:59:39,700 --> 00:59:42,840
caring about her. He's always caring about her, but he's not getting

933
00:59:43,340 --> 00:59:46,760
involved in her life. He's not. Did we read the same book?

934
00:59:46,920 --> 00:59:50,720
We did. He's not stepping in when she's

935
00:59:51,220 --> 00:59:54,200
there. When she's there, he's pretending like she doesn't Exist? Yeah, you're. And.

936
00:59:54,700 --> 00:59:57,760
And in this book, I got the. The way that these two interact and each

937
00:59:58,260 --> 01:00:02,540
of their, like, little things that they have. In this book, I consistently

938
01:00:03,040 --> 01:00:06,660
got the impression that Sloane was like, a little Chihuahua,

939
01:00:06,980 --> 01:00:10,020
and he was the pit bull that was like. Yeah.

940
01:00:10,180 --> 01:00:14,020
And she's like. And he's like. And, like, you will

941
01:00:14,520 --> 01:00:17,700
agree with that. And I fucking love it. And. And I think that they are

942
01:00:17,780 --> 01:00:21,300
like that, but not in this capacity. Sure. Not like

943
01:00:21,800 --> 01:00:24,900
in this capacity. It makes it sound like Lucian and Sloane are just always together,

944
01:00:25,400 --> 01:00:28,440
and he's just always there fighting her battles for her. And in the third book,

945
01:00:29,000 --> 01:00:32,320
Sloane fights all of her own battles. 100%. 100%.

946
01:00:32,820 --> 01:00:36,000
I just kind of. I mean, he is there behind the strings, behind the scenes,

947
01:00:36,500 --> 01:00:40,200
pulling some strings. Right. But in this book, it's overt. And I think going into

948
01:00:40,700 --> 01:00:43,680
that book, it made it really hard for me because I was like, I had

949
01:00:44,180 --> 01:00:47,280
the interpretation of them from this book and the next book. Sure. And then I

950
01:00:47,780 --> 01:00:52,040
get the third book, and I'm like, these are completely different people. So anyways,

951
01:00:52,600 --> 01:00:55,960
the next day, we meet my best friend. I literally.

952
01:00:56,460 --> 01:00:59,080
Oh, my God. Told you.

953
01:01:01,160 --> 01:01:02,840
The thing is, is I don't.

954
01:01:04,760 --> 01:01:07,880
I don't have a good memory, so I forgot what I

955
01:01:08,380 --> 01:01:10,520
typed. And yep,

956
01:01:13,160 --> 01:01:15,560
the next day, we meet my best friend, Lena.

957
01:01:17,400 --> 01:01:19,880
And again, do you want to be best friends with her or do you want

958
01:01:20,380 --> 01:01:23,850
to be her? You don't know. And neither does Naomi. Oh, my God.

959
01:01:24,970 --> 01:01:28,690
Lena is a goddess. She stomps into the honky

960
01:01:29,190 --> 01:01:32,450
tonk, walks right up to Nox, and says, like, hello,

961
01:01:32,950 --> 01:01:36,609
handsome, and gives him a kiss on the lips. And when she realizes

962
01:01:37,109 --> 01:01:41,410
what's going on between Nox and Naomi, she basically kidnaps Naomi,

963
01:01:41,910 --> 01:01:45,530
who texts Sloan, and the girls go to a biker bar outside of town

964
01:01:46,030 --> 01:01:49,480
called Hellhounds, where a gentlemanly silver fox of

965
01:01:49,980 --> 01:01:53,720
a bartender, Joel, gets them drunk. Yep. And again,

966
01:01:54,280 --> 01:01:57,000
I have to, like, I know you're only 25% of the way in.

967
01:01:57,480 --> 01:02:00,200
This is so unlike Lena. Interesting.

968
01:02:00,600 --> 01:02:03,840
Lena is not like this. Wait until you get further into the second book and

969
01:02:04,340 --> 01:02:07,360
then revisit what you remember of Lena from the third book.

970
01:02:07,860 --> 01:02:11,080
Okay. And she is a, like, a feral cat in those

971
01:02:11,580 --> 01:02:15,390
books. You can't get her to participate in social experiences under any

972
01:02:15,890 --> 01:02:19,270
circumstances. And in this book, she, like, basically forces this social

973
01:02:19,770 --> 01:02:23,390
experience. Yeah. They basically have a party because Nash and Lucian show

974
01:02:23,890 --> 01:02:25,670
up. It's my dream. Oh, my God.

