Bookmates Book Club Podcast

Hi hello Bookmates! Officially back in the swing of things and getting back on schedule. We know we promised Winter Garden, but due to it's heavier themes, it's on the back burner for now, but we'll come back to it, we promise!Orignally an exclusive episode on our Patreon channel, we felt like you all deserved a freebie since we've left you hanging for a bit! Please enjoy our replacement March Book Club Selection: Enchantra by Kaylie Smith, the follow up book to Phantasma. (And if you haven't listened to that episode yet, do it first! It's in our catalogue.)We had a lot of fun reading and discussing this Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Readers' Favorite Romantasy (2025)"Ready or Not meets Throne of the Fallen in a spicy, enemies-to-lovers fantasy romance, where an Italian getaway turns deadly after a young woman is trapped in her host family's cursed game."Synopsis:Ready or not, the game has begun.  Genevieve Grimm has felt adrift ever since her sister became the head of the family. So when a mysterious friend of their mother's invites her to Italy, she accepts. She arrives at his grand palace, expecting passion and magic, decadence and luxury... perhaps even a midnight ball. She doesn't expect the owner's ruthlessly handsome son to slam the door in her face. Rowin Silver is tall, dark, and exceptionally rude, and invitation or not, he demands Genevieve leave and never come back. But Genevieve follows nobody's orders, especially those of arrogant rich boys. She slips inside—and immediately discovers her mistake.Rowin and his family are caught in an insidious game of hide and seek, where only one can win. The rest will be trapped in Hell... until the competition begins again. Genevieve must either join the hunt or forfeit any hope of escaping. But to her dismay, her best chance of survival lies with Rowin. Since lovers may play as a pair, Rowin and Genevieve agree to form an alliance under the guise of a fake courtship. However, as they race through the game's elaborate labyrinth, trapped among gleaming gold and shining marble, their loathing gives way to irresistible attraction. Only Rowin is keeping secrets, especially when it comes to his ruthless family, and Genevieve can't help but wonder if she's trapped in two treacherous games: Enchantra and the one Rowin is playing with her heart.Click here to send fan mail!Support the showWant to support our show? Subscribe at the link below to receive episode updates and a shout out on our show!  https://www.buzzsprout.com/2359887/supportFind us on social media! We want to hear your thoughts!https://linktr.ee/bookmatespodcasthttps://www.bookmatespodcast.com/Email us at [email protected] super fun extras, bonus episodes and content, hop on over to Bookmates After Dark on Patreon!https://www.patreon.com/c/BookmatesAfterDark/home

Hi Hello Bookmates! We're back! Our brief hiatus has come to an end, and we thought we'd ease back in with what HAD been our plan for our Valentine's Day Bonus Episode- Romance Book Recs!So hop back in with us as we catch up, catch you up, and throw out some books to check out if you love romance!Cheat Sheet for your TBR:Lita's Recs:Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine CenterA Rose in Winter by Kathleen E. WoodiwissSuddenly You by Lisa KleypasTiffany's Recs:Water For Elephants by Sara GruenSunday's at Tiffany's by James PattersonThe Key Trilogy by Nora RobertsIn this episode, we talk about the GoFundMe for Tiffany's mom. We would never ask for donations, but if you feel inclined to do so, or want to/would be willing to share with others, it can be found here:https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-our-mom-cindy-fight-a-rare-neurological-conditionWe love you all, and we're excited to back to Book Club with you!Click here to send fan mail!Support the showWant to support our show? Subscribe at the link below to receive episode updates and a shout out on our show!  https://www.buzzsprout.com/2359887/supportFind us on social media! We want to hear your thoughts!https://linktr.ee/bookmatespodcasthttps://www.bookmatespodcast.com/Email us at [email protected] super fun extras, bonus episodes and content, hop on over to Bookmates After Dark on Patreon!https://www.patreon.com/c/BookmatesAfterDark/home

Happy New Year, Bookmates! Join us as we take a trip down memory lane as we discuss our book highs, lows, and honorable mentions of the 2025. It's surreal to think we have Season 2 under our belts. Thank you all for book clubbing with us. We're beyond grateful and humbled to have you all here, and we can't wait to keep reading with you in 2026!Click here to send fan mail!Support the showWant to support our show? Subscribe at the link below to receive episode updates and a shout out on our show!  https://www.buzzsprout.com/2359887/supportFind us on social media! We want to hear your thoughts!https://linktr.ee/bookmatespodcasthttps://www.bookmatespodcast.com/Email us at [email protected] super fun extras, bonus episodes and content, hop on over to Bookmates After Dark on Patreon!https://www.patreon.com/c/BookmatesAfterDark/home

Merry Christmas Bookmates! That's a wrap on Season 2! We're beyond grateful for all of you who have joined us for Book Club this year, and can't wait to keep reading with you in 2026!Join us for our final Book Club Selection of 2025: In a Holidaze by Christina LaurenFun Fact: this Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Reader's Favorite Romance (2020), it is the 2nd highest tagged Christmas book on Goodreads, just under A Christmas Carol! This book was a merry time, even if it left us wanting a bit! Hallmark meets Groundhog Day- it was a cute, easy Yuletide read for sure, and we definitely had a great time talking about it, and bonus points for Tiffany with the Utah setting!Synopsis:It’s the most wonderful time of the year…but not for Maelyn Jones. She’s living with her parents, hates her going-nowhere job, and has just made a romantic error of epic proportions.  But perhaps worst of all, this is the last Christmas Mae will be at her favorite place in the world—the snowy Utah cabin where she and her family have spent every holiday since she was born, along with two other beloved families. Mentally melting down as she drives away from the cabin for the final time, Mae throws out what she thinks is a simple plea to the universe: Please. Show me what will make me happy.  The next thing she knows, tires screech and metal collides, everything goes black. But when Mae gasps awake…she’s on an airplane bound for Utah, where she begins the same holiday all over again. With one hilarious disaster after another sending her back to the plane, Mae must figure out how to break free of the strange time loop—and finally get her true love under the mistletoe.Click here to send fan mail!Support the showWant to support our show? Subscribe at the link below to receive episode updates and a shout out on our show!  https://www.buzzsprout.com/2359887/supportFind us on social media! We want to hear your thoughts!https://linktr.ee/bookmatespodcasthttps://www.bookmatespodcast.com/Email us at [email protected] super fun extras, bonus episodes and content, hop on over to Bookmates After Dark on Patreon!https://www.patreon.com/c/BookmatesAfterDark/home

