Intoxicated Literature Podcast
A podcast with books, alcohol, and lots of laughter. Daniella and Evelyne are sisters who have always shared book recommendations with each other. Join us while we drink and discuss books in the paranormal romance, urban fantasy, and epic fantasy genres!
Intoxicated Literature Podcast
King of Wrath by Ana Huang
In which Daniella and Evelyne discuss what makes a romance a romance and how the tropes in this book were top notch.
Speaker 1:
This is Intoxicated Literature.
Daniella Drake:
Hello! And welcome to Intoxicated Literature. I am Daniella Drake.
Evelyne Crowe:
And I'm Evelyne Crowe.
Daniella Drake:
And tonight, we will be discussing King of Wrath by Ana Huang.
Evelyne Crowe:
I actually am very excited about this. This was one of my top fantasy reads when I read it, because it is just the epitome of what you want in a romance book.
Daniella Drake:
Absolutely agree.
Evelyne Crowe:
It is... Oh, sorry. Go for it.
Daniella Drake:
Yes. Before we get into it, let's just warn you that there will be spoilers ahead. We will talk about the entire book, so if you have not read it, please push pause, go read the book, and come back to discuss it with us. And we swear like sailors, so just be aware, and we will be discussing spicy times.
Evelyne Crowe:
There are some spicy times in this book.
Daniella Drake:
So, if you are not of age, please go away! This is not for you.
Evelyne Crowe:
Yes, no minors allowed. Go away.
Daniella Drake:
No minors allowed. So, yes, let's get into it.
Evelyne Crowe:
Okay, so let's talk about romance novels, because as we mentioned when we were prepping for this book, the reviews for this book seemed to feel like it was a predictable plot.
Daniella Drake:
"Cliche".
Evelyne Crowe:
It's cliche.
Daniella Drake:
I saw that a lot in a lot of reviews.
Evelyne Crowe:
So, let's talk about what goes into a romance novel, because I write romance novels. That is what I write, this is what I do. There are very specific elements that go into making a romance novel.
Daniella Drake:
Do not deviate from the formula. People will be big mad.
Evelyne Crowe:
Oh yeah. No, there'll be witch hunts. It would be awful.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, it's bad, for sure.
Evelyne Crowe:
Mm-hmm. Here's the thing, what you absolutely must have, no holds barred, absolutely must have, cannot live without, cannot break this rule, is a happily ever after.
Daniella Drake:
100%.
Evelyne Crowe:
If you do not have a happily ever after, it is not a romance novel. Period.
Daniella Drake:
Absolutely true, yep. For sure.
Evelyne Crowe:
Now, there are other things that you can kind of play with gently, but there is always a mid act three break up somewhere.
Daniella Drake:
Yes. A misunderstanding, some kind of conflict that comes between them. Yes.
Evelyne Crowe:
They are separated. Whether it is a full breakup, whether they are not together, whether... There is a separation. That usually happens towards the end of the book, not quite the end. It's kind of towards the end. That has to happen.
Daniella Drake:
I would say three quarters of the way through, is where you know it's going to happen.
Evelyne Crowe:
Mm-hmm. And then they come back together, and then there's the happily ever after. Now, at any other time in between this book, any number of things can happen, any number of tropes, any number of things. But the point of a romance novel is not, "Are they going to get together?" You know they're going to get together.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, when you pick up a romance novel, you know exactly what you are getting.
Evelyne Crowe:
You know that there are going to be two people, you know that there's going to be an emotional conflict, because you know that they are not certain that they're going to be together. The point of a romance novel is the emotional journey those characters get from the start of the novel to the end of the novel. That is the point. That is the journey we're on.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, exactly.
Evelyne Crowe:
It's completely character driven. That is the point. I don't know why it's surprising when people pick up a romance novel and that is what they get.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, I was baffled by a lot of the reviews. So many people were like, "I didn't even finish this, because it felt so tired and cliche." And I'm like, "This is exactly what I thought I was going to get."