975
01:02:27,190 --> 01:02:30,550
Oh, my God. I'm gonna tell you right now,

976
01:02:30,630 --> 01:02:34,470
I fucking love a dive bar. I live

977
01:02:34,970 --> 01:02:37,830
for A dive bar. I will go to a dive bar before a rooftop any

978
01:02:37,910 --> 01:02:41,070
fucking day of the week. Yes. We've talked about in the past how

979
01:02:41,570 --> 01:02:44,470
we're gonna get, like, a little trailer and go from bar to bar in Wisconsin.

980
01:02:44,860 --> 01:02:48,140
Because that's just my idea of a good time. Yeah. So. And these

981
01:02:48,780 --> 01:02:51,820
women and men are having a good time.

982
01:02:52,060 --> 01:02:55,380
And again, we have a weird Lucian moment

983
01:02:55,880 --> 01:02:59,420
here where Naomi and Sloan are, like, giggling about something,

984
01:02:59,580 --> 01:03:03,660
and she makes a comment like. And then Lucian smiled.

985
01:03:03,900 --> 01:03:06,940
And I'm like, lucian doesn't fucking. That man doesn't smile.

986
01:03:07,440 --> 01:03:11,340
That's not a thing. Like, all right, well, between Nash and Lucian.

987
01:03:11,840 --> 01:03:15,280
And then Lena, talking sense into him, knocks down, decides that he's going to open

988
01:03:15,780 --> 01:03:19,240
up to Naomi, sharing that his father is a drug addict who got

989
01:03:19,740 --> 01:03:22,560
lost to using after Knox and Nash's mom died.

990
01:03:22,960 --> 01:03:26,280
Between his dad losing touch with reality and Liza J. Shutting down,

991
01:03:26,780 --> 01:03:29,880
he shares the fear that he has about getting close to someone and what it

992
01:03:30,380 --> 01:03:33,480
would do to him if he lost them. Naomi cries and she forgives

993
01:03:33,980 --> 01:03:38,120
him because she is a forgiving queen. And as she's leaving, he asks

994
01:03:38,620 --> 01:03:41,800
her, like, if we had kept things going, could you have loved me? And she's

995
01:03:42,300 --> 01:03:45,430
like, I know it. And he's like, how? And she says, before closing the door

996
01:03:45,930 --> 01:03:49,270
behind her, because I already do, dummy. Yeah. And I. And I cried right there.

997
01:03:49,670 --> 01:03:52,990
Oh, God, that broke my heart. As Naomi returns to her

998
01:03:53,490 --> 01:03:56,030
shift, she gets a text message from Weilay saying that she's in trouble. And as

999
01:03:56,530 --> 01:03:59,070
she steps outside to call her, she's accosted by her twin,

1000
01:03:59,570 --> 01:04:03,030
Tina, who tells her that she needs to get in the car and come with

1001
01:04:03,530 --> 01:04:07,310
her if she wants to see Weyla again. Naomi does, and they end

1002
01:04:07,810 --> 01:04:10,510
up at a warehouse where we learn that the series of strange events was caused

1003
01:04:11,010 --> 01:04:13,750
by Tina and her new boyfriend, Duncan Hugo,

1004
01:04:14,370 --> 01:04:17,810
who happens to be the notorious crime lord's son.

1005
01:04:18,610 --> 01:04:22,290
They are looking for a USB that has a document with

1006
01:04:22,790 --> 01:04:26,570
some important names on it and believe that Wayle may have it back in.

1007
01:04:27,070 --> 01:04:29,410
Knock him out. The town folks have set up a search party, and Grim,

1008
01:04:29,570 --> 01:04:32,890
the biker crime lord from the poker game who has

1009
01:04:33,390 --> 01:04:36,610
been following Duncan Hugo's movements, shares with Knox where Naomi

1010
01:04:37,110 --> 01:04:40,330
and Waylay are. When Tina realizes that Hugo's intentions with her sister

1011
01:04:40,830 --> 01:04:43,570
and daughter are more than just interrogation and that he plans on killing them,

1012
01:04:44,050 --> 01:04:47,690
she attempts to help them escape. Just in time for Knox and the rescue party

1013
01:04:48,190 --> 01:04:51,530
to show up and save them all. Tina's arrested, and after beating

1014
01:04:52,030 --> 01:04:54,770
the shit out of Hugo, who unfortunately still manages to get away.

