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
Anniversary Special: Unhinged & Her Pastry Shifters
In which Evelyne and Daniella discuss accidentally eating a pastry shifter, teenage minotaurs accidentally ruining pipes, and just how clean are doorknobs anyway?
Speaker 1:
This is Intoxicated Literature.
Evelyne Crowe:
Welcome to Intoxicated Literature. I'm Evelyn Crowe.
Daniella Drake:
And I'm Daniella Drake.
Evelyne Crowe:
And we are reading today, this is our anniversary episode.
Daniella Drake:
Our first anniversary, we made it.
Evelyne Crowe:
We made it. And we are not doing special drinks today because it's our anniversary episode, so we have champagne.
Daniella Drake:
Champagne, y'all. Cheers.
Evelyne Crowe:
Cheers.
Daniella Drake:
So for this one, we're going to do something a little bit different. First, we're going to reminisce a little bit about how the last year has gone.
Evelyne Crowe:
Yes, this was fun.
Daniella Drake:
And then we're going to get into a couple of novellas, really. They're shorter, but that doesn't mean that they're not jam-packed filled with fun.
Evelyne Crowe:
So much fun.
Daniella Drake:
So much fun.
Evelyne Crowe:
I love these, okay.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah. Let's talk about how the last year went. What was your favorite episode, do you think?
Evelyne Crowe:
I think episode ... Oh, I think Tentacles and Teeth by Rowan Merrick. That was a fun episode.
Daniella Drake:
I think that's fair. And also, Rowan reacted so well. They were so great.
Evelyne Crowe:
They really were. And I don't know if you follow us on socials at all, but Rowan sent us a gift after that, as in a ...
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, it was wildly inappropriate for TikTok, but ...
Evelyne Crowe:
It was amazing. I loved it.
Daniella Drake:
It was very funny. It was one of the funniest things-
Evelyne Crowe:
They sent a knotted dildo that was the size of my forearm-
Daniella Drake:
Yeah. It was big.
Evelyne Crowe:
But also a signed copy of their book.
Daniella Drake:
Yes.
Evelyne Crowe:
With a discreet cover that was gorgeous.
Daniella Drake:
So beautiful.
Evelyne Crowe:
And it was-
Daniella Drake:
So beautiful.
Evelyne Crowe:
Beautiful and gorgeous and wonderful, and I loved it so much.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, that was a really great experience. I love talking about the book, but I also loved the aftermath of it. It was really fun.
Evelyne Crowe:
And not only that, the narrator, Ruthie Bowles also listened to it, and she shared it and she loved it. So that was great. And so that whole experience with that episode was just amazing. So, we had Rowan Merrick who thought we were hilarious. That whole conversation we had about knotted dicks ...
Daniella Drake:
Listen, I didn't understand how it worked.
Evelyne Crowe:
[inaudible 00:02:30] through the roof. They thought that was hilarious. They thought that was just the funniest thing ever, and they love that we covered their book, and that we did a fabulous job talking about it. And so much so that they sent us a gift.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah. That was really sweet. It really made me feel good. I'm always nervous. I don't want to make an author uncomfortable or unhappy with what we're talking about. So that made my heart grow three sizes.
Evelyne Crowe:
I know. Because being an author, we're very careful about what we talk about on this podcast. And we don't want to bash authors.
Daniella Drake:
No.
Evelyne Crowe:
Especially independent ones.
Daniella Drake:
I also don't want to yuck anyone's yum. You like a book and maybe I don't like it. That doesn't mean it's not good. It's just different tastes. It's very subjective.
Evelyne Crowe:
Absolutely. And if you write something and I don't like it, it doesn't mean it's bad, and I don't want you to think that your writing is bad, because it's not.
Daniella Drake:
Exactly. Exactly.
Evelyne Crowe:
It's not.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah. That was a really good one. I really enjoyed Tentacles and Teeth. That was a good one.
Evelyne Crowe:
It was. It was so good. And I also really enjoyed That Time I Got Drunk And Saved a Demon.
Daniella Drake:
First of all, I loved that whole series. I think Kimberly Lemming is hilarious. I love the plots. I think that her plots are always interesting. I think her characters are always interesting. I think she's hilarious. I love reading her books. It was so much fun talking about that series, that book. It was just a good time.