Evelyne Crowe:
Okay, so I picked up, you were there with me in Barnes & Noble. I picked up a billionaire, forced proximity, arranged marriage romance, and I went, "This sounds amazing." The blurb was great, I was super excited, and I was so disappointed. Because it was not what I was promised. And I was so sad, because it was not the story that I was told that I was going to get. So, I was sad. Now, the plot I was promised was not an enemies to lovers plot. It was a childhood friends to lovers plot.
Daniella Drake:
Oh, interesting.
Evelyne Crowe:
And I'm like, "That is not what I wanted."
Daniella Drake:
That is not your thing, no.
Evelyne Crowe:
No.
Daniella Drake:
No.
Evelyne Crowe:
And she was very whiny about the whole thing, and-
Daniella Drake:
Oh, no.
Evelyne Crowe:
... I hated every second of it.
Daniella Drake:
There is nothing worse than a whiny protagonist.
Evelyne Crowe:
So, in that case, I could see complaining about the book.
Daniella Drake:
Sure.
Evelyne Crowe:
Because I was promised, by the blurb, that it would be one thing, and then in the book, I got something else.
Daniella Drake:
Especially because forced proximity is one of your favorite tropes.
Evelyne Crowe:
Love forced proximity!
Daniella Drake:
You can't switch that out willy-nilly with friends to lovers. That is not the same.
Evelyne Crowe:
It still was forced proximity, but they were both friends.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, that's not... No, mm-mm. I can see why you would be disappointed.
Evelyne Crowe:
Was not happy with that.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah.
Evelyne Crowe:
But at the same time, it wasn't like I picked up a book that was said to be fantasy, and then ended up being a romance.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah! Yeah. Which has happened to me before.
Evelyne Crowe:
It's totally different. It was still a romance. It still had all the clicks that followed a romance. So, I don't understand the critiques here.
Daniella Drake:
No, I was surprised, because I enjoyed this book. Listen, I do not gravitate toward romance, that is not my number one pick. That does not mean that I do not enjoy a romance novel, because I will. Absolutely 100%. I enjoyed this book. I knew exactly what I was getting when I picked it up, I knew exactly what to expect, and it was exactly what I expected.
Evelyne Crowe:
It promised exactly what it delivered.
Daniella Drake:
Yes.
Evelyne Crowe:
And it was...
Daniella Drake:
It was so fun!
Evelyne Crowe:
Oh my God.
Daniella Drake:
It was so fun.
Evelyne Crowe:
And Dante was so growly.
Daniella Drake:
So growly! And very much like, "Don't touch her. Who did this to you?" Kind of vibes.
Evelyne Crowe:
Very like, "Roar."
Daniella Drake:
Yes, yes. Absolutely agree.
Evelyne Crowe:
Everyone should be eating this up with a spoon.
Daniella Drake:
I was really surprised that people were not liking it as much as I did, because I did like it. And this is the first Ana Huang book... Oh, I am intoxicated. Hard for me to get that out. But this is the first book from Ana Huang that I have read, but I really enjoyed it. It made me realize that I actually want more enemies to lovers. This is a trope that I very much enjoy. I forget, sometimes, that I very much enjoy it, and then I read it and I'm like, "Oh yeah, this is my jam."
Evelyne Crowe:
I like-
Daniella Drake:
This is forced proximity more than anything, but it does have a little bit of the enemies to lovers thing going on.
Evelyne Crowe:
More on his side than hers, because she was in the dark the whole time.
Daniella Drake:
Oh, yeah. I felt bad for her, a little bit, because she's actually trying to make it work. She's like, "I guess this is what we got to do, so, okay."
Evelyne Crowe:
He's just like, "Look, I have to do this. You don't understand." And she's like, "What are you talking about?"
Daniella Drake:
I know! I did, I felt bad for her for most of the book, because she had no idea what was going on.
Evelyne Crowe:
I did like, okay, this is the thing, is the names are top tier also.
Daniella Drake:
Oh, absolutely agree!