1015
01:04:55,090 --> 01:04:59,370
Knox promptly informs Weiley that she's getting a birthday party and that he and Naomi

1016
01:04:59,870 --> 01:05:03,090
are getting married. I love a damsel in distress.

1017
01:05:03,810 --> 01:05:06,850
I really. I know that Naomi had kind of gotten out of this herself,

1018
01:05:07,350 --> 01:05:10,060
but she kind of hadn't. Like, she got free of her restraints. But then he

1019
01:05:10,560 --> 01:05:13,300
was going to choke and kill her. Well, I mean. Well, then this book was

1020
01:05:13,800 --> 01:05:16,780
for you. Yeah, it was. Not for me. I don't like a damsel.

1021
01:05:17,500 --> 01:05:21,100
I just don't. Well, Lina is not a damsel.

1022
01:05:21,180 --> 01:05:24,300
Lena is not a damsel, which I love.

1023
01:05:24,460 --> 01:05:26,860
Nash is kind of. I can tell you right now, though,

1024
01:05:28,460 --> 01:05:31,900
poor Nash. Just give it a little bit more time.

1025
01:05:32,060 --> 01:05:34,780
Gets better, their relationship starts to flourish.

1026
01:05:35,390 --> 01:05:39,030
You said you're starting to like it. The thing of it is, is that Naomi

1027
01:05:39,530 --> 01:05:42,270
and I might have a lot in common. We don't have this in common.

1028
01:05:42,510 --> 01:05:45,990
Tina wouldn't have been able to get me in that car. My sister would not

1029
01:05:46,490 --> 01:05:48,870
have been able to get me in that car. There would have been no circumstance

1030
01:05:49,370 --> 01:05:50,870
where I would have been like, yeah, I'm going to come with you. I would

1031
01:05:51,370 --> 01:05:54,830
have immediately gone back into the bar and been

1032
01:05:55,330 --> 01:05:58,990
like, hey, you big, strong men. You police officer.

1033
01:05:59,490 --> 01:06:02,670
Dude, my sister's outside. She kidnapped her daughter.

1034
01:06:03,110 --> 01:06:06,630
We have to go. Like, yeah, what are we doing?

1035
01:06:07,130 --> 01:06:10,430
Right? I don't know. You'd never. You'd never catch me here on

1036
01:06:10,930 --> 01:06:14,070
purpose. Well, that's the end of the book. We get an epilogue

1037
01:06:14,550 --> 01:06:17,990
with another scene where Nox is

1038
01:06:18,150 --> 01:06:21,510
fucking Naomi up against a curio. Curio cabinet.

1039
01:06:22,550 --> 01:06:26,310
And while he's fucking her, he tells her he wants more kids.

1040
01:06:27,110 --> 01:06:30,600
I didn't love this. I didn't love it. I did love the scene

1041
01:06:31,100 --> 01:06:35,360
up against the curio cabinet. That was great. They exit the house to a surprise

1042
01:06:35,860 --> 01:06:39,720
party for Naomi, where Knox, I say proposes

1043
01:06:40,220 --> 01:06:42,760
in air quotes, but basically he just tells her that they're getting married in front

1044
01:06:43,260 --> 01:06:46,720
of everybody. And then Liza J.

1045
01:06:47,040 --> 01:06:50,400
Gives them the resort, takes Naomi's small house,

1046
01:06:50,640 --> 01:06:54,680
and gives Naomi's parents Knox's cabin. So now

1047
01:06:55,180 --> 01:06:59,270
we have my dream come true. Friends and family right down.

1048
01:06:59,770 --> 01:07:03,070
Like, all on the same. That's our commune. Yeah, that's our commune. Then we get

1049
01:07:03,570 --> 01:07:07,590
another epilogue five years later. Knox's dad is sober. Weilei is

1050
01:07:08,090 --> 01:07:12,230
calling he and Naomi mom and dad. And after a bout of infertility,

1051
01:07:12,390 --> 01:07:16,590
Knox and Naomi are bringing home a pair of

1052
01:07:17,090 --> 01:07:20,390
siblings that they have just gained custody of after adopting them.

1053
01:07:20,870 --> 01:07:25,020
It's all very heartwarming and sweet. And that's

1054
01:07:25,520 --> 01:07:28,420
it. That's it. The End. I was so obsessed.

