Dark Lover

In which Evelyne and Daniella discuss zombie MLMs, how much trauma is too much trauma in a book, and who would really believe it when some guy tells you he's a vampire?

Transcript

Announcer:

This is Intoxicated Literature.

Evelyne Crowe:

Welcome to Intoxicated Literature. I am Evelyn Crowe.

Daniella Drake:

And I am Daniella Drake.

Evelyne Crowe:

Today we are reading a book I recommended, shocker, I know. This is an urban fantasy from the early 2000-ish, and I'm so sorry, Daniella. I know, this is not your... it's urban fantasy, but also romance. It's very-

Daniella Drake:

I liked it. It's a vampire thing, which is maybe not my first choice, but I thought it was good.

Evelyne Crowe:

There's a definite mythology to it too, and it builds as the series goes on.

Daniella Drake:

I believe that. This is Dark Lover, by J.R Ward.

Evelyne Crowe:

We do have a theme drink.

Daniella Drake:

We do. We're drinking the Blood Sucker, which actually, this is a tasty treat.

Evelyne Crowe:

This is so good.

Daniella Drake:

It's so good.

Evelyne Crowe:

This is my second one and I'm sucking it down.

Daniella Drake:

I do recommend this one for sure. Yum. Spoilers, we will ruin the entire book. Probably not the series, but maybe.

Evelyne Crowe:

I did read the entire series, so I might get more into the mythology of things and how things happen later. Not so much the plots as much as the mythology of things as they unravel, because I know that it's not, again, first book of a whole series.

Daniella Drake:

Right. There's not a whole lot of mythology yet, but what there was was interesting. We will also probably talk about sexy times, so if you are under 18, this is not the podcast for you. And there will be swearing because we are intoxicated and the filters are gone.

Evelyne Crowe:

Yes. And filters.

Daniella Drake:

So let's get into it.

Evelyne Crowe:

Okay. So Dark Lover is a vampire book, so there are a hierarchy of vampires in this world, and the Black Dagger Brotherhood are the elite males. These are the most alpha male vampires that you are going to find in the vampire world.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. I do want to take a moment and talk about their names-

Evelyne Crowe:

Oh my God, their names.

Daniella Drake:

... because what the fuck?

Evelyne Crowe:

I have no hate to these names because I can't hate on these names because I have a character in one of my books whose name is Kaige, and it's spelled, K-A-I-G-E.

Daniella Drake:

So this is the thing though, is that when I first started reading it, I was kind of like, "Oh, I kind of like this play on names or whatever," and by the end of the book, it was taking me out every time. I was like, "I cannot focus with these names." Mostly it was like Phury with a P-H, and Rhage, but I'll tell you the one that made me the most upset, and that was Zsadist.

Evelyne Crowe:

It's Zsadist.

Daniella Drake:

I know, it is Zsadist, but it was bothering me. This is why it was bothering me, because it's sadist, but they're calling him Z because it starts with a Z. I'm like, "Guys, stop it."

Evelyne Crowe:

Look, it's fancy.

Daniella Drake:

I know. I know. And listen, names are hard.

Evelyne Crowe:

Names are hard.

Daniella Drake:

Names are hard. I don't want to be too judgy about it, I just wanted to comment on it because I thought it was funny.

Evelyne Crowe:

I actually wrote them down.

Daniella Drake:

I did too.

Evelyne Crowe:

I was like, "I have to write these names down because I forgot how amazing these names were," and I have no hate to these names because my names are no better in my book.

Daniella Drake:

Names are hard. They're really hard. I don't want to judge anyone because names are hard.

Evelyne Crowe:

I named the character with tentacles in my book Leviathan. It's not like-

Daniella Drake:

Which is awesome.

Evelyne Crowe:

... I'm horribly original.

Daniella Drake:

But Did you spell it with a Y?

Evelyne Crowe:

No, I didn't. I should have.

Daniella Drake:

Wrath is just spelled basically normally, fine. Just lean into it.

Evelyne Crowe:

I liked Rhage. The Rhage spelling was great.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah, I didn't mind Rhage. I thought Rhage was cool. You just add an H and it actually does look like a name.

Evelyne Crowe:

And they call him Hollywood, that was his nickname because it was so handsome.

Daniella Drake:

I did the characters in this. I thought Beth was a no-nonsense kind of woman, which I always appreciate. Wrath just cracked me up because he's what, 6'6"? The fact too that they always wear leather, always.

Evelyne Crowe:

Always, always in leather.

Daniella Drake:

So funny.

Evelyne Crowe:

With his cute boots.

Daniella Drake:

I know. Guys, I know. Are you not trying to hide at all?

Evelyne Crowe:

It's like you see these guys walking down the streets and be like, "I'm going to cross the street."

Daniella Drake:

I know.

Evelyne Crowe:

They're not hiding at all. They're the most threatening appearance ever.

Daniella Drake:

For sure.

Evelyne Crowe:

They're the most vampire of vampires. I would clock them a mile away. I would just be like, "No."