Hi Hello Bookmates! Hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving holiday- we did! And we're thankful that you are joining us for our November Book Club Selection: The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Readers' Favorite Fiction, and Book of the Month Book of the Year Award Nominee for 2023, one author described it as: “Clever, dark, and hopeful . . . a love letter to reading and the power that childhood stories have over us long after we’ve grown up.”—V. E. Schwab, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRueWe agree! A whimsical and fun book, that manages to be nostalgic, poignant and hopeful- while digging around in some heavier themes of trauma and loss. We so enjoyed this book, did you? What did you think of The Wishing Game? Did it land for you? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!Synopsis:Lucy Hart knows better than anyone what it’s like to grow up without parents who loved her. In a childhood marked by neglect and loneliness, Lucy found her solace in books, namely the Clock Island series by Jack Masterson. Now a twenty-six-year-old teacher’s aide, she is able to share her love of reading with bright, young students, especially seven-year-old Christopher Lamb, who was left orphaned after the tragic death of his parents. Lucy would give anything to adopt Christopher, but even the idea of becoming a family seems like an impossible dream without proper funds and stability.But be careful what you wish for. . . .Just when Lucy is about to give up, Jack Masterson announces he’s finally written a new book. Even better, he’s holding a contest at his home on the real Clock Island, and Lucy is one of the four lucky contestants chosen to compete to win the one and only copy.For Lucy, the chance of winning the most sought-after book in the world means everything to her and Christopher. But first she must contend with ruthless book collectors, wily opponents, and the distractingly handsome (and grumpy) Hugo Reese, the illustrator of the Clock Island books. Meanwhile, Jack “the Mastermind” Masterson is plotting the ultimate twist ending that could change all their lives forever.Click here to send fan mail!Support the showWant to support our show? Subscribe at the link below to receive episode updates and a shout out on our show!  https://www.buzzsprout.com/2359887/supportFind us on social media! We want to hear your thoughts!https://linktr.ee/bookmatespodcasthttps://www.bookmatespodcast.com/Email us at [email protected] super fun extras, bonus episodes and content, hop on over to Bookmates After Dark on Patreon!https://www.patreon.com/c/BookmatesAfterDark/home

Happy Halloween Bookmates! We hope you're enjoying your spooky season! Join us as we discuss a thriller for our October Book Club Selection: No One Can Know by Kate Alice Marshall.Described as “A propulsive and intricate psychological thriller...Meticulously plotted...” While we had a couple issues with the resolution, overall we really enjoyed this one! We were so impressed with the way the complex timelines, and three different POV's from past and present, were woven together. This author sure does have a knack for relaying really relatable thoughts and emotions. Did you read it? What were your thoughts? How did you feel about the ending? Let us know in the comments!Synopsis:Fourteen years ago, the Palmer sisters―Emma, Juliette, and Daphne―left their home in Arden Hills and never returned. But when Emma discovers she’s pregnant and her husband loses his job, she has no option but to return to the house that she and her estranged sisters still own . . . and where their parents were murdered.Emma has never told anyone what she saw the night her parents died, even when she became the prime suspect. But her presence in the house threatens to uncover secrets that have stayed hidden for years, and the sisters are drawn together once again. As they face their memories of the past, rivalries restart, connections are forged, and, for the first time, Emma starts to ask questions about what really happened that night.The more Emma learns, the more riddles emerge. And Emma begins to wonder just what her siblings will do to keep the past buried, and whether she did the right thing staying quiet about what was whispered that night: “No one can know.”Click here to send fan mail!Support the showWant to support our show? Subscribe at the link below to receive episode updates and a shout out on our show!  https://www.buzzsprout.com/2359887/supportFind us on social media! We want to hear your thoughts!https://linktr.ee/bookmatespodcasthttps://www.bookmatespodcast.com/Email us at [email protected] super fun extras, bonus episodes and content, hop on over to Bookmates After Dark on Patreon!https://www.patreon.com/c/BookmatesAfterDark/home

Hi, hello Bookmates, welcome (and welcome back) to Book Club! We are psyched to be doing Book 2 of the Unfated Saga for our September Book Club Selection!Join us as we dive head first into: A Curse Carved in Bone by Danielle L. Jensen"A shield maiden fights to break the shackles of prophecy—in this searing conclusion to the Norse-inspired fantasy romance duology" Nothing prepared us for the BANGER of a plot twist we got hit with! We were SHOOK. Did you figure it out before the big reveal?? Was it a satisfactory conclusion? Let us know!! It's Book Club. We want your tea, even if we don't agree!Synopsis:The secret of her divine heritage revealed, Freya finds herself on a path that will see thousands of lives lost to the magic in her blood. Desperate to avoid this dark fate, she risks an alliance with Skaland’s greatest enemy to seek answers from the seer who foretold her future—the same seer who sent Bjorn to kill her.  While Freya still seethes with rage over Bjorn’s betrayal, the blood oaths that bind her demand that she keep him close as she hunts for a way to avert the looming war. Her magic draws her to the front lines of an old enmity, embroiling her with Nordeland’s Unfated—children of the gods who serve the king she was raised to fear. The same king who, unlike Bjorn, is now willing to fight at her back. For despite the desire that burns hot between Bjorn and Freya, his growing distrust of her chosen path threatens to drag them further apart. As war approaches, gods and mortals must choose their weapons. Yet the fiercest battle will be the one Freya wages within herself. With the magic of two goddesses burning in her veins, she must weave the threads of destiny to decide her own fate: Will she be the shield that protects her people or the curse that destroys them?Click here to send fan mail!Support the showWant to support our show? Subscribe at the link below to receive episode updates and a shout out on our show!  https://www.buzzsprout.com/2359887/supportFind us on social media! We want to hear your thoughts!https://linktr.ee/bookmatespodcasthttps://www.bookmatespodcast.com/Email us at [email protected] super fun extras, bonus episodes and content, hop on over to Bookmates After Dark on Patreon!https://www.patreon.com/c/BookmatesAfterDark/home