1055
01:07:28,820 --> 01:07:31,820
I picked up the second book because I was like, I need to read about

1056
01:07:32,320 --> 01:07:36,100
Solano and Lucian right now. And it wasn't about them. Oh, shoot.

1057
01:07:36,500 --> 01:07:39,860
So then I skipped the second book. Because I was like, really? What am

1058
01:07:40,360 --> 01:07:42,380
I going to. I'm sure I'm not going to miss anything. And then I went

1059
01:07:42,880 --> 01:07:45,220
to the third book, and, I mean, I kind of figured I knew that it

1060
01:07:45,720 --> 01:07:48,780
was going to be Nash and Lena. Sure. And then I

1061
01:07:49,280 --> 01:07:52,790
devoured the third book. I think it's really interesting that you were so

1062
01:07:53,290 --> 01:07:57,150
invested in Sloane and Lucian from reading this book. That is very interesting.

1063
01:07:58,510 --> 01:08:01,990
Yes. Enemies to lovers in a contemporary romance, I guess

1064
01:08:02,490 --> 01:08:05,750
is enemies to lovers in any capacity Is for me. Yeah.

1065
01:08:06,250 --> 01:08:09,950
And this isn't that. No. Well, it kind of is. It's kind of not.

1066
01:08:10,270 --> 01:08:14,510
Okay. This book was great Nazis for me. They literally

1067
01:08:15,010 --> 01:08:18,420
open up fighting. Yeah. But that one of the towns. One of the town rumors

1068
01:08:18,920 --> 01:08:21,540
is that she breaks a chair over his head because they're constantly fighting with each

1069
01:08:22,040 --> 01:08:25,380
other. Enemies to lovers is super hard to do. Not cringy

1070
01:08:25,880 --> 01:08:29,100
in a contemporary romance because, like, real people aren't,

1071
01:08:29,600 --> 01:08:33,420
like, really enemies. And it can be done, like, super stupid.

1072
01:08:34,140 --> 01:08:36,540
All right, well, find us on social media.

1073
01:08:37,020 --> 01:08:41,500
We are still. Even though we're plot tarts, we're still@booksletspodcast.com

1074
01:08:41,660 --> 01:08:44,380
eventually. We're going to fix that, though. We're going to fix it. I just.

1075
01:08:44,599 --> 01:08:47,279
You know what? I'm in the middle of a menti b and I don't have

1076
01:08:47,779 --> 01:08:50,999
time for that right now, so. A little about Lucy Score. Lucy Score.

1077
01:08:51,159 --> 01:08:54,119
You can find her online@lucyscore.net.

1078
01:08:54,439 --> 01:08:57,839
her bio is literally a timeline of

1079
01:08:58,339 --> 01:09:02,159
her life starting when she was born in 1980. Oh, yeah. If you want to

1080
01:09:02,659 --> 01:09:06,079
learn more about her, you can go ahead and visit her website. She has a

1081
01:09:06,579 --> 01:09:10,439
lot of books, which I think I was, like, a little bit surprised about because

1082
01:09:10,759 --> 01:09:14,370
this is really kind of the first really only series that I've heard about.

1083
01:09:14,870 --> 01:09:18,210
But she has several other series, including the Knock him Out series, Riley Thorne

1084
01:09:18,710 --> 01:09:22,050
series, Story League series, Benevolence novels, Sinner and Saint novels, Blue Moon series,

1085
01:09:22,550 --> 01:09:26,050
Bootleg Spring series, and a bunch of standalone romances as well.

1086
01:09:26,210 --> 01:09:29,410
So I'm definitely gonna read more of her books. Yeah,

1087
01:09:29,570 --> 01:09:32,730
I mean, I'm gonna have you read them and let me know. Okay, you can

1088
01:09:33,230 --> 01:09:36,610
do that. Because I just, like. I don't know.

1089
01:09:37,110 --> 01:09:40,390
I think for me, I really like a fluffy piece for sure.

1090
01:09:40,890 --> 01:09:44,750
But it has to be done correctly. Yeah. Should we do ratings? Yeah. Spice Level.

1091
01:09:45,470 --> 01:09:49,070
All right, so spice level is graphic. And for

1092
01:09:49,570 --> 01:09:52,790
graphic, I would give this book probably a three and

1093
01:09:53,290 --> 01:09:55,470
a half. I give it a four. Okay. Yeah, I feel like that. Yeah,

1094
01:09:55,970 --> 01:09:59,070
that tracks. I would say this is not a book that I would recommend for

1095
01:09:59,150 --> 01:10:02,190
somebody who doesn't like spice. Oh,

1096
01:10:02,270 --> 01:10:05,620
yeah. It is a spicy milk. Yes. 100% spice

1097
01:10:06,120 --> 01:10:09,060
frequency. Spice frequency. I would give it a two. Okay.