Daniella Drake:

Exactly. And people are. Literally in the opening scene when Darius is meeting him at the nightclub and Wrath walks in and literally everyone is just like, "Get out of this guy's way."

Evelyne Crowe:

Red Sea parting.

Daniella Drake:

Exactly.

Evelyne Crowe:

It's like there is no hiding. There is no even pretending.

Daniella Drake:

No, not even a little bit. It's so funny. I did really appreciate the lore in this though. I know that it's the first book and you don't really get all of the mythology right away, but I thought it was an interesting take on vampires and how they're having this kind of war between the vampires and the lessers, who are just soulless humans.

Evelyne Crowe:

They're almost like zombies in a way. It's weird and it's gross how they're created. You don't even want to know.

Daniella Drake:

I don't want to know. They didn't really show it, and I appreciated that. I don't want it. Nope.

Evelyne Crowe:

Yeah, no. It's a play on Christianity that's different than you've ever seen before-

Daniella Drake:

Absolutely.

Evelyne Crowe:

... and I really appreciate that aspect of it.

Daniella Drake:

I thought it was really interesting, and the whole describe Virgin and the Omega and how they're creating these essentially races of people, I've just never seen that before. It's very unique.

Evelyne Crowe:

It really is. It was a really unique mythology, and it was really cool.

Daniella Drake:

And I loved that aspect of this book. I thought that was really cool.

Evelyne Crowe:

And it is just a shame, at least in this first novel, it does get a little better as it goes on, it's just because this is the Black Dagger Brotherhood and they are the elite warriors. This is like the SEALS, right?

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. Of vampire land.

Evelyne Crowe:

They are the ones who protect everyone so at least in this novel, you don't see a lot because there are other vampires who live in the world, just regular ass vampires. They're just living in houses. They're just trying to live their lives. They're around. You don't see them, but they're there. But these guys are the top warriors, and they have skills that other vampires don't have for fighting. That is literally what they're for, is for fighting. So there's a gender essentialism factor that I don't really appreciate, necessarily.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. I was a little bummed that there wasn't at least a couple of women warriors. I would've loved to have seen that be a thing.

Evelyne Crowe:

And it does happen as the series goes on. You do see more.

Daniella Drake:

I was going to say, I feel like this is a product of its time more than anything. It's like these are men and they're so manly and they're going out and kicking ass, and of course women are just staying home. That's bullshit and we all know it, and now-

Evelyne Crowe:

And you see Beth being a product of the glass ceiling. She can't get higher than where she is, and you're just like, "This is so early 2000s, I can't."

Daniella Drake:

Oh my God, that whole scene with her supervisor, I was triggered.

Evelyne Crowe:

Yes.

Daniella Drake:

Where she's supposed to be editing these columns and the guys are getting lazy because they know that she's going to clean it up, and I'm just like, "This is too realistic. I'm not having fun right now."

Evelyne Crowe:

It really is very realistic. You're just like, "Oh, no."

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. I was like, "I can't read this. This is not escapism."

Evelyne Crowe:

No. this is too real.

Daniella Drake:

I also didn't love that one of the first things that we see is her getting basically SA'd, which I didn't like.

Evelyne Crowe:

That is unfortunate.

Daniella Drake:

She kicks their in the end and gets away, which yay.

Evelyne Crowe:

She breaks some guy's nose, which is amazing.

Daniella Drake:

And I'm pretty sure it makes sure he can't have children, which you get them, girl.

Evelyne Crowe:

But again, the fact that there has to be that on page in order for her story to continue, it's very early 2000s.

Daniella Drake:

It is, for sure.

Evelyne Crowe:

It's the product of its time. I'm not dissing it at all, this is just a product of its time. It happened a lot in novels in this era, and again, the series does get better as it moves on.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. I imagine that that's true.

Evelyne Crowe:

There is a lot of growth for JR Ward as it continues. But Beth is not someone who just lies down and takes this shit either.

Daniella Drake:

No.

Evelyne Crowe:

She was a no-nonsense kind of person.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. I loved her actually, because she is just calling everyone on their bullshit left and right. She's a journalist and she's going, "I'm smelling. What are you talking about? You're hanging onto this trauma. Why? I think you just need to let that go."

Evelyne Crowe:

"I don't think so."

Daniella Drake:

I really liked her a lot and her little cat Boo, who I thought was adorable.

Evelyne Crowe:

I love little Boo. But the thing is, the part of the mythology for this is that vampires can have children-

Daniella Drake:

But it's rare.

Evelyne Crowe:

... it's very rare. So Beth is a mixed human with vampire, and when they reach a certain point in their life cycle, they need to have the blood of a male vampire to-

Daniella Drake:

I do want to talk about this a little bit because I thought this was also a really interesting take on the mythology where vampires do need blood to sustain themselves, but not human blood. They need other vampire blood and they need blood from the opposite sex, which I thought was very interesting. I was like, "Huh, okay. I don't really know what to make of that."

Evelyne Crowe:

It's like a take on Fated Mates almost.