Evelyne Crowe:
Those books are fabulous.
Daniella Drake:
They're so good.
Evelyne Crowe:
And Kimberly Lemming's sense of humor is amazing. And her world-building is amazing. And they just get better every book.
Daniella Drake:
I absolutely agree.
Evelyne Crowe:
And it's fabulous. Chef's kiss.
Daniella Drake:
I think I really enjoyed Morning Glory Milking Farm.
Evelyne Crowe:
Yes.
Daniella Drake:
I think that was up there for me in our top episodes, just because wacky fun, right?
Evelyne Crowe:
I mean, how often do you get to look at something from ... It's a cozy read, so it's a slow build. So it's right up your alley, so I totally understand why you like it, but also from a Let's look at society, because that's what cozy books do. They say they're cozy, but they're full of shit.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, it's more about the vibes, really.
Evelyne Crowe:
They're full of shit. Now, there were a few things that we didn't get to mention that I'm going to talk about here, because they didn't get on the podcast, that I have talked about with other people. For example-
Daniella Drake:
Yes, me included.
Evelyne Crowe:
As a parent, if you have a son who's a Minotaur, their spunk like clogs pipes. So, there has to be, at least once, a full pipe overhaul because they're in the shower jerking off.
Daniella Drake:
I'm pretty sure it happens more than once. I think that that's a thing that occurs.
Evelyne Crowe:
I was talking about it with Roan Merrick actually. And both of us are like, it has to happen. It has to happen all the time. And they're like, okay, but there has to be a subsidy. The government has to be like, here's money for this. Because it happens so often.
Daniella Drake:
Also, there's a special solvent you can buy. I guarantee you that there's like the Drano for Minotaur's that you have to have.
Evelyne Crowe:
As a parent, can you imagine sitting down with your kid being like, "Okay, we've had to redo the pipes. I know what you're doing in there."
Daniella Drake:
Stop it.
Evelyne Crowe:
You have to use this powder.
Daniella Drake:
Exactly.
Evelyne Crowe:
Every time.
Daniella Drake:
I don't care that you're doing it, but you have to use this stuff every time.
Evelyne Crowe:
Use this powder every time.
Daniella Drake:
Every time. It's so true though.
Evelyne Crowe:
Oh my God. So, I was at Steamy Lit and CM Nascosta was there, and Rowan Merrick and CM Nascosta were on a monster lovers panel, and world building was brought up. And CM Nascosta mentioned that she spent more time thinking about the pipes than she did the monsters or whatever. And Rowan said, "My friend, Evelyn," and pointed right at me in the audience. And then she mentioned the whole pipe thing, of course. And I'm like, "Hi."
Daniella Drake:
That's hilarious.
Evelyne Crowe:
Oh my God. And so I went to CM Nascosta's booth after, and I'm like, "I'm the one who was talking about the pipe." But CM Nascosta was like, "Oh yeah, no, it happens more than once. I'm sure."
Daniella Drake:
It has to. They literally have a whole industry devoted to collecting it in giant containers because there's so much.
Evelyne Crowe:
Oh, God, yeah.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, for sure. Yeah.
Evelyne Crowe:
Oh, for sure.
Daniella Drake:
But that was definitely a fun one. We've read some good ones, some random ones definitely. Also, oh, do we have a favorite drink? We didn't talk about that.
Evelyne Crowe:
Favorite drink.
Daniella Drake:
Curve ball. I don't even remember. Oh, I like the vampire's kiss. I had to make that after our episode, I think. But that one was good.
Evelyne Crowe:
I don't even remember. Honestly, we get so drunk, you guys.
Daniella Drake:
It's bad.
Evelyne Crowe:
I don't even remember. It's probably just whiskey, just to be fair. It's probably just whiskey.
Daniella Drake:
That's fair. The bee's knees was good too.
Evelyne Crowe:
Bee knees was good.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah. Bee's knees was good.
Evelyne Crowe:
If you haven't had a bee's knees, go make a bee's knees. It's really good.
Daniella Drake:
That's a good one.