Hi, hello Bookmates, welcome (and welcome back) to Book Club! That's a wrap on summer! Join us as we discuss our August Book Club Selection and the Goodreads Choice Award winner of 2021: People We Meet on Vacation by Emily HenryIt is said to be "a sparkling novel that will leave you with the warm, hazy afterglow usually reserved for the best vacations." We more or less concur! This was a fun, cute read, and surpassed expectations. Perfect way to cap off the summer!Synopsis:Two best friends. Ten summer trips. One last chance to fall in love.Poppy and Alex. Alex and Poppy. They have nothing in common. She’s a wild child; he wears khakis. She has insatiable wanderlust; he prefers to stay home with a book. And somehow, ever since a fateful car share home from college many years ago, they are the very best of friends. For most of the year they live far apart—she’s in New York City and he’s in their small hometown—but every summer for a decade, they have taken one glorious week of vacation together.Until two years ago, when they ruined everything. They haven’t spoken since.Poppy has everything she should want, but she’s stuck in a rut. When someone asks when she was last truly happy, she knows without a doubt it was on that ill-fated final trip with Alex. And so, she decides to convince her best friend to take one more vacation together—lay everything on the table, make it all right. Miraculously, he agrees.Now she has a week to fix everything. If only she can get around the one big truth that has always stood quietly in the middle of their seemingly perfect relationship. What could possibly go wrong?Click here to send fan mail!Support the showWant to support our show? Subscribe at the link below to receive episode updates and a shout out on our show!  https://www.buzzsprout.com/2359887/supportFind us on social media! We want to hear your thoughts!https://linktr.ee/bookmatespodcasthttps://www.bookmatespodcast.com/Email us at [email protected] super fun extras, bonus episodes and content, hop on over to Bookmates After Dark on Patreon!https://www.patreon.com/c/BookmatesAfterDark/home

Hi, hello Bookmates! Join us, and our Bookmate Bestie Rose, as we discuss our July Book Club selection: One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle.Described as "a powerful novel about the transformational love between mothers and daughters", this book had us shaking our heads. We found the mother/daughter dynamic quite toxic, and we had ALOT of feelings about Katy as a character... What did you think of One Italian Summer? Was it a rant or a rave for you? What were your thoughts on Katy and Carol's relationship? Katy's treatment of Eric?Comment and let us know! It's Book Club. We want your tea, even if we don't agree!Synopsis:When Katy’s mother dies, she is left reeling. Carol wasn’t just Katy’s mom, but her best friend and first phone call. She had all the answers and now, when Katy needs her the most, she is gone. To make matters worse, their planned mother-daughter trip of a lifetime looms: two weeks in Positano, the magical town Carol spent the summer right before she met Katy’s father. Katy has been waiting years for Carol to take her, and now she is faced with embarking on the adventure alone.But as soon as she steps foot on the Amalfi Coast, Katy begins to feel her mother’s spirit. Buoyed by the stunning waters, beautiful cliffsides, delightful residents, and, of course, delectable food, Katy feels herself coming back to life.And then Carol appears—in the flesh, healthy, sun-tanned, and thirty years old. Katy doesn’t understand what is happening, or how—all she can focus on is that she has somehow, impossibly, gotten her mother back. Over the course of one Italian summer, Katy gets to know Carol, not as her mother, but as the young woman before her. She is not exactly who Katy imagined she might be, however, and soon Katy must reconcile the mother who knew everything with the young woman who does not yet have a clue.Click here to send fan mail!Support the showWant to support our show? Subscribe at the link below to receive episode updates and a shout out on our show!  https://www.buzzsprout.com/2359887/supportFind us on social media! We want to hear your thoughts!https://linktr.ee/bookmatespodcasthttps://www.bookmatespodcast.com/Email us at [email protected] super fun extras, bonus episodes and content, hop on over to Bookmates After Dark on Patreon!https://www.patreon.com/c/BookmatesAfterDark/home

Happy June Bookmates! Join us as we discuss our Book Club Selection for this month: Anxious People by Fredrick BackmanWe absolutely fell in love with this book, and the beautiful way Backman has of making every sentence count in this humorous, compassionate, wise, and ingeniously constructed story executed to damn near perfection.What did Anxious People make you feel? Did you love it? Hate it? Comment and let us know!It's Book Club. We want your tea, even if we don't agree!Synopsis:Looking at real estate isn't usually a life-or-death situation, but an apartment open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes a group of strangers hostage. The captives include a recently retired couple who relentlessly hunt down fixer-uppers to avoid the painful truth that they can't fix up their own marriage. There's a wealthy banker who has been too busy making money to care about anyone else and a young couple who are about to have their first child but can't seem to agree on anything, from where they want to live to how they met in the first place. Add to the mix an eighty-seven-year-old woman who has lived long enough not to be afraid of someone waving a gun in her face, a flustered but still-ready-to-make-a-deal real estate agent, and a mystery man who has locked himself in the apartment's only bathroom, and you've got the worst group of hostages in the world.Each of them carries a lifetime of grievances, hurts, secrets, and passions that are ready to boil over. None of them is entirely who they appear to be. And all of them—the bank robber included—desperately crave some sort of rescue. As the authorities and the media surround the premises, these reluctant allies will reveal surprising truths about themselves and set in a motion a chain of events so unexpected that even they can hardly explain what happens next. Click here to send fan mail!Support the showWant to support our show? Subscribe at the link below to receive episode updates and a shout out on our show!  https://www.buzzsprout.com/2359887/supportFind us on social media! We want to hear your thoughts!https://linktr.ee/bookmatespodcasthttps://www.bookmatespodcast.com/Email us at [email protected] super fun extras, bonus episodes and content, hop on over to Bookmates After Dark on Patreon!https://www.patreon.com/c/BookmatesAfterDark/home