Daniella Drake:

A little bit. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Evelyne Crowe:

But not really.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah, because you don't have to be in love with anyone to take their blood, but there is this kind of sexy aspect to it, I guess.

Evelyne Crowe:

Intimacy, I would say. It's not necessarily you don't love them, but there's an intimacy because you're close to them physically while you're doing it.

Daniella Drake:

And you have to trust them not to kill you.

Evelyne Crowe:

Please don't kill me while I ingest your bodily fluids, and you have to trust that they're healthy. There's a lot of trust going on in this.

Daniella Drake:

Absolutely. Yeah. So I thought that was a really interesting way to play it, because even Beth when she's first introduced to this world, she's like, "Oh my God, you're going to suck my blood?" And he is like, "No, that's not going to do anything for me. I need an actual vampire, sorry."

Evelyne Crowe:

And then you have to put yourself in Beth's shoes when she finds that out too because if you fall in love with a vampire and he can't drink your blood and you understand that it's an intimate thing, how comfortable are you with that vampire going out and drinking someone else's blood?

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. That's a tricky situation to get it. I think about Butch and what's her name? The one that was with Wrath first. Oh, I didn't write her down. I only wrote down the men. I'm so sexist. You are. I'm so sexist.

Evelyne Crowe:

Crap.

Daniella Drake:

I know. What is her name? Marissa?

Evelyne Crowe:

Yeah.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. So I think about that relationship where it actually made me sad to read it because Marissa was trying so hard to be what Wrath needed and wanted, and it had been centuries that they had been together, and he just was not feeling it. He was just like, "You're here for a purpose, and I'm trying to take care of you because I know that you're serving that purpose, but I don't care about you really." It was just like, "You're kind of there because I need it, but that's it." And it just made me sad to read about it because both of them I feel like could have used someone that was really there to care for them, and neither of them was getting that, and so that whole thing was just like, "Geez, this is sad."

Evelyne Crowe:

It was so sad. And you get the feeling that Marissa was very sheltered her entire life and just told, "This is your purpose," so you get this definite feeling that there is a aristocracy in vampire worlds, and you're like okay. The black Dagger Brotherhood is definitely like, "Oh, you want," because Wrath is the king. He's like the king of vampires. He is it.

Daniella Drake:

He's the dude.

Evelyne Crowe:

The dude. And so Marissa's father is like, "You need to make him happy." And so if she's not making him happy, of course it's her fault somehow.

Daniella Drake:

Of course. Of course she's not doing enough or whatever bullshit they want to say.

Evelyne Crowe:

It's jut some patriarchal bullshit that is just bullshit.

Daniella Drake:

For sure. And there was an aspect of that that me off for sure, because even the things that she was internalizing, I was like, "Girl, this is not you. This is nothing you did wrong."

Evelyne Crowe:

Wrath wasn't saying that either. It was not Wrath who was saying it. Wrath was like, "No, you're fine."

Daniella Drake:

Exactly. And actually, even her brother, we can talk about it in a minute because what the fuck, my dude? But even her brother had these moments of really hating on Wrath because he wasn't treating her better and stuff, and it wasn't that Wrath didn't care for her because I think he did as much as he could, but just he did not romantically have that connection with her and was never going to. It just wasn't there.

Evelyne Crowe:

He didn't even really like her as a person. They did not jive together.

Daniella Drake:

No. They were on different wavelengths entirely.

Evelyne Crowe:

They were not. She was the soft-spoken kind of quiet person and Wrath is just like, "I'm out. I'm going. I'm active."

Daniella Drake:

He really needs someone that's going to stand up to him and call his bullshit and be strong, and she just was the opposite of that. She was not capable of doing that.

Evelyne Crowe:

And then there's Beth who's like, "No, I call your bullshit all the time."

Daniella Drake:

Exactly, exactly. Which is why they work so well, even though she's 25 and he's 300 and whatever.

Evelyne Crowe:

Why do these novels do that?

Daniella Drake:

I don't know.

Evelyne Crowe:

It's a thing, but it's just like-

Daniella Drake:

I know. I will never understand it, but it works, so who am I to say that it shouldn't be continued? I don't know.

Evelyne Crowe:

Can we talk about how would you be? You're 25, you've lived your whole life as a regular human person, so regular by the way that you've been through the foster system. You are a journalist. You think you know the fucking world. You think you know shit, you've been through shit. You've seen it all, you think, and then all of a sudden your body is starting to go fucking haywire for no fucking reason. And then all of a sudden, some dude who's 6'6" shows up in your apartment, and then you're like, "I cannot keep away from you. My body is like what is happening? I need you right now."

Daniella Drake:

Yeah.

Evelyne Crowe:

And he's like, "Okay."

Daniella Drake:

I know.

Evelyne Crowe:

"That makes sense."

Daniella Drake:

This is what I appreciated about that though, is that it wasn't just her being like, "Oh my God, I need you right now. I cannot take this, help me, whatever." He was also feeling that immediately. He was like, "Okay."

Evelyne Crowe:

He was like, "Okay." And they were both like, "Let's just do it right now."