Evelyne Crowe:
It does not taste like gin. If you don't like gin, don't knock a bee's knees until you try it.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, we drank that for Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, right?
Evelyne Crowe:
I think so.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah.
Evelyne Crowe:
Yeah. That was good.
Daniella Drake:
That was a fun episode too.
Evelyne Crowe:
That was a good episode.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, I think it's been a good year. I'm proud of us because we didn't know what the fuck we were doing.
Evelyne Crowe:
No fucking clue. I still don't know what I'm doing.
Daniella Drake:
No, it's an adventure every time.
Evelyne Crowe:
Every time. I have no idea.
Daniella Drake:
That's for sure. But we're doing it. And you know what? I don't even care. I just like talking about books.
Evelyne Crowe:
I just like talking about books.
Daniella Drake:
And reading books.
Evelyne Crowe:
And if you want a book that we haven't talked about, please tell us.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, I'm down to read it. I'm down to try something new. Listen, the books we're talking about tonight are a little different.
Evelyne Crowe:
They're a little different.
Daniella Drake:
We're not afraid of a little interesting. So, feel free, suggest a way. I'm happy if we get suggestions.
Evelyne Crowe:
Absolutely.
Daniella Drake:
It makes me happy.
Evelyne Crowe:
We'll read fantasy. We'll read urban fantasy. We'll read whenever this genre is. I guess it's fantasy.
Daniella Drake:
I think it's fantasy.
Evelyne Crowe:
It's good, whatever it is, but it's fantasy, I think.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, I think so too.
Evelyne Crowe:
Paranormal fantasy?
Daniella Drake:
I would say paranormal fantasy. Yeah.
Evelyne Crowe:
Sure.
Daniella Drake:
Why not? Should we get into it?
Evelyne Crowe:
Okay. So, the first one we're going to talk about, I discovered by chance on TikTok like a year ago, because I heard the phrase, he croissanted on the floor, and I went, he what?
Daniella Drake:
A fair question.
Evelyne Crowe:
And then I had to read it. So it is called Her Pastry Shifters by ... Is it Mia Harlan?
Daniella Drake:
Yep. I think that's it.
Evelyne Crowe:
Yes. You heard me right, Her Pastry Shifters.
Daniella Drake:
Yes. They literally shift into pastries.
Evelyne Crowe:
I had concerns because how do you identify that they're people?
Daniella Drake:
No, literally. Okay, before we get into it, spoilers, we're going to ruin the entire story-
Evelyne Crowe:
The entire ... It's a short story. It's short.
Daniella Drake:
It's a short story, yes. Very short. But we are going to talk about the entirety of it, so if you have not read it yet, please go read it and then come back. We also swear a lot.
Evelyne Crowe:
And there are spicy times-
Daniella Drake:
We're also intoxicated.
Evelyne Crowe:
There are probably going to be-
Daniella Drake:
Definitely spicy times. Yes. There will be puns. I love puns.
Evelyne Crowe:
I mean, they're pastries and there's fillings.
Daniella Drake:
Yes. But listen, okay, I definitely had concerns the first time they shifted because I was like, what if that hotel worker came up and was like-
Evelyne Crowe:
That's an éclair.
Daniella Drake:
... do you need anything? What if they thought that was just like an éclair for eating? Okay, it's on the floor but that's not going to stop everyone. That seems so dangerous. Like what?
Evelyne Crowe:
What the fuck?
Daniella Drake:
What's to stop someone from eating them?
Evelyne Crowe:
I know. I feel like trigger warnings should include [inaudible 00:11:38].
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, probably. I will say though, this was super cute. It was just a really cute, silly, fun story.
Evelyne Crowe:
It's technically a why choose, so ...
Daniella Drake:
It is. It absolutely is. I thought it was hilarious that she chose to have Rune lot not able to speak. Every time he spoke, he shifts-
Evelyne Crowe:
It's true.
Daniella Drake:
He barely said anything-
Evelyne Crowe:
[inaudible 00:12:08]. That's where the phrase came from, every time he tried to speak, he just shifted into his croissant form and he was like a croissant on the floor. And God bless English for being able to make croissant into a verb.