Hi, hello Bookmates! It's officially been 1 year since we released our first episode, so we thought we'd have a quick chat!Thank you all for your love and support of our show, it means alot to us, and we're so grateful to have made such lovely bookish friends along the way.Cheers to 1 year, and cheers to the next! Keep reading with us!Click here to send fan mail!Support the showWant to support our show? Subscribe at the link below to receive episode updates and a shout out on our show!  https://www.buzzsprout.com/2359887/supportFind us on social media! We want to hear your thoughts!https://linktr.ee/bookmatespodcasthttps://www.bookmatespodcast.com/Email us at [email protected] super fun extras, bonus episodes and content, hop on over to Bookmates After Dark on Patreon!https://www.patreon.com/c/BookmatesAfterDark/home

Hi, hello Bookmates! Join us as wrap up our May Freida McFadden Double-Featureand dive head-on into: The CrashDescribed as "A gut-wrenching story of motherhood, survival, and twisted expectations". "Disappointing" would be another. This latest McFadden adventure just didn't land for us . . . but as always, we had a blast talking about all of our feelings! What did you think of The Crash? Was it a rant or a rave for you? What were your thoughts on the "twist"? Comment and let us know! It's Book Club. We want your tea, even if we don't agree!Synopsis:Tegan is eight months pregnant, alone, and desperately wants to put her crumbling life in the rearview mirror. So she hits the road, planning to stay with her brother until she can figure out her next move. But she doesn't realize she's heading straight into a blizzard.She never arrives at her destination.Stranded in rural Maine with a dead car and broken ankle, Tegan worries she's made a terrible mistake. Then a miracle occurs: she is rescued by a couple who offers her a room in their warm cabin until the snow clears.But something isn't right. Tegan believed she was waiting out the storm, but as time ticks by, she comes to realize she is in grave danger. This safe haven isn't what she thought it was, and staying here may have been her most deadly mistake yet.  And now she must do whatever it takes to save herself―and her unborn child.Click here to send fan mail!Support the showWant to support our show? Subscribe at the link below to receive episode updates and a shout out on our show!  https://www.buzzsprout.com/2359887/supportFind us on social media! We want to hear your thoughts!https://linktr.ee/bookmatespodcasthttps://www.bookmatespodcast.com/Email us at [email protected] super fun extras, bonus episodes and content, hop on over to Bookmates After Dark on Patreon!https://www.patreon.com/c/BookmatesAfterDark/home

Welcome Bookmates to the first episode of our May Freida McFadden Double-Feature! Join us as we discuss our first selection: The Boyfriend A dark story about obsession and the things we’ll do for love.We had some mixed feelings about this one, but we had just the most fun talking about it! It's a really fun time. What did you think about The Boyfriend?Did you guess the ending?! Did you LIKE the ending?! Comment and let us know!It's Book Club. We want your tea, even if we don't agree!Synopsis:Sydney Shaw, like every single woman in New York, has terrible luck with dating. She’s seen it men who lie in their dating profile, men who stick her with the dinner bill, and worst of all, men who can't shut up about their mothers. But finally, she hits the jackpot.Her new boyfriend is utterly perfect. He's charming, handsome, and works as a doctor at a local hospital. Sydney is swept off her feet.Then the brutal murder of a young woman―the latest in a string of deaths across the coast―confounds police. The primary suspect? A mystery man who dates his victims before he kills them.Sydney should feel safe. After all, she is dating the guy of her dreams. But she can’t shake her own suspicions that the perfect man may not be as perfect as he seems. Because someone is watching her every move, and if she doesn’t get to the truth, she’ll be the killer’s next victim...Click here to send fan mail!Support the showWant to support our show? Subscribe at the link below to receive episode updates and a shout out on our show!  https://www.buzzsprout.com/2359887/supportFind us on social media! We want to hear your thoughts!https://linktr.ee/bookmatespodcasthttps://www.bookmatespodcast.com/Email us at [email protected] super fun extras, bonus episodes and content, hop on over to Bookmates After Dark on Patreon!https://www.patreon.com/c/BookmatesAfterDark/home

Hi, hello Bookmates! Join us as we discuss our April Book Selection Contest Winner: A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L. JensenChosen by BooksInTandem, and we can't thank them enough! We really loved this book- the Viking vibes, the story, the lore, bad ass Freya, sexy Bjorn, and that cliffhanger ending... knocks it out of the park!What did you think of A Fate Inked in Blood? Worth the hype? Did you call the ending?! Are you salivating for the sequel like we are?! We want to know!Synopsis:A shield maiden blessed by the gods battles to unite a nation under a power-hungry king—while also fighting her growing desire for his fiery son—in this Norse-inspired fantasy romance from the bestselling author of The Bridge Kingdom series.Bound in an unwanted marriage, Freya spends her days gutting fish, but dreams of becoming a warrior. And of putting an axe in her boorish husband’s back.Freya’s dreams abruptly become reality when her husband betrays her to the region’s jarl, landing her in a fight to the death against his son, Bjorn. To survive, Freya is forced to reveal her deepest secret: She possesses a drop of a goddess’s blood, which makes her a shield maiden with magic capable of repelling any attack. It was foretold such a magic would unite the fractured nation of Skaland beneath the one who controls the shield maiden’s fate.Believing he’s destined to rule Skaland as king, the fanatical jarl binds Freya with a blood oath and orders Bjorn to protect her from their enemies. Desperate to prove her strength, Freya must train to fight and learn to control her magic, all while facing perilous tests set by the gods. The greatest test of all, however, may be resisting her forbidden attraction to Bjorn. If Freya succumbs to her lust for the charming and fierce warrior, she risks not only her own destiny but the fate of all the people she swore to protect.Click here to send fan mail!Support the showWant to support our show? Subscribe at the link below to receive episode updates and a shout out on our show!  https://www.buzzsprout.com/2359887/supportFind us on social media! We want to hear your thoughts!https://linktr.ee/bookmatespodcasthttps://www.bookmatespodcast.com/Email us at [email protected] super fun extras, bonus episodes and content, hop on over to Bookmates After Dark on Patreon!https://www.patreon.com/c/BookmatesAfterDark/home