Daniella Drake:

Okay, it's going to happen.

Evelyne Crowe:

Sure. But then he's like, "By the way, I'm a vampire."

Daniella Drake:

Right, right. Excuse me?

Evelyne Crowe:

No, no. I have seen shit, but I have not seen that shit.

Daniella Drake:

Would you believe some guy that told you he was a vampire? Absolutely not.

Evelyne Crowe:

No.

Daniella Drake:

Absolutely not.

Evelyne Crowe:

Especially Beth, who has seen all the shit.

Daniella Drake:

And she's a journalist. She just is trained to see bullshit, right?

Evelyne Crowe:

Yes. And she's like, "I just slept with this guy, and now this guy's pulling my leg. This is what guys do. They sleep with you and then they pull this shit to run away. This is what they do."

Daniella Drake:

It's like my dude, just tell me you're not interested and go on your way. I don't need you to do this.

Evelyne Crowe:

And who was fucking Butch? I felt so sorry for Butch.

Daniella Drake:

Oh my God. Actually, I loved Butch.

Evelyne Crowe:

Butch is great. I don't want anyone to hate on Butch. Butch is great. I just felt really sorry for him because he kept trying to do the right thing and just ended up stepping in it every single time.

Daniella Drake:

I feel like it worked out for him, though.

Evelyne Crowe:

It did in the end.

Daniella Drake:

Because Marissa is into him.

Evelyne Crowe:

Marissa loves him.

Daniella Drake:

And listen, I loved that he wanted to do the right thing every time. And part of the discourse, even on Beth's side when they were talking about Butch or thinking about Butch, he is like, "I am the job and eventually I'm going to die. I'm going to die alone because I'm not going to drag anyone else into this lifestyle with me." It was really sad because he was so just resigned to the fact that this job was going to kill him, either literally or figuratively.

Evelyne Crowe:

This book felt very ACAB for its time.

Daniella Drake:

I agree.

Evelyne Crowe:

And I'm all for that because I'm very ACAB.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. It was great to see it actually, and this early on when it wasn't really happening much yet.

Evelyne Crowe:

It really wasn't happening yet. And I remember reading it going, "I haven't read a book really from a cop's perspective," because he was a cop and he was bound by the rules and the regulations. He couldn't do this, he couldn't do that. And then when he finally found the person who was responsible, he was fired for doing his job.

Daniella Drake:

Well.

Evelyne Crowe:

Well, he did punch a guy.

Daniella Drake:

He broke his nose again, which maybe not, but also-

Evelyne Crowe:

Who could blame him, really?

Daniella Drake:

Yeah, right? I wanted to break his nose too.

Evelyne Crowe:

They put him on probation. That's not really fun, but they put him on probation.

Daniella Drake:

No, but also they were making, what is it called? Not a spectacle, what is it called?

Evelyne Crowe:

A statement.

Daniella Drake:

No, they were using him as a scapegoat kind of. That's not what I'm trying to say, but they were using him as an example.

Evelyne Crowe:

Yes.

Daniella Drake:

They were making an example of him. I got there. It took me a long time.

Evelyne Crowe:

You were so proud of yourself though.

Daniella Drake:

It hurt me, but I made it. But they were making an example of him because IA was like, "Nope, you can't just go out there and rough up people. That's not what the police are supposed to do, so this guy's going to get fired."

Evelyne Crowe:

Really? They're not sorry.

Daniella Drake:

Right, exactly. No, that's the thing. So he gets fired, but really, he's not the problem.

Evelyne Crowe:

And then he has a partner who is police for life. He is in it, Jose.

Daniella Drake:

Jose, who I loved. He was so sweet.

Evelyne Crowe:

He was a really good guy, and he really wanted to be a good guy. He wanted to be a good cop, he really did. And you'd think that Jose was cop-aganda, but he really wasn't because Jose was, "I can do this this way."

Daniella Drake:

Oh, he was all about bending the rules. He's like, "I'm going to bend them. I'm not going to break them, but I'm going to bend them just a little bit. I'm going to call this reporter and say there's been a bomb. Come see what's happening."

Evelyne Crowe:

Jose was not straight-laced. Jose was like, "I'm going to go the other way. It was not cop-aganda. And Butch finally was just like, "Screw this. I can't do what I want to do as a detective.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. All these rules are making it so I can't actually protect and serve. This is not what I want.

Evelyne Crowe:

Because cops don't protect and serve. That's not their job. And it's like he finally realized that and he put everything down and he left. And poor Jose was just like, "Oh my God, what happened to Butch?" He was so sad.

Daniella Drake:

That was so sad at the end, when he goes to his apartment and it's just empty and there's no sign of struggle, he's just vanished. Poof.

Evelyne Crowe:

I know. He was just like, "Oh my God, where's Butch?"

Daniella Drake:

I know. And he was the only one that cared. He was the only one that checked to see where Butch went, and that was heartbreaking.

Evelyne Crowe:

It's so sad.

Daniella Drake:

But now Butch has a whole family, which was so good.

Evelyne Crowe:

Now he lives in his mansion. Okay, let's talk about the fucking mansion.