Daniella Drake:
A verb, yeah. And then was it, Bax was the one that was a sympathetic shifter, right? So he would shift because Rune shifted-
Evelyne Crowe:
God, every time Rune shifted, then Bax would shift. It was like a chain reaction. Every one of them had some kind of mental thing that would ...
Daniella Drake:
It was so funny. It was so funny. Wait. Or was it Mac that was ...
Evelyne Crowe:
I can't remember.
Daniella Drake:
Am I confusing them?
Evelyne Crowe:
They were named very similarly.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah. So, it might have been Mac, because I think Bax was the one that was like anxious. And so, he would shift when he was anxious and so maybe Mac was the one that was sympathetic.
Evelyne Crowe:
But I do like that they were all kind of ... They each had their own kind of quirk.
Daniella Drake:
Absolutely. It was very unique-
Evelyne Crowe:
So, there was characterization and there was ... So, they each had their own quirk, and they were fated mates, kind of thing. We saw you-
Daniella Drake:
Yes, absolutely.
Evelyne Crowe:
We recognized that you were our mate, and we knew immediately that you were ours. And bless her, she just kind of went with it. And went, "Sure."
Daniella Drake:
I mean, the whole setup was so funny, because he gets there and they're like, "Yeah, we had a plumbing problem, so you don't actually have a room. We tried to call you. Sorry." She's like, "No, that's not okay. What am I supposed to do?"
Evelyne Crowe:
Oh my gosh.
Daniella Drake:
But I loved it too, because she is curvy. I'm not clear exactly on what her body type really is, but she definitely is described as being curvy, and she talks about how she wishes she was thinner and stuff, and the guys immediately are like, "No, no, you don't need to change anything." They're very, very much body affirming. They're like, "You're perfect the way you are. We don't want to see you change at all." And yes, if you're a shifter, you get to eat whatever pastries you want and not gain a pound. That's great for you, but it's not going to change what you look like. You're going to still be that. Right? I did find it hilarious that they're shifters, but they shift in the pastries, but they still are super strength.
Evelyne Crowe:
They still have all the shifter like lore-
Daniella Drake:
Ridiculously cut.
Evelyne Crowe:
... but they're pastries.
Daniella Drake:
And they come from, what is it? They're Bayans, because they come from Shifter Bay. It was so funny.
Evelyne Crowe:
I can't. It's adorable, but actual mythos, it was so cute.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, it was very cute. It was very cute.
Evelyne Crowe:
It was so cute.
Daniella Drake:
And honestly, it was hot. When they finally get together, I was like, yeah, good.
Evelyne Crowe:
Yeah, no, the steamy times were sexy. There was actual-
Daniella Drake:
Very much, very much.
Evelyne Crowe:
Until he croissanted on the floor, and then you were like, "Oh, well-"
Daniella Drake:
Well, they take turns being pastries. And then she wins the competition.
Evelyne Crowe:
She does, because she's a baker.
Daniella Drake:
Which is great.
Evelyne Crowe:
She's there for a competition. I mean, that's how it all ties together.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah. Listen, there's not a huge overarching plot.
Evelyne Crowe:
There's not.
Daniella Drake:
But I didn't need it because I just thought it was cute.
Evelyne Crowe:
It was. It was.
Daniella Drake:
It was just a cute little fun romp. Right? I thought it was very sweet.
Evelyne Crowe:
It was really a sweet story, and I recommend it just if you need something light and funny and kind of steamy at the same time, absolutely recommend this.
Daniella Drake:
If you're looking for a quick steamy read, this is a great thing to pick up-
Evelyne Crowe:
You need a pick me up.
Daniella Drake:
Because it's just fun.
Evelyne Crowe:
This is it.
Daniella Drake:
Exactly. Yeah. I did enjoy it. I thought it was very cute.
Evelyne Crowe:
It'll make you kind of giggle. It'll make you kind of laugh. It'll make you ... It really kind of does want to make you kick your heels and giggle.
Daniella Drake:
Yes. It does.
Evelyne Crowe:
It really does. It kind of does that.
Daniella Drake:
It's very sweet. It's a very sweet book.
Evelyne Crowe:
It is. Yeah, for sure.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah.