Evelyne Crowe:
The names.
Daniella Drake:
The names were fabulous, across the board.
Evelyne Crowe:
Dante Russo-
Daniella Drake:
Yes.
Evelyne Crowe:
... is our male main character. And then we have Vivian Lau. It's just, mwah. I love it.
Daniella Drake:
Just rolls off the tongue.
Evelyne Crowe:
I love it.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah.
Evelyne Crowe:
So, Vivian is perfectly sweet, and lovely, and well-mannered, until she isn't.
Daniella Drake:
Yes.
Evelyne Crowe:
Until she's just like, "I'm fucking done."
Daniella Drake:
Until she's done with your shit. Yeah.
Evelyne Crowe:
And then she's done. She's like, "Fuck, I'm done. I'm out."
Daniella Drake:
I love it. I love it though, when she finally puts people in their place. It's so satisfying, because she has such a long fuse, and then you're just there with her, where you're like, "No, no, we're done now. We're done with this." And then she's like, "Yeah, you're right. We're done. This is not okay."
Evelyne Crowe:
Yeah.
Daniella Drake:
"I've had enough."
Evelyne Crowe:
And it was really great when she did it with Dante, because Dante's like, "What the fuck is happening right now?"
Daniella Drake:
Yes. Every time that she was defiant with him, he was like, "I... What? I have feelings that I don't understand. What is... Why?"
Evelyne Crowe:
I know! I know! It was great. I loved it.
Daniella Drake:
"Confusion? Confusion?" I loved it, I thought it was so fun.
Evelyne Crowe:
Yes.
Daniella Drake:
And every time that he allowed himself to be just like a real person with her was adorable. You see this glimpse of a human being and you're just like, why can't you just be like this? Just be like this. And it was so satisfying. She did it in such a way that you would see these glimpses, just like Vivian did, where you're like, oh, there is a real person in there somewhere, underneath this facade that he's got.
Evelyne Crowe:
I think one of my favorite moments is when she just showed up at his party.
Daniella Drake:
Oh, yeah.
Evelyne Crowe:
Just unannounced.
Daniella Drake:
Uninvited.
Evelyne Crowe:
Uninvited.
Daniella Drake:
Yep. Yep. "I'm here now!"
Evelyne Crowe:
Just showed up.
Daniella Drake:
But do you blame her?
Evelyne Crowe:
No!
Daniella Drake:
She's supposed to move in, and she has no information. And she's like, "What the fuck?"
Evelyne Crowe:
Just shows up.
Daniella Drake:
I love it.
Evelyne Crowe:
And he's like, "Why are you..."
Daniella Drake:
"What are you doing here?"
Evelyne Crowe:
And she's like, "I'm supposed to move in tomorrow."
Daniella Drake:
"So, should I tell everyone that you don't know how to handle the logistics of moving someone in? You're a big billionaire. That doesn't seem like something that you can handle?"
Evelyne Crowe:
And he's literally just like, "What is happening right now?"
Daniella Drake:
But also oddly into it?
Evelyne Crowe:
I know! He's totally just like, "I kind of like this part of her."
Daniella Drake:
I know! Yeah, I loved it. I thought that was such a cool moment. My favorite moment from the entire book was when Kai Young, another great name, dances with her just to piss Dante off and make him jealous. And it 100% works.
Evelyne Crowe:
Absolutely.
Daniella Drake:
He barely even starts dancing with her, and she's like, "What the fuck are you doing?" And then Dante's like, "Get away from her!" Immediate. It was so good! I loved it. I thought it was so good.
Evelyne Crowe:
Oh my God. I know. It was great. Oh my God, I loved it.
Daniella Drake:
That was such a great moment. Yeah, that was such a good moment. I loved it. I thought it was so, so good. I will say I wanted more spicy times. I feel like there wasn't enough.
Evelyne Crowe:
Which is something I never thought I'd hear from you.
Daniella Drake:
I know, right? I know. Believe me, I know. But if I'm reading a romance novel, I expect there to be spicy times.