Daniella Drake:

Oh my God. Okay, so this is the thing. First and foremost, Darius, who I was sad died so soon because I thought he was going to be my favorite character and then-

Evelyne Crowe:

Yeah. He got Ned Starked.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah, exactly. Apparently he's coming back later in the series though?

Evelyne Crowe:

Kind of. Not as Darius, but kind of.

Daniella Drake:

No, that was the rule. The scribe version was like, "Well, I'll send you back, but you're not really going to know who you are." So he's trying to get rest, take care of his daughter.

Evelyne Crowe:

Who is Beth, by the way. Darius' daughter is Beth.

Daniella Drake:

Yes, and then he gets blown up.

Evelyne Crowe:

Bomb in the beginning, super early.

Daniella Drake:

So fast in the first chapter, maybe the second. And then Wrath, who said no, is like, "Well, now I have to take care of this girl because you're dead." Wrath was like, "Fuck." But it turns out Darius is rich as fuck.

Evelyne Crowe:

So rick. Stock market, baby.

Daniella Drake:

He was an aristocrat when he was turned or when he became vampire or whatever, and so he had all this money to begin with in the 1700s or whatever it was that he was changed-

Evelyne Crowe:

And then he played the stock market real smart.

Daniella Drake:

Yep. And now Beth has it all.

Evelyne Crowe:

He has this fucking mansion and Beth inherits it and has this fucking mansion, and she has Fritz.

Daniella Drake:

Oh, I loved Fritz. I loved him.

Evelyne Crowe:

I would die for Fritz.

Daniella Drake:

I would too. He was fabulous. I loved him so much. His taste in clothes-

Evelyne Crowe:

Oh my God.

Daniella Drake:

... his ability to cook.

Evelyne Crowe:

Oh my God.

Daniella Drake:

I was like, "My dude, you could move in with me right now."

Evelyne Crowe:

Seriously, I love Fritz.

Daniella Drake:

I'll take care of you if you take care of me.

Evelyne Crowe:

I would pay him anything.

Daniella Drake:

Absolutely.

Evelyne Crowe:

I would give him everything. I would give him the clothes off my back. I would be like, "My man."

Daniella Drake:

I know. I loved him so much. I thought he was so fun, so good, so sweet.

Evelyne Crowe:

I love him.

Daniella Drake:

And he's like Darius' Butler, his one servant.

Evelyne Crowe:

There are other servants, but he is like-

Daniella Drake:

Well, he's like the main guy.

Evelyne Crowe:

... the major Domo or whatever you would call it.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah, yeah. He has a title, but I don't remember what it is.

Evelyne Crowe:

It's him. So there is a whole fucking mansion hidden in the hills. Where is this, anyway?

Daniella Drake:

It's like outside of New York.

Evelyne Crowe:

It's on the east coast somewhere, but it's hidden by spells. You can't find it. It's hidden, and it's a huge fucking mansion. Rooms everywhere-

Daniella Drake:

But also below ground. You have this whole extra basement level, no sunlight allowed.

Evelyne Crowe:

There are medical facilities, there's a pool, there's a basketball. I'm telling you, it is fucking huge.

Daniella Drake:

Crazy huge.

Evelyne Crowe:

And so goes Beth from, "I had foster families and an apartment"-

Daniella Drake:

A tiny apartment.

Evelyne Crowe:

... to, "Congratulations. You are a almost billionaire with a mansion."

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. Can you imagine?

Evelyne Crowe:

No.

Daniella Drake:

But also for her realizing that her dad knew who she was and was keeping an eye on her this whole time, but never once tried to make contact, I would not know how to square that, to be honest.

Evelyne Crowe:

As a person whose dad sucked and who never tried to take care of me period, that would be weird. It would be very exceptionally weird. I don't know how I would square up with that either, personally.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. It's like I was struggling and you had all of this and you didn't bother to help me. And I understand-

Evelyne Crowe:

Well, he did help in tiny ways. If she were in a bad foster home, he would make it so she would be moved from that foster home, which is great, but also, I would like a relationship with you. That would be better.

Daniella Drake:

And I do understand, even Wrath was like, "Listen, he's part of this brotherhood. It's a violent life. He didn't want you to be a part of this. He didn't want to put you in danger, especially if the vampire part of you never happened. If you just lived your life as a human, you would never have met me. You would've just lived your life and been done with it." So I understand on an intellectual level the choices that were made, but emotionally, just having that interaction, having him come up and say, "Hey, I'm your dad. Here's some money. What do you need? Let me take care of you," would've been huge.

Evelyne Crowe:

So huge.

Daniella Drake:

Would've been huge.

Evelyne Crowe:

Huge because she didn't have that at all.

Daniella Drake:

At all.

Evelyne Crowe:

She had nothing.

Daniella Drake:

And I know that he was taking care of her in the shadows, which is great. He was doing what he could-

Evelyne Crowe:

But it seemed more creepy than it did fatherly.

Daniella Drake:

Right, and that's where I'm like, "You could have done better."