Welcome Bookmates! We're Double Booked for April!Join us as we discuss 2024's Goodreads Choice Award Winner and Book of the Year Finalist: The Wedding People by Alison Espach Does it earn its title? Though this was very different than we expected, we really enjoyed it! Thought provoking, funny, while poignant. This book sure made for some deep thoughts and fun conversations! What did you think of The Wedding People? Do you agree with our take? What was your biggest takeaway from this book? We want to know!Synopsis:It’s a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island, when Phoebe Stone arrives at the grand Cornwall Inn wearing a green dress and gold heels, not a bag in sight, alone. She's immediately mistaken by everyone in the lobby for one of the wedding people, but she’s actually the only guest at the Cornwall who isn’t here for the big event. Phoebe is here because she’s dreamed of coming for years—she hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband, only now she’s here without him, at rock bottom, and determined to have one last decadent splurge on herself. Meanwhile, the bride has accounted for every detail and every possible disaster the weekend might yield except for, well, Phoebe and Phoebe's plan—which makes it that much more surprising when the two women can’t stop confiding in each other. In turns absurdly funny and devastatingly tender, Alison Espach’s The Wedding People is ultimately an incredibly nuanced and resonant look at the winding paths we can take to places we never imagined—and the chance encounters it sometimes takes to reroute us.Click here to send fan mail!Support the showWant to support our show? Subscribe at the link below to receive episode updates and a shout out on our show!  https://www.buzzsprout.com/2359887/supportFind us on social media! We want to hear your thoughts!https://linktr.ee/bookmatespodcasthttps://www.bookmatespodcast.com/Email us at [email protected] super fun extras, bonus episodes and content, hop on over to Bookmates After Dark on Patreon!https://www.patreon.com/c/BookmatesAfterDark/home

The time has come, Bookmates! We definitely have a HOT TAKE on this book... we might be in the minority here, but we have a lot of feelings!Join us as we discuss our March Book Club Selection: Onyx Storm by Rebecca YarrosComment and let us know if you agree or disagree with our take! What did you think of Onyx Storm?? We want to know!!SPOILER ALERT is in effect!  Synopsis:After nearly eighteen months at Basgiath War College, Violet Sorrengail knows there’s no more time for lessons. No more time for uncertainty. Because the battle has truly begun, and with enemies closing in from outside their walls and within their ranks, it’s impossible to know who to trust.Now Violet must journey beyond the failing Aretian wards to seek allies from unfamiliar lands to stand with Navarre. The trip will test every bit of her wit, luck, and strength, but she will do anything to save what she loves—her dragons, her family, her home, and him.Even if it means keeping a secret so big, it could destroy everything. They need an army. They need power. They need magic. And they need the one thing only Violet can find—the truth. But a storm is coming...and not everyone can survive its wrath.Click here to send fan mail!Support the showWant to support our show? Subscribe at the link below to receive episode updates and a shout out on our show!  https://www.buzzsprout.com/2359887/supportFind us on social media! We want to hear your thoughts!https://linktr.ee/bookmatespodcasthttps://www.bookmatespodcast.com/Email us at [email protected] super fun extras, bonus episodes and content, hop on over to Bookmates After Dark on Patreon!https://www.patreon.com/c/BookmatesAfterDark/home

This book has A LOT of hype! But does it live up to it? Join us as we discuss our February Book Club Selection: Phantasma by Kaylie Smith. Comment and let us know if you agree or disagree with our take, and how you thought it measured up to it's BookTok fanfare!This is also a free sampling episode of what you can expect on our upcoming Patroen series: Bookmates After Dark!CONTENT WARNING is in effect! This book delves into some potentially triggering topics including mental health struggles, OCD, and sexual content. Synopsis:When Ophelia and her sister discovers their mother has died, there is no time to grieve: Ophelia has inherited both her powerful death-driven magic and enormous debt on their home. Circumstances go from dire to deadly, however, when Ophelia’s sister decides to pay off the loan by entering Phantasma—a competition where most contestants don’t make it out alive and the winner is granted a single wish. The only way to save her sister is to compete. But Phantasma is a cursed manor, with twisting corridors and lavish ballrooms, and filled with enticing demons and fatal temptations. Ophelia will need to face nine floors of challenges to win... if her fears don’t overtake her first. When a charming, arrogant stranger claims he can protect and guide Ophelia, she knows she shouldn’t trust him. While Blackwell may not seem dangerous, appearances can be deceptive. But with her sister’s life on the line, Ophelia can’t afford to turn him away. She just needs to ignore the overwhelming, dark attraction drawing them closer and closer together. Because in Phantasma, the only thing deadlier than losing the game is losing your heart.Click here to send fan mail!Support the showWant to support our show? Subscribe at the link below to receive episode updates and a shout out on our show!  https://www.buzzsprout.com/2359887/supportFind us on social media! We want to hear your thoughts!https://linktr.ee/bookmatespodcasthttps://www.bookmatespodcast.com/Email us at [email protected] super fun extras, bonus episodes and content, hop on over to Bookmates After Dark on Patreon!https://www.patreon.com/c/BookmatesAfterDark/home

Happy Valentine's Day! Join us for a bonus Valetine's Day episode where we are once again joined by Deynece, our sister and Bookmate Bestie, as we discuss          The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood!Synopsis:As a third-year Ph.D. candidate, Olive Smith doesn't believe in lasting romantic relationships--but her best friend does, and that's what got her into this situation. Convincing Anh that Olive is dating and well on her way to a happily ever after was always going to take more than hand-wavy Jedi mind tricks: Scientists require proof. So, like any self-respecting biologist, Olive panics and kisses the first man she sees.That man is none other than Adam Carlsen, a young hotshot professor--and well-known ass. Which is why Olive is positively floored when Stanford's reigning lab tyrant agrees to keep her charade a secret and be her fake boyfriend. But when a big science conference goes haywire, putting Olive's career on the Bunsen burner, Adam surprises her again with his unyielding support and even more unyielding... six-pack abs.Suddenly their little experiment feels dangerously close to combustion. And Olive discovers that the only thing more complicated than a hypothesis on love is putting her own heart under the microscope.Click here to send fan mail!Support the showWant to support our show? Subscribe at the link below to receive episode updates and a shout out on our show!  https://www.buzzsprout.com/2359887/supportFind us on social media! We want to hear your thoughts!https://linktr.ee/bookmatespodcasthttps://www.bookmatespodcast.com/Email us at [email protected] super fun extras, bonus episodes and content, hop on over to Bookmates After Dark on Patreon!https://www.patreon.com/c/BookmatesAfterDark/home