Evelyne Crowe:
Okay, so then we're going to move into Vera Valentine, which has a different vibe to it.
Daniella Drake:
It is a different vibe. There's a lot happening for such a short ...
Evelyne Crowe:
Vera Valentine is .. I don't know if you know that there is a balloon animal shifter book.
Daniella Drake:
I think I vaguely remember you telling me about it.
Evelyne Crowe:
She wrote it. Yeah. Vera Valentine wrote the balloon animal shifter book. She is the queen of unusual shifter books, and she's incredibly talented, as now you know, at building-
Daniella Drake:
For sure.
Evelyne Crowe:
... world-building in a very, very constricted time period. It's amazing actually how well she does.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah. I was definitely impressed. I was impressed with how much lore she was able to inject in such a short period of time. Also, the characters, there's not necessarily a lot of character growth. There's just not enough time for it, but the characters were interesting. Unfortunately, Tana, is that how we're saying her name?
Evelyne Crowe:
Yeah.
Daniella Drake:
Or Tana? Tana. She doesn't really ... We don't get a lot of backstory for her. She's-
Evelyne Crowe:
Well, again, these are novellas, so you're not going to get a lot of-
Daniella Drake:
Right. I'm not saying that that's a bad thing. I'm just pointing it out. You're not going to get a lot of backstory but she moves into this new apartment. The door falls in love with her, as doors do, I guess.
Evelyne Crowe:
I mean, they do in this case. Okay. Let's talk a little bit about this. So this is called Unhinged.
Daniella Drake:
Yes. Unhinged.
Evelyne Crowe:
Yes. Unhinged by Vera Valentine and it is-
Daniella Drake:
Which great title.
Evelyne Crowe:
It's perfect. Perfect.
Daniella Drake:
Perfect title, yes. Yes.
Evelyne Crowe:
And it is an erotic door romance, is what it's sold as-
Daniella Drake:
Which is hilarious because when I first picked it up, I was like, so this is an open door romance, but also you have to have the door closed for practical reasons. Which made me laugh a lot.
Evelyne Crowe:
That's the thing. That's what makes this so clever. I read this-
Daniella Drake:
It's very funny.
Evelyne Crowe:
... back in August of 2023, I think, and I did a review of it on TikTok and Vera Valentine commented on it, and she said that the idea came from the debate between open and closed door romances.
Daniella Drake:
Which makes sense to me. That actually makes a lot of sense after reading it. But I liked what she did with, the door is sentient, but you don't really know why. Even he doesn't know why. Right? And then Zeus comes out of nowhere and it's like, "Yeah, you're part dryad. You made it across the ocean. Congratulations."
Evelyne Crowe:
Oh, you won the lottery. Yay.
Daniella Drake:
Which I loved. I thought that was really cool. I was like, you managed to explain why this door is alive, essentially. Good for you.
Evelyne Crowe:
Deus Ex Machina coming in, in a pinch.
Daniella Drake:
Exactly.
Evelyne Crowe:
The way it works, the way she does it though, it doesn't feel like Deus Ex Machina. It feels just kind of natural the way it happens, and you're just kind of like, oh, okay. Sure.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah. For sure. Oh, for sure. Yeah. Totally agree. Yeah. But the way he becomes human is by going into Tana's dreams and convincing her to have sex with him as a door.
Evelyne Crowe:
Yeah. It's so funny because if you go into this book thinking you're going to see someone having sex with a door, you're going to, twice.
Daniella Drake:
You are correct.
Evelyne Crowe:
Twice.
Daniella Drake:
Yes. That does happen.
Evelyne Crowe:
And though she does practice safe sex with the door, and she disinfects that doorknob.
Daniella Drake:
You know what I liked? There were a couple of things that I very much appreciated, and one was she was going at that doorknob with Lysol. She was like, "Doorknobs are disgusting, and this needs to be disinfected, for sure."
Evelyne Crowe:
She was not going at that door-
Daniella Drake:
That's so realistic.
Evelyne Crowe:
... like a white woman. She was like, "Nope, that is disgusting. I'm cleaning it."
Daniella Drake:
That is disgusting. Yep, yep.