Evelyne Crowe:

It seems 50 Shades of Grey creepy-ish than it did-

Daniella Drake:

More her stalker than dad.

Evelyne Crowe:

Yeah. It was weird. It was a weird thing that he did. And again, understand it on an intellectual level at the same time, but you're her dad.

Daniella Drake:

So that was kind of a bummer. I was like, "Would've liked a little more from you, buddy," but whatever. What are you going to do?

Evelyne Crowe:

So now we have Beth with Wrath, and we haven't talked about the fact that Wrath is known as the Blind King.

Daniella Drake:

I know. I actually liked that too, that she actually made the king have some kind of disability.

Evelyne Crowe:

Yes. He cannot see at all.

Daniella Drake:

And he wears sunglasses all the time because it doesn't matter if he has them on or not, and it's great. He's still a very proficient warrior. He's still a total badass. He's the only full-blood vampire in existence.

Evelyne Crowe:

He actually is going through a whole emotional crisis this whole book because he is trying to rectify the fact that he is king.

Daniella Drake:

He really does not want to be king.

Evelyne Crowe:

He doesn't want to be king.

Daniella Drake:

No.

Evelyne Crowe:

And part of his being king is being safe, and you can't be safe if you're out fighting lessers all the time.

Daniella Drake:

And he wants to be, because to him, protecting is the most important thing ever.

Evelyne Crowe:

Yes, because he watched his family die.

Daniella Drake:

Oh, his story was horrible. There were so many things in this book that I was like, "God damn it. What the fuck?"

Evelyne Crowe:

The trauma in this book that these people are carrying around-

Daniella Drake:

Seriously.

Evelyne Crowe:

... it's awful.

Daniella Drake:

I was like, "This is not escapism right now. I am crying."

Evelyne Crowe:

His story is also-

Daniella Drake:

No, I know.

Evelyne Crowe:

... and so you're just like, "Okay, so you have this king, but you want to protect. We get it, but the world needs you to be safe because you are ruling it. That is your job."

Daniella Drake:

What if by becoming king, you're actually more capable of protecting people?

Evelyne Crowe:

By sitting down behind the desk and ruling, and he was having a real hard time with that.

Daniella Drake:

That is basically what the Scribe Virgin says to him when he goes and sees her. She's like, "Okay, I'll do this for you, but for you need to do something for me, and that's become fucking king. I'm tired of this bullshit.

Evelyne Crowe:

Sit down on your ass in that fucking throne and be the king I proclaimed you to be. I've made you fucking king, so be it. And he was like, "Fuck."

Daniella Drake:

But he does do it, which I admire. It takes some strength. And it was a little bit Beth too who was like, "Man, your story sucks. This is terrible and you need to let it go. You need to process it and realize that what your decisions are right now are not what they should be. They're not healthy because you're carrying all this trauma around."

Evelyne Crowe:

Just like a fucking monkey on his back, man. It was just-

Daniella Drake:

And finally he's like, "Oh, shit. That's exactly what I'm doing. I'm going to stop now."

Evelyne Crowe:

What if I told you he got a seeing eye dog and it's golden retriever?

Daniella Drake:

Oh my God. I love it already.

Evelyne Crowe:

It's so cute.

Daniella Drake:

That's so cute.

Evelyne Crowe:

It's amazing.

Daniella Drake:

Vampires with a little golden retriever?

Evelyne Crowe:

It's so cute.

Daniella Drake:

I love it so much. That's so good.

Evelyne Crowe:

I love him.

Daniella Drake:

That does not surprise me in the least.

Evelyne Crowe:

Oh my God.

Daniella Drake:

They're all golden retrievers, really.

Evelyne Crowe:

I know. Really. It's really cute.

Daniella Drake:

Let's talk about the lessers a little bit, because I really thought this was such an interesting take on the vampire mythology. This was something I had never seen before in having this other side, I guess, to their coin and just literally, their entire job is just to wipe out vampires.

Evelyne Crowe:

That is their job. And so the reason why I suggested this book is because it's not a romance, although it ends with a HEA, it really is an urban fantasy. It's like urban romantasy, I guess you would call it, because every book is a couple getting together so there is a romance aspect to it, but it is very heavily an urban fantasy aspect to it. And that's what makes it such a unique series and one of the reasons why I devoured it, and I think everyone who loves romantasy would love this series, and I think everyone should read it.

Daniella Drake:

I think so too.

Evelyne Crowe:

And the mythology is so unique and so different because you have the Omega, and if you know anything about Christianity, you have the Alpha and then you have the Omega. And as the series progresses, you realize just as you read it, it gets more tense and it gets more tense, and it gets more tense as it goes on and the lessers are just essentially soulless bodies walking around wreaking havoc.