Welcome to season 2! For our first Book Club Selection for 2025, we discussWhen the Moon Hatched by Sarah A. ParkerSynopsis:The Creators did not expect their beloved dragons to sail skyward upon their end. To curl into balls just beyond gravity’s grip, littering the sky with tombstones. With moons. They certainly did not expect them to fall. As a valued Elding Blade of the rebellion group Fíur du Ath, Raeve’s job is to kill. To complete orders and never get caught. When a renowned bounty hunter is employed by The Crown to capture a member of the Ath, Raeve’s world is turned upside down. Blood spills, hearts break, and Raeve finds herself at the mercy of the Guild of Nobles—a group of dual-beaded elementals who intend to turn her into a political statement. Only death will set her free.Crushed beneath a mourning weight, Kaan Vaegor took the head of a king and donned his melted crown. Now on a tireless quest to assuage the never-ebbing ache in his chest, his hunt for a moonshard lures him into the belly of Gore’s notorious prison where he stumbles upon something that rips apart his perception of reality. A shackled miracle with eyes full of rage and blood on her hands.The echo of the past sings louder than the Creators themselves, and even Raeve can’t ignore the truths blaring at her from a warmer, happier time.However, there’s more to this song than meets the eye, and some truths …They’re too poisonous to swallow.Click here to send fan mail!Support the showWant to support our show? Subscribe at the link below to receive episode updates and a shout out on our show!  https://www.buzzsprout.com/2359887/supportFind us on social media! We want to hear your thoughts!https://linktr.ee/bookmatespodcasthttps://www.bookmatespodcast.com/Email us at [email protected] super fun extras, bonus episodes and content, hop on over to Bookmates After Dark on Patreon!https://www.patreon.com/c/BookmatesAfterDark/home

Welcome to a free episode of a new series we are introducing on Patreon: Bookmates After Dark!! Where we take it to the next level and get a little bit dark!Here we will take on a variety of smut, dark romance and horror in a NSFW way!You've been warned! Obviously a CONTENT WARNING is in effect! The books here will either be sexually explicit, problematic, dark and/or violent, and potentially triggering in nature.Join us After Dark as we discuss the first book in the Four Horsemen series: Pestilence by Laura ThalassaSynopsis:When Pestilence comes for Sara Burn’s town, one thing is certain: everyone she knows and loves is marked for death. Unless, of course, the angelic-looking horseman is stopped, which is exactly what Sara has in mind when she shoots the unholy beast off his steed.Too bad no one told her Pestilence can’t be killed.Now the horseman, very much alive and very pissed off, has taken her prisoner, and he’s eager to make her suffer. Only, the longer she’s with him, the more uncertain she is about his true feelings towards her… and hers towards him.And now, well, Sara might still be able to save the world, but in order to do so, she'll have to sacrifice her heart in the process.Click here to send fan mail!Support the showWant to support our show? Subscribe at the link below to receive episode updates and a shout out on our show!  https://www.buzzsprout.com/2359887/supportFind us on social media! We want to hear your thoughts!https://linktr.ee/bookmatespodcasthttps://www.bookmatespodcast.com/Email us at [email protected] super fun extras, bonus episodes and content, hop on over to Bookmates After Dark on Patreon!https://www.patreon.com/c/BookmatesAfterDark/home

Welcome to our Season 1 Finale episode! Join as we discuss our final book of 2024, a poignant and sweet winter romance for our December Book Club Selection!A Winter in New York by Josie SilverSynopsis:A young chef stumbles on a secret family recipe that might lead her to the love—and life—she’s been looking for in this stunning novel.When Iris decides to move to New York to restart her life, she realizes she underestimated how big the Big Apple really is—all the nostalgic movies set in New York she’d watched with her mom while eating their special secret-recipe gelato didn’t quite do it justice. But Bobby, Iris’s best friend, isn’t about to let her hide away. He drags her to a famous autumn street fair in Little Italy, and as they walk through the food stalls, a little family-run gelateria catches her eye—could it be the same shop that’s in an old photo of her mother’s?Curious, Iris returns the next day and meets the handsome Gio, who tells her that the shop is in danger of closing. His uncle, sole keeper of their family’s gelato recipe, is in a coma, so they can’t make more. When Iris samples the last remaining batch, she realizes that their gelato and her gelato are one and the same. But how can she tell them she knows their secret recipe when she’s not sure why Gio’s uncle gave it to her mother in the first place?Iris offers her services as a chef to help them re-create the flavor and finds herself falling for Gio and his family. But when Gio’s uncle finally wakes up, all of the secrets Iris has been keeping threaten to ruin the new life—and new love—she’s been building all winter long.Click here to send fan mail!Support the showWant to support our show? Subscribe at the link below to receive episode updates and a shout out on our show!  https://www.buzzsprout.com/2359887/supportFind us on social media! We want to hear your thoughts!https://linktr.ee/bookmatespodcasthttps://www.bookmatespodcast.com/Email us at [email protected] super fun extras, bonus episodes and content, hop on over to Bookmates After Dark on Patreon!https://www.patreon.com/c/BookmatesAfterDark/home

Join us as we take a trip down memory lane and discuss our book highs, lows, and honorable mentions of the year! Thank you all for taking this journey with us! We're beyond grateful to have you all, and we can't wait to keep reading with you! See you next year!Click here to send fan mail!Support the showWant to support our show? Subscribe at the link below to receive episode updates and a shout out on our show!  https://www.buzzsprout.com/2359887/supportFind us on social media! We want to hear your thoughts!https://linktr.ee/bookmatespodcasthttps://www.bookmatespodcast.com/Email us at [email protected] super fun extras, bonus episodes and content, hop on over to Bookmates After Dark on Patreon!https://www.patreon.com/c/BookmatesAfterDark/home