Evelyne Crowe:
I think, though, with these two, it worked out okay, because they honestly had no idea who each other were.
Daniella Drake:
No, and I'm not saying that I didn't enjoy what spicy times there were. I feel like she actually did time it well, just because she did such a good job. I was like-
Evelyne Crowe:
She does write the spice-
Daniella Drake:
... we could do some more.
Evelyne Crowe:
... really well.
Daniella Drake:
Really well.
Evelyne Crowe:
Yeah.
Daniella Drake:
So, I was like, maybe one or two more?
Evelyne Crowe:
And Dante is like-
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, yeah, he's hot.
Evelyne Crowe:
Okay.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah. For sure.
Evelyne Crowe:
I'll do whatever you say. Sure. Vivian agrees. She's like, "Okay."
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, pretty much. Poor Vivian. She's just trying to survive in this world.
Evelyne Crowe:
And then she finds out what her dad did.
Daniella Drake:
Her dad made me so mad. So mad. I will say, though, I loved that her relationship with her mom evolved in the book. I thought that was so good. I cried a little bit when she pointed out to her mom, it's like, "You know, when we're together, you criticize me a lot, and I don't really need you to criticize me so much. Maybe sometimes you can just not criticize me?" And her mom's like, "I just want you to be the best person you can be, but you're right. I'll try to do better." And I'm just like, "Okay!"
Evelyne Crowe:
I know.
Daniella Drake:
That's so sweet.
Evelyne Crowe:
That's the thing about romance novels. You tell people you read romance novels, and people are like, "Oh, you're just in it for the smut." It's like, no, it's not just smut. There's-
Daniella Drake:
No, it's the character growth.
Evelyne Crowe:
... character growth. There's so much character growth in these books.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah. And it's not necessarily about the main characters that are growing. It's everyone.
Evelyne Crowe:
The friend groups that these characters have. You can see the core friend groups, and they're strong, and you can see them. And every person has their own personalities.
Daniella Drake:
Absolutely.
Evelyne Crowe:
And Ana does a really good job depicting that. And you can see, as romance novels do, the setup for every novel as it branches off. But at the same time though, it's not just that. You can see how every character relates to each other, and it's really good.
Daniella Drake:
For sure.
Evelyne Crowe:
And so it's not just Vivian and Dante. It's Vivian and her friend group, and she has someone to go to in that act three breakup, or act four breakup.
Daniella Drake:
And they don't even ask any questions. It's just like, "How long do you need to stay for? That's great. No problem. Here's some ice cream." It's perfect.
Evelyne Crowe:
It's perfect.
Daniella Drake:
It was so good.
Evelyne Crowe:
Yeah.
Daniella Drake:
It was so good. And just having her... I loved it too, because she is obviously very wealthy. She's not a billionaire like Dante is, but she obviously comes from money, but she also gets so much personal satisfaction from her event planning business. And I love that she has a passion outside of him. That she can be a full, complete, complex person, and be in love. It doesn't have to be one or the other.
Evelyne Crowe:
Yes.
Daniella Drake:
And I love that.
Evelyne Crowe:
She's new money. She didn't have money when she was younger.
Daniella Drake:
Young, yeah.
Evelyne Crowe:
So, she's newer money than Dante is, and that's one of the reasons why her dad was so insistent on having this match, is that he wants her to be part of the New York Society or whatever.
Daniella Drake:
I was so mad at him-
Evelyne Crowe:
God, what an ass.
Daniella Drake:
... the entire book. Talk about... Okay, he does not grow.
Evelyne Crowe:
No.
Daniella Drake:
At all.
Evelyne Crowe:
Static character.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, he does not change, he does not grow, he is just a terrible person from beginning to end, which was really upsetting, because when she was growing up, he was a very different person. And so she has this idea of him that isn't really true anymore, and she has to come to terms with that, which I feel like we all eventually do have to see our parents as people. And that's not easy all the time.