Daniella Drake:

Well, and it's fascinating to me. When I was reading from Mr. X's perspective, he's a four lesser who's in charge of his own little squad of lessers, but when he was giving his rundown of people that they look for to become lessers, they're basically psychopaths. They're looking for serial killers essentially, or serial killers in the making. Maybe they haven't pulled the trigger, pun intended, yet, but there's this idea. And that's why he ends up with Billy Riddle, who's the one that attacks Beth in the very beginning, because he's this guy who doesn't care about his family. He gets off on attacking women. That's like what he likes, and he is into torture. It's this whole thing. And I'm just reading it going, "Okay, so all of these lessers that you've brought into your circle because they all have to be made from humans are horrible people."

Evelyne Crowe:

They're horrible people. And the process of doing it, we never really see the process. We see the aftermath of the process, and there's a lot of blood involved. It's all very gross, but they're all impotent. They cannot-

Daniella Drake:

Yes, that's right. They literally cannot have sex even if they want to.

Evelyne Crowe:

So that has ended because their only purpose, literally their only purpose in their life is to just kill vampires. That is it. And of course, that aspect of their life is not mentioned as they're recruiting.

Daniella Drake:

So weird that they would leave that out. That wasn't in the brochure.

Evelyne Crowe:

Right? But it's really interesting. I don't know, it's like an MLM.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. For zombies.

Evelyne Crowe:

It's like a zombie MLM.

Daniella Drake:

Or serial killer MLM. It's like, "Oh, you want to torture and kill people? Well, have I got the structure for you. You can be brought in here and we're going to take your soul."

Evelyne Crowe:

All you have to do is bring in 10 more people. It's really literally like a zombie MLM.

Daniella Drake:

And then you get to hunt and kill vampires to your little heart's content. Congratulations.

Evelyne Crowe:

Exactly what it is.

Daniella Drake:

No, that is exactly what it is. But I actually appreciated that she included Mr. X as a perspective for us to read from because it really helped flesh out what a lesser was. I was a little bit confused in the beginning because I was like, "I don't really understand. Why does he keep talking about lessers? What does that mean?" But then you get to read from his perspective and I was like, "Oh. Oh my God, these people are terrible."

Evelyne Crowe:

Oh, they're bad. And vampires can smell them. They have an odor, which thank God, because can you imagine just people walking around and you have no idea if they're lessers or not?

Daniella Drake:

Well, I guess their color leeches away, so they all kind of start to look the same and I'm just like, "Okay, all right."

Evelyne Crowe:

They're bad news and they're sneaky. And they're smart though because they retain all of their brains and their intelligence at the same time, so they're soulless and they're evil, but they're smart. And it's like-

Daniella Drake:

I really thought the lore in this book was really good. I thought it was really, really good. I also liked too that she didn't just hold our hand and explain everything with a bunch of exposition. She really expected you to keep up as she was giving us information through action, through plot, through character discussions, whatever. But it wasn't like, "Here's a big exposition dump so that you understand the world." It was, "Come on, let's go on this journey. I'll fill you in as we go." And I love it when authors trust us to be smart enough to keep up.

Evelyne Crowe:

Reading comprehension is a thing.

Daniella Drake:

It really, really is.

Evelyne Crowe:

And for a first in a series like this, it was not slow. It did not expect you to just la-di-da, it was like, "Okay, here we go."

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. It went. As soon as it started, it was off to the races. There was very little downtime.

Evelyne Crowe:

I suggested it knowing that you were not a fan of vampires, but this is not a typical vampire romantasy.

Daniella Drake:

No. And actually, part of what I appreciated, obviously they're still vampires, they can't see the sunlight, whatever, whatever, but they're not just dead reanimated bodies and I think that that's what I kind of trip on when I read about, especially vampire romances. I'm just like, "That doesn't feel hot to me."

Evelyne Crowe:

You mean cold, dead bodies aren't doing it for you?

Daniella Drake:

Right. I'm like, "I just don't think that's sexy," so it usually whooshes right over my head. But this one, they're a completely separate species, which I thought was fascinating. And I really appreciated that thought that went into it because she obviously thought this through quite a bit and it was very well done. I loved the writing. I thought the writing was really good. The characters were complex, the story was good. I just really enjoyed it. I thought it was really good.

Evelyne Crowe:

It's really good. The series continues to be good as it develops, and then every book really kind of just develops that mythology through it. And every character has its own kind of little quirk as it goes through, which is also really great. And it's funny because you get to know each one, and I know what happens to each one and I'm not going to give anything away, even though I want to. Vicious, for example, you think is great. He has his own kind of little thing going on, but at the same time, you're like, "I know he's fucked up."

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. He's got trauma.

Evelyne Crowe:

He's got some serious fucking trauma going on. And when he finally finds his person, that whole story, you think this story had a lot of drama going on?

Daniella Drake:

No, I have no doubt that there are a couple of other brothers that are just going to destroy me with their stories. I know that that's a fact.

Evelyne Crowe:

Absolutely.

Daniella Drake:

For sure. And I do want to comment on Torhment having already married and fully just into his wife, who is the sweetest person. Lets Beth borrow her wedding dress that she wore back in what, the 1800s or 1700s? =

Evelyne Crowe:

Let's talk about the mating ceremony.

Daniella Drake:

Okay. Let's talk about it. I wasn't really sure what to expect, and to be honest, I almost felt like it was kind of anticlimactic.