Merry Christmas everyone!! Join us for a bonus Christmas episode as we discuss Murder on the Christmas Express by Alexandra Benedict. We did not end up with the story we were expecting!!CONTENT WARNING!!:This book contains content that may be triggering to some listeners. Including:Descriptions of violent S.A., domestic violence, physical violence, and descriptions of premature labor.Synopsis:In the early hours of Christmas Eve, the sleeper train to the Highlands is derailed, along with the festive plans of its travlers. With the train stuck in snow in the middle of nowhere, a killer stalks its carriages, picking off passengers one by one. Those who sleep on the sleeper train may never wake again.Can former Met detective Roz Parker find the killer before they kill again?Click here to send fan mail!Support the showWant to support our show? Subscribe at the link below to receive episode updates and a shout out on our show!  https://www.buzzsprout.com/2359887/supportFind us on social media! We want to hear your thoughts!https://linktr.ee/bookmatespodcasthttps://www.bookmatespodcast.com/Email us at [email protected] super fun extras, bonus episodes and content, hop on over to Bookmates After Dark on Patreon!https://www.patreon.com/c/BookmatesAfterDark/home

 Join us as we discuss this cozy fantasy for our November Book Club Selection!Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree. After a lifetime of bounties and bloodshed, Viv is hanging up her sword for the last time.The battle-weary orc aims to start fresh, opening the first ever coffee shop in the city of Thune. But old and new rivals stand in the way of success — not to mention the fact that no one has the faintest idea what coffee actually is.If Viv wants to put the blade behind her and make her plans a reality, she won't be able to go it alone.But the true rewards of the uncharted path are the travelers you meet along the way. And whether drawn together by ancient magic, flaky pastry, or a freshly brewed cup, they may become partners, family, and something deeper than she ever could have dreamed.Click here to send fan mail!Support the showWant to support our show? Subscribe at the link below to receive episode updates and a shout out on our show!  https://www.buzzsprout.com/2359887/supportFind us on social media! We want to hear your thoughts!https://linktr.ee/bookmatespodcasthttps://www.bookmatespodcast.com/Email us at [email protected] super fun extras, bonus episodes and content, hop on over to Bookmates After Dark on Patreon!https://www.patreon.com/c/BookmatesAfterDark/home

Welcome back to Bookmate Besties! We are joined once again by Tiffany's sister, Deynece, to continue the saga as we discuss A Court of Mist and Fury! Synopsis:Feyre has undergone more trials than one human woman can carry in her heart. Though she's now been granted the powers and lifespan of the High Fae, she is haunted by her time Under the Mountain and the terrible deeds she performed to save the lives of Tamlin and his people.As her marriage to Tamlin approaches, Feyre's hollowness and nightmares consume her. She finds herself split into two different one who upholds her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court, and one who lives out her life in the Spring Court with Tamlin. While Feyre navigates a dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms. She might just be the key to stopping it, but only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future-and the future of a world in turmoil.Click here to send fan mail!Support the showWant to support our show? Subscribe at the link below to receive episode updates and a shout out on our show!  https://www.buzzsprout.com/2359887/supportFind us on social media! We want to hear your thoughts!https://linktr.ee/bookmatespodcasthttps://www.bookmatespodcast.com/Email us at [email protected] super fun extras, bonus episodes and content, hop on over to Bookmates After Dark on Patreon!https://www.patreon.com/c/BookmatesAfterDark/home

Happy Halloween! Join us as we discuss our creepy horror genre October Book Club Selection: Misery by Stephen King.Synopsis:Paul Sheldon. He's a bestselling novelist who has finally met his biggest fan. Her name is Annie Wilkes and she is more than a rabid reader - she is Paul's nurse, tending his shattered body after an automobile accident. But she is also his captor, keeping him prisoner in her isolated house.Click here to send fan mail!Support the showWant to support our show? Subscribe at the link below to receive episode updates and a shout out on our show!  https://www.buzzsprout.com/2359887/supportFind us on social media! We want to hear your thoughts!https://linktr.ee/bookmatespodcasthttps://www.bookmatespodcast.com/Email us at [email protected] super fun extras, bonus episodes and content, hop on over to Bookmates After Dark on Patreon!https://www.patreon.com/c/BookmatesAfterDark/home

Welcome to our first "Bookmate Besties" bonus episode! Today we discuss A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas! We are joined by Tiffany's sister, Deynece, and we're talking ACOTAR! The road has been long, but we finally wore her down, and now it's time to dish! Join us as we dive into the GOAT series of Romantasy!Synopsis:When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a terrifying creature arrives to demand retribution. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she knows about only from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not truly a beast, but one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled her world. At least, he’s not a beast all the time. As she adapts to her new home, her feelings for the faerie, Tamlin, transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie she’s been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But something is not right in the faerie lands. An ancient, wicked shadow is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it, or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.Click here to send fan mail!Support the showWant to support our show? Subscribe at the link below to receive episode updates and a shout out on our show!  https://www.buzzsprout.com/2359887/supportFind us on social media! We want to hear your thoughts!https://linktr.ee/bookmatespodcasthttps://www.bookmatespodcast.com/Email us at [email protected] super fun extras, bonus episodes and content, hop on over to Bookmates After Dark on Patreon!https://www.patreon.com/c/BookmatesAfterDark/home

Join us as we discuss this amazing whodunnit for our September Book Club Selection: The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart TurtonThis kept us guessing the entire time! One of the most uniquely written books we've read. Did you like it? Let us know!It's Book Club. We want your tea, even if we don't agree!Synopsis: Evelyn Hardcastle will be murdered at 11:00 p.m. There are eight days, and eight witnesses for you to inhabit. We will only let you escape once you tell us the name of the killer. Understood? Then let's begin . . .Evelyn Hardcastle will die. Every day until Aiden Bishop can identify her killer and break the cycle. But every time the day begins again, Aiden wakes up in the body of a different guest. And some of his hosts are more helpful than others . . .The most inventive debut of the year twists together a mystery of such unexpected creativity it will leave listeners guessing until the very last second.Click here to send fan mail!Support the showWant to support our show? Subscribe at the link below to receive episode updates and a shout out on our show!  https://www.buzzsprout.com/2359887/supportFind us on social media! We want to hear your thoughts!https://linktr.ee/bookmatespodcasthttps://www.bookmatespodcast.com/Email us at [email protected] super fun extras, bonus episodes and content, hop on over to Bookmates After Dark on Patreon!https://www.patreon.com/c/BookmatesAfterDark/home