Evelyne Crowe:
It's not.
Daniella Drake:
To see someone that you've idolized for a long time, or that you have this idea of who they are, and then you have to see who they really are. And it's hard to come to terms with that, sometimes.
Evelyne Crowe:
It is.
Daniella Drake:
But yeah, he just pissed me off.
Evelyne Crowe:
Oh yeah. Oh yeah.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, big time.
Evelyne Crowe:
But you also learn that Dante's family too, for all the money they have-
Daniella Drake:
Oh yeah.
Evelyne Crowe:
... they're not perfect, by any means.
Daniella Drake:
His parents are also horrible, for a completely different reason.
Evelyne Crowe:
Oh yeah.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah.
Evelyne Crowe:
Completely. And there's a reason why he's so gruff and disconnected from everybody, and afraid to show who he is. And there's a reason why, when Vivian tries to like, "Hey, how you-"
Daniella Drake:
Engage, yeah.
Evelyne Crowe:
Yeah. And he's just like, "Nope."
Daniella Drake:
Yeah.
Evelyne Crowe:
So, there's that character growth, that's why you read these books, is to see that connection and see it grow.
Daniella Drake:
Absolutely agree.
Evelyne Crowe:
Yeah. No, I love a good forced proximity. It's one of my favorites.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, I know that you really like a forced proximity. I do too. But I think I like enemies to lovers better.
Evelyne Crowe:
I don't know, I think it was... I think it's because... I don't know. I don't know if it's because I was... I started on arranged marriages, because the first romances I ever read were arranged marriages, because they were historical novels.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Evelyne Crowe:
Historical romances, and those are always arranged marriages.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, it's true. It's so true.
Evelyne Crowe:
They're always arranged. So, it's familiar. I don't know.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, that's fair.
Evelyne Crowe:
But yeah, I don't know. I like a good arranged marriage.
Daniella Drake:
This was definitely exactly what I thought it was going to be, which makes it an A+ for me. Telling me that you're going to write a billionaire arranged marriage romance, and then giving me this book, that's exactly what I wanted. That's exactly what I expected.
Evelyne Crowe:
Absolutely.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Evelyne Crowe:
But with the added twist that they're real people. They feel like real people.
Daniella Drake:
Also, the relationship between Dante and Luca, his brother, also shifts and change and grows in this book, which I thought was amazing. When you first meet Luca, you kind of write him off, because Dante kind of writes him off. Because he's been kind of this playboy, easy life, doesn't really have to be responsible kind of guy for most of his life. He's in his thirties now, and he acts like he's in his twenties, early twenties, no care in the world. And by the end, he's like, "Hey, I know you've been forced to act like a parent, but you don't have to do that anymore. We are brothers, and I would rather us be brothers. I don't want you to feel responsible for me. I want to be a grown-ass man." And that was such a good moment. It was a really beautiful moment between both of them. It took him dating someone named Leaf to get there, which I thought was really funny. But you know what? Whatever helps you on your journey.
Evelyne Crowe:
And there's that whole secret rich society that they go and visit in New York. Cracked me up.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah. Oh my God.
Evelyne Crowe:
Only the rich people can go and visit. They have their special balls they get to go to.
Daniella Drake:
Okay, but I have a couple of things that I want to talk about, about this secret society. The first and foremost being when they're getting it on in the limo, and they have to go through the gate that does the scanning, and she's like, "Wait, what? People know what we've been doing?" She's horrified and he's laughing and was like, "Nobody knows, nobody cares. Whatever."
Evelyne Crowe:
Oh my God.
Daniella Drake:
I thought that was hilarious.
Evelyne Crowe:
I know!
Daniella Drake:
I was laughing so hard. The driver is just like, "I've seen it all. Whatever."
Evelyne Crowe:
That driver 100% knew.
Daniella Drake:
Oh, 100%. But I loved it too, because he's just like, "Just another day on the job, whatever." He doesn't care.
Evelyne Crowe:
I know, and he's just like, "Am I getting paid? Okay. Whatever."