Evelyne Crowe:
I'm going to clean it.
Daniella Drake:
I also loved that she had to get herself drunk. She was like, "This cannot possibly be real. I can't believe I'm doing this, even considering this. This is crazy." And she's just like, "Well, guess I'm going-"
Evelyne Crowe:
I'm going to do this. I'm going to do this in the privacy of my own home and nobody's going to see me do this, and I'm going to be drunk when I do.
Daniella Drake:
That's right. That's right.
Evelyne Crowe:
But at least it's going to be clean when I do it.
Daniella Drake:
A little liquid courage. You've got to do it. And then she puts a condom on because she's like, "Listen, I disinfected it but also, still gross."
Evelyne Crowe:
We're not getting a yeast infection. We're not getting a bacterial infection. We're going to be safe.
Daniella Drake:
Exactly. Yes, yes, yes, yes.
Evelyne Crowe:
It was perfect.
Daniella Drake:
Yes. It was so good. It was really, really good.
Evelyne Crowe:
The thing is though, the reason why the door was so worried about her is there's a serial killer. Not only is there a love connection between these two, there's a fucking serial killer in here.
Daniella Drake:
Well, he's like a stalker too. He's going into her apartment with the master key and stealing her underwear and drugging her orange juice, and it is creepy AF. You're just like, dude, scary. So scary.
Evelyne Crowe:
So the door is seeing all of this and can't do shit about it because he's a fucking door, and he's like, I need to be human, and the only way I can be human is if you fuck me. So, I'm going to seduce you because I love you and I want to protect you, but also a problem.
Daniella Drake:
He's such a good protect-door.
Evelyne Crowe:
Oh, that was great.
Daniella Drake:
And then when he becomes a man, he's freaking hot, but he is also very door-ky. I've got so many of these, man.
Evelyne Crowe:
Oh my God. Oh my God.
Daniella Drake:
But I did love that he becomes human and is instantly hot, right?
Evelyne Crowe:
Yeah, of course. He's part dryad, so that makes sense.
Daniella Drake:
Yes. No, I agree. It was inevitable, really.
Evelyne Crowe:
But seriously, Daniella, every time he said the word knob, I wanted to laugh.
Daniella Drake:
No, they said it so many times.
Evelyne Crowe:
So many fucking times.
Daniella Drake:
It was so many times. And I was trying not to laugh out loud every time.
Evelyne Crowe:
And it was just his fucking doorknob. It wasn't supposed to be funny.
Daniella Drake:
I know. She tenderly turned my knob, and I'm just like, stop it.
Evelyne Crowe:
Every time.
Daniella Drake:
Every time. Every time. I was like-
Evelyne Crowe:
Every goddamn time.
Daniella Drake:
... really?
Evelyne Crowe:
I'm like, Vera, I swear to God. Why are you doing this to me?
Daniella Drake:
I know. It was so funny. You know why.
Evelyne Crowe:
I know why.
Daniella Drake:
You know that she thought it was hilarious too.
Evelyne Crowe:
She's over there at her keyboard going he he he he.
Daniella Drake:
She knew exactly what she was doing She was writing a very ten-door story.
Evelyne Crowe:
Oh my God. But if you look at the cover of this book, there's a 69 on it. There's a 69 on the door.
Daniella Drake:
I love it though. Okay, so the creepy neighbor guy, he's a problem, for sure-
Evelyne Crowe:
Well, he's like her landlord or something.
Daniella Drake:
Yes. He's like the super, and so he is fixing shit, and he's around all the time, and how are you supposed to stop someone that has keys to your apartment legally? What are you supposed to do? Yeah. It's really gross and problematic. And the whole time I'm thinking, God, that's scary. As a single woman living by yourself, what are you supposed to do?
Evelyne Crowe:
Yeah. It's so gross.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, so gross.
Evelyne Crowe:
No, no. So there's a whole crime element plus the sexy times, plus the knob puns.
Daniella Drake:
Plus the Greek gods.
Evelyne Crowe:
Greek gods, and it's a novella. It's not a full book. If you are sleeping on Vera Valentine, you need to just go read her stuff. For real.