Join us as we discuss our August Book Club Selection: The Teacher by Freida McFadden Trigger Warning: Due to the nature of this book, there's a lot of triggering content involving pedophilia and grooming behaviors, and we will be discussing all of it. Synopsis: Lesson #1: Trust no one. Eve has a good life. She wakes up each day, kisses her husband Nate, and heads off to teach math at the local high school. All is as it should be. Except…Last year, Caseham High was rocked by a scandal involving a student-teacher affair, with one student, Addie, at its center. But Eve knows there is far more to these ugly rumors than meets the eye. Addie can’t be trusted. She lies. She hurts people. She destroys lives. At least, that’s what everyone says. But nobody knows the real Addie. Nobody knows the secrets that could destroy her. And Addie will do anything to keep it quiet…Click here to send fan mail!Support the showWant to support our show? Subscribe at the link below to receive episode updates and a shout out on our show!  https://www.buzzsprout.com/2359887/supportFind us on social media! We want to hear your thoughts!https://linktr.ee/bookmatespodcasthttps://www.bookmatespodcast.com/Email us at [email protected] super fun extras, bonus episodes and content, hop on over to Bookmates After Dark on Patreon!https://www.patreon.com/c/BookmatesAfterDark/home

We continue to discuss our July Book Club Selection:Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros - Part 2 Synopsis: Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College—Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky. Now the real training begins, and Violet’s already wondering how she’ll get through. It’s not just that it’s grueling and maliciously brutal, or even that it’s designed to stretch the riders’ capacity for pain beyond endurance. It’s the new vice commandant, who’s made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is–unless she betrays the man she loves. Although Violet’s body might be weaker and frailer than everyone else’s, she still has her wits—and a will of iron. And leadership is forgetting the most important lesson Basgiath has taught her: Dragon riders make their own rules.But a determination to survive won’t be enough this year. Because Violet knows the real secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College—and nothing, not even dragon fire, may be enough to save them in the end.Click here to send fan mail!Support the showWant to support our show? Subscribe at the link below to receive episode updates and a shout out on our show!  https://www.buzzsprout.com/2359887/supportFind us on social media! We want to hear your thoughts!https://linktr.ee/bookmatespodcasthttps://www.bookmatespodcast.com/Email us at [email protected] super fun extras, bonus episodes and content, hop on over to Bookmates After Dark on Patreon!https://www.patreon.com/c/BookmatesAfterDark/home

We discuss our July Book Club Selection: Iron Flame by Rebecca YarrosSynopsis: Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College—Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky. Now the real training begins, and Violet’s already wondering how she’ll get through. It’s not just that it’s grueling and maliciously brutal, or even that it’s designed to stretch the riders’ capacity for pain beyond endurance. It’s the new vice commandant, who’s made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is–unless she betrays the man she loves. Although Violet’s body might be weaker and frailer than everyone else’s, she still has her wits—and a will of iron. And leadership is forgetting the most important lesson Basgiath has taught her: Dragon riders make their own rules.But a determination to survive won’t be enough this year. Because Violet knows the real secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College—and nothing, not even dragon fire, may be enough to save them in the end. Click here to send fan mail!Support the showWant to support our show? Subscribe at the link below to receive episode updates and a shout out on our show!  https://www.buzzsprout.com/2359887/supportFind us on social media! We want to hear your thoughts!https://linktr.ee/bookmatespodcasthttps://www.bookmatespodcast.com/Email us at [email protected] super fun extras, bonus episodes and content, hop on over to Bookmates After Dark on Patreon!https://www.patreon.com/c/BookmatesAfterDark/home

Lita and Tiffany reveal their origin story.Click here to send fan mail!Support the showWant to support our show? Subscribe at the link below to receive episode updates and a shout out on our show!  https://www.buzzsprout.com/2359887/supportFind us on social media! We want to hear your thoughts!https://linktr.ee/bookmatespodcasthttps://www.bookmatespodcast.com/Email us at [email protected] super fun extras, bonus episodes and content, hop on over to Bookmates After Dark on Patreon!https://www.patreon.com/c/BookmatesAfterDark/home

In our second episode, we discuss our June Book Club Selection:Fourth Wing by Rebecca YarrosSynopsis:Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders...Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away...because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom's protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or dieClick here to send fan mail!Support the showWant to support our show? Subscribe at the link below to receive episode updates and a shout out on our show!  https://www.buzzsprout.com/2359887/supportFind us on social media! We want to hear your thoughts!https://linktr.ee/bookmatespodcasthttps://www.bookmatespodcast.com/Email us at [email protected] super fun extras, bonus episodes and content, hop on over to Bookmates After Dark on Patreon!https://www.patreon.com/c/BookmatesAfterDark/home

In our first episode, we discuss our May Book Club Selection:The Thick and the Lean by Chana Porter.Synopsis:In the quaint religious town of Seagate, abstaining from food brings one closer to God.But Beatrice Bolano is hungry. She craves the forbidden: butter, flambé, marzipan. As Seagate takes increasingly extreme measures to regulate every calorie its citizens consume, Beatrice must make a choice: give up her secret passion for cooking or leave the only community she has known.Elsewhere, Reiko Rimando has left her modest roots for a college tech scholarship in the big city. A flawless student, she is set up for success...until her school pulls her funding, leaving her to face either a mountain of debt or a humiliating return home. But Reiko is done being at the mercy of the system. She forges a third path—outside of the law.With the guidance of a mysterious cookbook written by a kitchen maid centuries ago, Beatrice and Reiko each grasp for a life of freedom—something more easily imagined than achieved in a world dominated by catastrophic corporate greed.A startling fable of the entwined perils of capitalism, body politics, and the stigmas women face for appetites of every kind, Chana Porter’s profound new novel explores the reclamation of pleasure as a revolutionary act.Click here to send fan mail!Support the showWant to support our show? Subscribe at the link below to receive episode updates and a shout out on our show!  https://www.buzzsprout.com/2359887/supportFind us on social media! We want to hear your thoughts!https://linktr.ee/bookmatespodcasthttps://www.bookmatespodcast.com/Email us at [email protected] super fun extras, bonus episodes and content, hop on over to Bookmates After Dark on Patreon!https://www.patreon.com/c/BookmatesAfterDark/home