Daniella Drake:
Exactly. "Whatever, you do you." But also getting to host her big event of the season at that prestigious place was amazing.
Evelyne Crowe:
Yes.
Daniella Drake:
And he made that possible for her, which was very nice. Very nice.
Evelyne Crowe:
Absolutely.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, I thought that was very well done. Well done.
Evelyne Crowe:
Well done. Well done, Dante. Dante.
Daniella Drake:
Well done, Dante.
Evelyne Crowe:
His name is Dante.
Daniella Drake:
Such a great name.
Evelyne Crowe:
God, that's a good romance name.
Daniella Drake:
I know!
Evelyne Crowe:
Fuck!
Daniella Drake:
Dante Russo, you cannot get better. That's just such a good name.
Evelyne Crowe:
Doesn't he have a villa in Italy, too, isn't it?
Daniella Drake:
He sure does.
Evelyne Crowe:
Yeah, he does. God, it's perfect.
Daniella Drake:
Sure does.
Evelyne Crowe:
Jesus, that's perfect. I love it so much.
Daniella Drake:
It's so good.
Evelyne Crowe:
Oh, God.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah. I love it too, because his proposal, where he just says... She moves in with him, right? Because they've got this year-long engagement, and he's trying to blackmail her dad, and he's just like, "You can be in that room. Your ring's on the bedside table. There's a black MX waiting for you. Go have fun, whatever." And she immediately spends $100,000. And what made me laugh, actually, was $100,000 to a billionaire is nothing.
Evelyne Crowe:
Nothing.
Daniella Drake:
That's basically $100 to a normal person.
Evelyne Crowe:
That's barely the interest.
Daniella Drake:
That's like $10. That's nothing-
Evelyne Crowe:
That's nothing.
Daniella Drake:
... to a normal person. And he even is like, "You just spent $100,000 today." And she's like, "Whatever, fuck you. Here's a check for $100,000." I thought it was so good.
Evelyne Crowe:
I know. It was great.
Daniella Drake:
So good.
Evelyne Crowe:
Man, I loved it.
Daniella Drake:
I thought it was really fun.
Evelyne Crowe:
It was! It was a fun book.
Daniella Drake:
I enjoyed it, I had a good time.
Evelyne Crowe:
And I think it's unfair of the critiques that are comparing-
Daniella Drake:
I agree.
Evelyne Crowe:
... the two different series.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, that seems to be the main thing, is that they're saying that Dante feels the same as the character in one of Ana Huang's other series, which I have not read. But also-
Evelyne Crowe:
Again, here's the thing-
Daniella Drake:
... romance novels-
Evelyne Crowe:
... about romance novels, they're archetypes. All of the male main characters are archetypes, they're going to be similar to each other.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, it's very rare to find a male main character in a romance novel that is a unique, different guy. They're all kind of the same version. So yeah, I don't know.
Evelyne Crowe:
I'm like, "Oh, you mean the male main character of a romance novel is kind of similar to another male main character in a romance novel? What?"
Daniella Drake:
Right. For me, I was like, "Yeah, that's what you're going to get. I don't know what you were expecting." But if you read a lot of romance, you start to see similarities. It's just the way that it is. That's the way that the genre is. That's the best part of the genre, for me, is that you know exactly what to expect. It's comforting, in a way. You pick it up, you know what you're going to get.
Evelyne Crowe:
Yes. And I think that once you start fucking with that, you run into-
Daniella Drake:
That's where you get into trouble.
Evelyne Crowe:
... a lot of trouble.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, for sure. That's where you get into trouble, because people expect to get a certain thing, and if you start messing with the formula too much, you're going to piss some people off.
Evelyne Crowe:
And I say this as a person who flips tropes around.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah.
Evelyne Crowe:
I say this as a person who plays with tropes, you don't want to play with certain ones. You have to know the tropes really well before-
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, that's true.
Evelyne Crowe:
... you can do that. And you have to know which ones you can play with.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah!