Daniella Drake:
It's impressive. It's impressive how much world-building she can do in such a short period of time. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, for sure.
Evelyne Crowe:
Its' amazing. I was exceptionally impressed with this.
Daniella Drake:
I loved the way too that it all kind of came together at the end. The super lets himself in and is going after her, because he thinks that she's told the cops about him, which she hasn't, and she's just so scared. And poor Drys, he doesn't know how to fight because he's only just become human, so he's like, "I don't know but I'm going to stop you." And then he gets shot and turns into a door. And then knocks the guy out.
Evelyne Crowe:
It's like the best. It's like accidental dooring.
Daniella Drake:
No, and then you find out at the end, it's like yeah, I talked to Hera and she said that you're going to turn into a door every full moon so we'll have to have sex with you in door form every month.
Evelyne Crowe:
The thing is, after you read it, you find yourself not really ... Not seriously but you find yourself looking at doorknobs going, "No. Mm-mm."
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, no. Though it is true though. You're looking at it, and I'm a very practical person, so I'm looking at it going, do I even have a piece of furniture that would be the right height? She's got an ottoman that is apparently the perfect height.
Evelyne Crowe:
I don't. I'm 4'11"
Daniella Drake:
That's what I'm saying. I'm too short, I think. I don't think that I could, on any piece of furniture I have, actually be at the height of a doorknob-
Evelyne Crowe:
That is a hard no. 4'11", would not work. I would need an actual ladder.
Daniella Drake:
Well, for so many reasons.
Evelyne Crowe:
And then they're too rickety, I would fall over. I would hurt myself.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, yeah. I just don't think it's going to work. No, no. Mm-mm. For many reasons.
Evelyne Crowe:
Also, I think my doorknobs are the wrong kind.
Daniella Drake:
That's probably true. Yeah. Mine are not.
Evelyne Crowe:
Mine are the elongated sideways kind.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That would not be fun. No, no. Mine are round, like the one in the book.
Evelyne Crowe:
See, those would work. Mine would not.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But yeah, I think this was an adorable story.
Evelyne Crowe:
And it was fem dom, which you don't get very often.
Daniella Drake:
No, I actually loved that he had a praise kink. It wasn't her. He had a praise kink.
Evelyne Crowe:
Yeah. It was great.
Daniella Drake:
And I thought that was great.
Evelyne Crowe:
It was awesome.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah. Yeah. I thought that was really, really cute.
Evelyne Crowe:
He was just like, "Oh, this is great. I love this." And she was like, "Okay."
Daniella Drake:
Yeah. I thought that was really cute. Yeah, it was a very cute story. It's not super long. It's a quick jaunt, but it's a fun way to fill an hour.
Evelyne Crowe:
Yeah. Yeah. I know.
Daniella Drake:
I thought it was fun.
Evelyne Crowe:
It was great.
Daniella Drake:
I did love that it's called Unhinged. I couldn't think of a better title. Honestly.
Evelyne Crowe:
It is unhinged.
Daniella Drake:
Honestly. It is unhinged. I did have one moment where Dr. Ian Malcolm from Jurassic Park popped into my head and was like, "Love will find a doorway."
Evelyne Crowe:
You're such a nerd.
Daniella Drake:
I know. I laughed about that by myself for way too long. I thought that was so funny.
Evelyne Crowe:
I'm surprised you didn't text me that, so I could just share that with you.
Daniella Drake:
I should have, but I knew that I was going to bring it up for this episode, so I was like, let it be a surprise.
Evelyne Crowe:
Well, it stands to reason. He's like a mix of frog DNA and regular DNA.
Daniella Drake:
Right, right. Why not? Yeah, I thought it was very cute. It was a very cute story.
Evelyne Crowe:
Oh my God.
Daniella Drake:
For sure. It was a fun read. I was glad that we did this for our anniversary.
Evelyne Crowe:
Oh my God. Both of these little short stories were just ...
Daniella Drake:
Very fun.
Evelyne Crowe:
... fun.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah. It was very fun.
Evelyne Crowe:
Okay. Anything else we want to talk about for the past year? What was our most popular one?
Daniella Drake:
I mean, thanks to your newsletter, it was definitely King of Wrath. We've gotten the most views on that. Yeah.