1098
01:10:09,560 --> 01:10:13,100
We only get, like, three scenes. I gave it a three. Yeah. He does talk

1099
01:10:13,600 --> 01:10:16,340
about his a lot. He sure does. Prose.

1100
01:10:17,140 --> 01:10:20,380
Prose. This is tricky. I don't think the

1101
01:10:20,880 --> 01:10:24,100
book is necessarily written poorly. I just don't

1102
01:10:24,600 --> 01:10:27,940
think it says, like, well executed as something by, like, Ali Hazelwood.

1103
01:10:28,020 --> 01:10:31,180
So I would probably give it like a three. Oh,

1104
01:10:31,680 --> 01:10:34,950
I gave it a five. Oh, wow. Okay. Well, shoot.

1105
01:10:35,110 --> 01:10:38,150
I. I like the writing. I like it for what it is.

1106
01:10:38,710 --> 01:10:41,510
Yeah. I would give it a five. Okay.

1107
01:10:41,830 --> 01:10:45,110
Storyline. Storyline. I would give a five.

1108
01:10:45,610 --> 01:10:48,790
Me too. Obviously, I think, like, I'm not somebody who

1109
01:10:49,290 --> 01:10:52,750
does. Wow. I'm learning so much about myself. I'm not somebody

1110
01:10:53,250 --> 01:10:55,990
who does a lot of, like, world building.

1111
01:10:56,870 --> 01:11:00,960
I don't like that because I don't have the ability to picture

1112
01:11:01,460 --> 01:11:04,920
that or, like, imagine that. And so when I'm, like, reading or, like,

1113
01:11:05,420 --> 01:11:08,520
imaginating imagining something, I'm. What I'm doing is just

1114
01:11:09,020 --> 01:11:12,240
experiencing it. So I experience those things

1115
01:11:12,740 --> 01:11:16,079
as, like, emotions. And so it's really, really easy for me

1116
01:11:16,579 --> 01:11:20,600
to feel things about people. And I think that I like the

1117
01:11:21,100 --> 01:11:24,640
world. The way that she built the world for this book is by building

1118
01:11:25,140 --> 01:11:28,940
the characters. I agree. So. And I like. I would much prefer

1119
01:11:29,180 --> 01:11:32,580
a bunch of kooky characters to a bunch of landscape descriptions.

1120
01:11:33,080 --> 01:11:36,620
Agreed. Overall. Overall, I'm gonna give it a four.

1121
01:11:36,700 --> 01:11:39,420
Yeah, I'd give it a five, obviously. Oh,

1122
01:11:39,920 --> 01:11:42,660
wow. Look at you. I can't wait to hear what you're gonna rate the next

1123
01:11:43,160 --> 01:11:46,300
one. I can't wait either, because I am. I'm getting more into it.

1124
01:11:46,620 --> 01:11:49,900
We all. I'm pretty sure we all know what I'm gonna give the third book.

1125
01:11:50,380 --> 01:11:53,950
Yeah. All right. Well, that was fun. Thank you for joining

1126
01:11:54,450 --> 01:11:57,870
us, as always. We are going to start recording or starting releasing

1127
01:11:58,370 --> 01:12:01,830
episodes every other Thursday. So not next Thursday, but the following Thursday.

1128
01:12:02,070 --> 01:12:05,430
Join us for the next book in the series. Follow us on social media

1129
01:12:05,510 --> 01:12:08,790
and let us know what else you think we should read. We're dying for recommendations.

1130
01:12:09,290 --> 01:12:12,950
We really are. Everybody's asking us for recommendations, and I want some.

1131
01:12:13,270 --> 01:12:16,510
I don't have a good memory, so I. Nobody can

1132
01:12:17,010 --> 01:12:19,010
ask me for anything because I'm not going to remember what I read. Yeah.

1133
01:12:19,480 --> 01:12:21,720
So it's just kind of like. I don't know. They're all good. Just pick,

1134
01:12:22,920 --> 01:12:26,680
you know? All right, we'll see you next time. I'm Amanda. And I'm Nicole.

1135
01:12:27,180 --> 01:12:28,200
And we are pot tarts.