Evelyne Crowe:
There are certain ones you do not touch.
Daniella Drake:
Do not touch. No, no, no, no, no. That's for sure.
Evelyne Crowe:
Because there are certain beats, there are certain things that need to happen to make it a romance, and there are certain archetypes, and there are certain male main character things that are there that need to happen. I don't know.
Daniella Drake:
I know. I was surprised, I was surprised to... Because I was just looking at the reviews, sometimes I just refresh myself of what I've read.
Evelyne Crowe:
Readers are allowed to have their opinions. If you didn't like the book-
Daniella Drake:
For sure.
Evelyne Crowe:
... you didn't like the book.
Daniella Drake:
For sure.
Evelyne Crowe:
But at least don't like the book because you didn't like the book.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah. I think that's where I got confused, is that most of the critiques didn't have anything to do with the book specifically, it was more just they felt that it was, I don't know, too repetitive, too expected. Which I thought was hilarious, because it's a romance novel, so you have to expect the expected. That's the whole deal.
Evelyne Crowe:
Every romance is the same as every other romance. At least in plot design.
Daniella Drake:
Right, there is a formula that goes into writing a romance novel. And that's because that's what's expected. That's what people are looking for.
Evelyne Crowe:
And that's the same as a mystery, or a fantasy, or any other kind of book that you pick up off the shelf.
Daniella Drake:
Absolutely. Yep. Absolutely agree.
Evelyne Crowe:
If a person reads Patterson, and they pick up a Patterson book, they know-
Daniella Drake:
You know exactly what you're getting.
Evelyne Crowe:
... exactly what they're getting out of that book.
Daniella Drake:
Yep, yep, for sure.
Evelyne Crowe:
They know every page, they know every word, they know every beat that's going to come out of that book. They just know. And if it's at all different, they're going to be upset. It doesn't matter that it's predictable to them. They know that that's what they're going to get.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah.
Evelyne Crowe:
That's why they're picking up every single goddamn Patterson book. And do you know how many Patterson books there are?
Daniella Drake:
There are so many.
Evelyne Crowe:
So many.
Daniella Drake:
So many.
Evelyne Crowe:
But that's why they read them all, because they're familiar. They know what they're getting. And it's the same way-
Daniella Drake:
Any cozy mystery, any urban fantasy, even. You know what you're going to get as soon as you see what genre it is. That's just the way it is. And there could be twists and turns in the plot and stuff, and things that are unexpected and surprising, but structurally, you know exactly what you're going to get. And that's no different from a romance novel. You know exactly what you're going to get, structurally, from a romance novel. So, I was really surprised to see a lot of the hate for this book. I really enjoyed it.
Evelyne Crowe:
I liked it!
Daniella Drake:
It was what I expected. I fully expected to read a bunch of four and five star reviews, because it is exactly what it promises to deliver.
Evelyne Crowe:
I'm surprised by that, because I really enjoyed it.
Daniella Drake:
I know, same. I was very surprised. Apparently, everyone really likes the other series, and that's where the main criticism was coming from.
Evelyne Crowe:
Huh, interesting.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah. A lot of them were talking about how the other series-
Evelyne Crowe:
The Twisted one.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, they said that this felt more like a mirror image of that one, or something like that. So, I thought that was really interesting.
Evelyne Crowe:
Maybe it is, but I don't care.
Daniella Drake:
And I haven't read the other one, so I can't compare it.
Evelyne Crowe:
I have read the other one.
Daniella Drake:
Okay, okay.
Evelyne Crowe:
So, the other one is more new adult.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah.
Evelyne Crowe:
So, I'm thinking maybe the other one maybe fits the age group better.
Daniella Drake:
Better, yeah. That makes sense. Yeah. We're a little bit older and more established in life.
Evelyne Crowe:
Yes.
Daniella Drake:
Maybe that's why we don't mind this one so much?