Evelyne Crowe:

But they carve the name of the guy on your back-

Daniella Drake:

Into his back. The name of the girl into his back. And her name is Elizabeth, which is fucking long. I thought that was crazy. And even she's going, "I'm not into this."

Evelyne Crowe:

I know, right? And usually it's the other way around where it's his name on her, but it's her name on him and she has to watch it happen, which would be horrible. I cannot imagine. And she just is like, "What?" They put salt water on it so it doesn't scar in a weird way, and then they give her the cloth with the blood on it like a ceremony. "Here is your wedding thing." She's like, "Great, thanks."

Daniella Drake:

Thank you. I really appreciate this bloody cloth.

Evelyne Crowe:

This trauma that you just dropped in my hand.

Daniella Drake:

Exactly. I'm traumatized now, but okay.

Evelyne Crowe:

But they really see it as this honor that they carry around her name.

Daniella Drake:

They're literally carving it into his back. It's not like a tattoo. They're carving it into his back with their knives.

Evelyne Crowe:

In old English writing. It's very stylized.

Daniella Drake:

It was crazy.

Evelyne Crowe:

It's a special skill that this one person has to do this. It's like a thing that they do. When I first read it, I'm like, "What the fuck?"

Daniella Drake:

I know. I was right there with Bath going, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. I don't need my name on anyone's back, thank you very much. I opt out. I opt out of all of this."

Evelyne Crowe:

Now look, I am into kind of some dark. I'd be like, "Mark me, fine. Mark you, great." This standing there, not in any kind of sexual weirdness at all and just watching you in cold blood getting knives? No.

Daniella Drake:

I did not enjoy that. It was like torture and I was like, "No, not a fan. Not a fan of that. Thank you." Also, the Scribe Virgin shows up.

Evelyne Crowe:

She shows up. She's like a real thing. She could just pop into reality? What?

Daniella Drake:

Beth tries to shake her hand.

Evelyne Crowe:

I know.

Daniella Drake:

And Wrath's like, "No, no. Sorry, she doesn't know any better. It's fine." And even the Scribe Virgin's like, "Yeah, it's cool. It's cool. I know it. It's all right." Yeah, I don't know. But the fact that she got to wear a centuries old wedding dress.

Evelyne Crowe:

I know. It's very cool.

Daniella Drake:

Can you imagine? I would feel like a princess.

Evelyne Crowe:

That would be very cool.

Daniella Drake:

And I'm pretty sure that that's how she felt too. She was like, "Oh my God."

Evelyne Crowe:

Beth was just inducted into this whole family. The found family vibes at the end of this book were definitely very strong.

Daniella Drake:

I love found family. That's like my place. That is what I love.

Evelyne Crowe:

She was brought in. They were like, "You are one of us now. Welcome." And not only is she one of them, she is their queen, and they're like-

Daniella Drake:

She is the queen.

Evelyne Crowe:

... she's the queen. And of course, what does she do? What does she do? The first thing she does is walk out in the sun, just to see if she can.

Daniella Drake:

I know. I thought that was crazy.

Evelyne Crowe:

She's like, "I just want to know. I just want to test it." Just want to see.

Daniella Drake:

And he's like, "Surely she's just going to go out and put a finger out." She's just like walking out.

Evelyne Crowe:

Just going for a walk.

Daniella Drake:

Just going for a walk, don't worry about it.

Evelyne Crowe:

What the fuck, man?

Daniella Drake:

Poor Wrath is down in the basement going, "Oh my God, oh my God."

Evelyne Crowe:

But she can walk around in sunlight because she's half human, half vampire, magic, whatever. But she's the queen.

Daniella Drake:

Ruling, does what she wants.

Evelyne Crowe:

Ruling everybody.

Daniella Drake:

Love it. Yeah. That was so good.

Evelyne Crowe:

No, it was a really good book and it's a really good series. I highly recommend the whole thing, and it's really good.

Daniella Drake:

I really liked it. It was a really fun book when I wasn't being traumatized.

Evelyne Crowe:

Honestly though, do you want everything to be happy all the time?

Daniella Drake:

No. And actually, a lot of it, the character development for Wrath was really satisfying. So having that trauma for him to get over, I understand why it was there and I'll make fun of it because it was so dramatic, but I understand why it was there and I appreciated his character arc, for sure. So what are we reading next?

Evelyne Crowe:

We are reading Payback's a Witch by Lana Harper.

Daniella Drake:

Can't wait to get into that one. Definitely a different vibe.

Evelyne Crowe:

Different vibe from this one. Completely different. Let's just go into a whole different field.

Daniella Drake:

Very different.

Evelyne Crowe:

I think we needed a different book after this one.

Daniella Drake:

Yeah. I feel like it was a good choice. So join us next time for Payback's a Witch by Lana Harper. I am Daniella Drake.

Evelyne Crowe:

And I'm Evelyn Crowe.

Announcer:

Thank you for joining us for this episode of Intoxicated Literature. Drink well, friends.