Evelyne Crowe:
Because it didn't get that many clicks.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah. We've gotten a lot of interest on YouTube from that one, for sure.
Evelyne Crowe:
Because honestly, people opened it, but no one clicked it, and then all of a sudden views went up.
Daniella Drake:
Also, Dragon's Bride was really popular. I don't know if that's because we told everyone we were doing that one first, and so everyone just listened to that one-
Evelyne Crowe:
Well, Katie Robert is really popular, for reasons. She's amazing. But King of Wrath definitely was popular.
Daniella Drake:
King of Wrath was definitely ... Yeah. I think that's by far our most popular one.
Evelyne Crowe:
Before that, though, before my newsletter, I think it was Dragon's Bride.
Daniella Drake:
I think it was Dragon's Bride. Nettle and Bone is also very popular.
Evelyne Crowe:
Nettle and Bone. That was good.
Daniella Drake:
Which surprised me.
Evelyne Crowe:
That was a good episode, actually.
Daniella Drake:
That was a really good episode.
Evelyne Crowe:
We did a good episode.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, that one was fun.
Evelyne Crowe:
We talked about so much pop culture in that one.
Daniella Drake:
I loved that book. I loved that book so much. I have read it four times.
Evelyne Crowe:
We really let our nerd show in that one.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. For sure.
Evelyne Crowe:
I mean, our nerd flag just flew.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah. I feel like we've got to just lean into it, hence all the puns.
Evelyne Crowe:
So many puns.
Daniella Drake:
So many puns. I actually took some out.
Evelyne Crowe:
So many puns. So many knobs.
Daniella Drake:
So many knobs. They say it so many times.
Evelyne Crowe:
It was really funny.
Daniella Drake:
It was kind of uncomfortable.
Evelyne Crowe:
Go read Vera Valentine. She's really good.
Daniella Drake:
I mean, literally she says in there, polishing his knob. That is literally a sentence that is in there.
Evelyne Crowe:
If you don't laugh at that, you are a better person than me. I mean, I swear-
Daniella Drake:
Oh, no. I laughed. I laughed for sure. I thought that was hilarious.
Evelyne Crowe:
It's so funny.
Daniella Drake:
So funny.
Evelyne Crowe:
Oh my God.
Daniella Drake:
But this is definitely, if you're looking for just something quick and fun and something that's going to bring a smile to your face, either one of these, Her Pastry Shifters or Unhinged would be phenomenal. It's perfect. So what are we reading next?
Evelyne Crowe:
We are going to go right back into early 2000s urban fantasy, because that's our jam.
Daniella Drake:
Because we're old as fuck.
Evelyne Crowe:
We are. But actually, I didn't read this until two years ago.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah, I haven't read it yet. So this would be new to me.
Evelyne Crowe:
This did get picked up as a TV option, but I don't know how it's going, so we'll see.
Daniella Drake:
Yeah. Who knows?
Evelyne Crowe:
But it's JR Ward, and it's very popular. It's a very popular series. And it's vampires.
Daniella Drake:
And it's called Dark Lover.
Evelyne Crowe:
Dark Lover.
Daniella Drake:
Which sounds great.
Evelyne Crowe:
Now, it is early 2000s. It's got some stuff. It's got very alpha guys. Very alpha.
Daniella Drake:
Right.
Evelyne Crowe:
Super alpha guys. It does get better as the series goes through the 2000s. You can see the growth actually as you read it. I read almost all of it. I just haven't read the most recent release, I think. And there is a splinter series that kind of follows the kids, which I haven't read, because I don't really care about the kids, but that's just a personal preference of mine. But I've read the main line.
Daniella Drake:
Well, I'm excited. I don't really know anything about it. I recognize the name JR Ward because obviously they've been around for a while. But yeah, I'm excited to get into it. Give it a shot.
Evelyne Crowe:
Yeah. It's extremely popular.
Daniella Drake:
So, join us for that next time. I am Daniella Drake.
Evelyne Crowe:
And I'm Evelyn Crowe.
Speaker 1:
Thank you for joining us for this episode of Intoxicated Literature. Drink well, friends.