Evelyne Crowe:
Maybe? I don't know. I don't know who's really-
Daniella Drake:
I don't know. Yeah, I don't know.
Evelyne Crowe:
I don't know.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah. I enjoyed it. I thought it was fun.
Evelyne Crowe:
I did not like the other one as much as I liked this one, so...
Daniella Drake:
Interesting. That's interesting.
Evelyne Crowe:
Interesting, I know. I don't know.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, I don't know either. But I liked it.
Evelyne Crowe:
But I enjoyed this book, so.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, I absolutely-
Evelyne Crowe:
Yeah, Ana Huang. I do recommend the other books in the series. I just finished her latest one, King of Sloth. That was a second chance romance.
Daniella Drake:
Oh, interesting.
Evelyne Crowe:
So, that was interesting. It was interesting.
Daniella Drake:
I'm seeing more and more of those, which is kind of nice.
Evelyne Crowe:
Yeah.
Daniella Drake:
It's a little bit different.
Evelyne Crowe:
It is.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah.
Evelyne Crowe:
Because I didn't see a lot of those forever.
Daniella Drake:
A long time, yeah. It's kind of a newish thing.
Evelyne Crowe:
Yeah. I don't remember seeing those ever, and I've read romance my entire life, so it definitely seems newer. So, King of Sloth was a second chance romance, because you see him and her as they go through, and they go to events, and then he has to leave to go to work, and she's by herself, and she's all sad.
Daniella Drake:
Fair enough.
Evelyne Crowe:
Yeah. The opening of the book is her basically like, "I'm done. I'm done with this."
Daniella Drake:
Yeah.
Evelyne Crowe:
"Want a divorce." And he's like, "Wait. Wait. What do you mean, you want a divorce?"
Daniella Drake:
No! Yeah.
Evelyne Crowe:
"I thought we were in love?" And she's like, "What the fuck are you talking about?"
Daniella Drake:
"I haven't seen you in months!" Yeah. Interesting.
Evelyne Crowe:
Yeah!
Daniella Drake:
Okay.
Evelyne Crowe:
But I think this one was my favorite of the series.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, this was a good one to start with, I feel like, because it delivered exactly what it promised. And it was fun. The characters, I thought, were very complex, interesting, well-rounded people. And the sexy times were quite fun to read.
Evelyne Crowe:
Again, Dante is so lush.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, for sure.
Evelyne Crowe:
Was it a slow burn? Technically a slow burn is after 50%. I can't remember when it started.
Daniella Drake:
I feel like they kiss... It might've been right around the 50%, which I actually thought was funny, because you also picked this book; you hate slow burn.
Evelyne Crowe:
But they do have a lot after that. It wasn't just one scene.
Daniella Drake:
True. True. But yeah, I do feel like it was a slower burn than one would ordinarily expect from one of your picks.
Evelyne Crowe:
The thing is, that's the thing you get with the forced proximity, there is a buildup.
Daniella Drake:
You have to, you don't know each other. It doesn't make sense to just jump into bed.
Evelyne Crowe:
"Surprise!"
Daniella Drake:
"Surprise!" Anyway, okay.
Evelyne Crowe:
So, we are going to be veering again.
Daniella Drake:
Yep.
Evelyne Crowe:
Away from romance. We're going to a fantasy.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah.
Evelyne Crowe:
Epic fantasy.
Daniella Drake:
We're going to read Queen and Conqueror by Isabelle Omo.
Evelyne Crowe:
Yeah, this was actually my top read a year ago, a year and a half ago.
Daniella Drake:
Really?
Evelyne Crowe:
I really enjoyed this book.
Daniella Drake:
Okay, good.
Evelyne Crowe:
It was different enough where I went, "Whoa."
Daniella Drake:
I like that, for sure. Yeah, all right. Can't wait to read it. I'm excited to talk about it. This is Daniella Drake.
Evelyne Crowe:
And I'm Evelyne Crowe.
Speaker 1:
Thank you for joining us for this episode of Intoxicated Literature. Drink well, friends.
