Bookwild - What to Read If You're Obsessed with Tell Me Lies

Episode Date: September 13, 2024

This week, Gare, Steph and I share books to read if the sleazy, sexy, toxic, dark academia of Tell Me Lies has you in a chokehold! Books We Talked AboutLadykillerWe Love the Night LifeOnly If You’re LuckyAn Academy for LiarsA Lovely LieThe Favorite SisterNone of This Is TrueLike You Hate Me  Get Bookwild MerchCheck Out My Stories Are My Religion SubstackCheck Out Author Social Media PackagesCheck out the Bookwild Community on PatreonCheck out the Imposter Hour Podcast with Liz and GregFollow @imbookwild on InstagramOther Co-hosts On Instagram:Gare Billings @gareindeedreadsSteph Lauer @books.in.badgerlandHalley Sutton @halleysutton25Brian Watson @readingwithbrian 

Just, you know, up front, I've had too much caffeine and too much of my inhaler. So I am like vibrating inside my skin right now. So if I sound manic and like I'm talking way too quickly, you all know why. But I'm back with Garrett and stuff this week who are trying to keep me on track. Wow. Oh, I thought it was the other way around. Yeah, really. We're all just going to be like running around like little chickens with their heads.

cut off. Oh, I know. That suns it up. Have you guys read anything recently? Have you read anything recently that you just need people to know about? Well, right now, I, well, this book is all over Bookstagram. And I think it might be like some of the major book club picks, but I did get the wedding people from Book of the month. And I think it's, it's Allison. I think it's Espa. P-S-P-A-C-H and I wasn't really sure I saw all these five-star reviews so I had some FOMO and I actually really really like it I would be surprised if it's not a five-star

read for me nice I guess I'm in this groove of women's fiction or something with air quotes because I and I what I've noticed about this book and it was kind of like this with Mad Woman and this can really go like hot or cold for me is when a main character in every single moment that probably is a 30 second moment, it sparks like seven memories. So it takes you forever to get through like what's happening in the present because it's so much reflection and memory and this reminds me of seven other things. And so you get to know them that way. And sometimes it's annoying, but I really liked it in Madwoman and I really like it in this book too. And so I, I guess I'll

say it's worth the hype for me so far. And you said it's funny too, right? Oh yeah, I laughed out loud sometimes and then I was pretty sure I cried a little bit today. I like when it looks like my heartstrings. Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. I've only had two books make me cry. What'd you say? I've only had two books make me cry and I think I read them like fairly close. Mm. Like wasn't it, it was rabbit hole and how we name the stars. Did I read those back to back to back, Kate? Not, I don't think it was back to back but they were like in a couple close and I was like, what is happening to me

in January of this year? It was a pre-brile and like bullshit I was going to have to deal with it's sucker. Rabbit hole's bleak a-f, but I did really like it. I hysterically cried in the end. I cried in

what just all of a sudden, okay, sorry, my dog walked in front of the And so all of a sudden there was wind hitting me at a different angle. And I was like, why is the wind shifting in my office right now? I was so confused. We're going to get through this episode. Yeah, I cried.

I think I've talked about that. Evelyn Hugo, Carrie Soto, Daisy Jones on the 6. She made me cry with all three of those. And there have been a couple where there have been a couple since then where I like kind of cried. or, you know, like, a moment makes you tear up. But, like, those, I just sobbed. I cried so hard. Like, knee tissues kind of crying.

Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. I think I've had four that I can remember. Yeah. Oh, man. Well, I read a book. I read a book. I read a book called The Mechanics of Memory.

That was actually really fun. And I feel like a lot of people, because I've actually had people respond and be like, I hadn't even heard of it. And I hadn't even heard of it. And I hadn't either. And now I wish I saved which account posted about it. Because there was an account that posted about it. And I was like, oh, that looks really cool.

And then I was able to get it on NetGalley that, like, same day. But it's like about a woman who's like kind of in, she's in a, it feels like a psych ward, essentially. But it's like this place called Copeland Stark. And she just knows she's there because she can't remember the last year or so of her life. She can't remember what happened at all. and they're trying to help her get her memory back and all she knows is she did something really, really bad. So you're like wondering what it was the whole time and it's definitely a fun. It's like, I heard someone talking about it as the, or about sci-fi, how there's sometimes sci-fi light.

And I would say this is like sci-fi light. Like it's like probably and it's, we're like speculative fiction, I guess, but it was really fun. I like books that play with memory. It reminds me of that J.M. Cannon book that came out recently. You kind of said the similar thing about the plot. She didn't know if she was better bad when she lost her mother. It's definitely a theme for me. Am I a good person? Yes. So, yeah, that was fun.

I'm reading a book that sounded good when it was pitched to me. but now that I'm reading it, I am like, this book has so many more elements to a thriller that I love that I didn't even realize would be in it. And it's called Zetas Till We Die by Amber and Danielle Brown. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Holy mother of God. It is like toxic friendships, alternate timelines, dual POV. it's so good

it's so good it's like these girls in a sorority their sorority sister was found dead and they testified against this man saying that like he was responsible and then like 15 years later they have like a reunion kind of

thing and one of the women goes missing so it's like back and forth between the perspective of the sorority sister before she was killed and like the one main character who's like dealing with the like disappearance of one of her friends and like she can't remember what happened that night it's so good there's like court transcripts there's like some like some crazy cinematic scenes crazy shit there's a hot husband

nice who's well endowed oh that always helps too so i'm like okay is this book perfect or what? I think you're really like society of lies too because there's a lot of not like total similarities but it's like it's bouncing back between time for like the sister who's alive and then you're getting the perspective

of the sister who died and it's good. Oh it comes out two days ago. Yeah, it's out. Nice. It had one of the creepiest most cinematic scenes I have ever read in my entire life. Whoa.

And if I were a woman reading that, it would have scared this shit out of me even more. Because it's kind of like one of those things were like, this is something scary that women deal with that like men don't really know what it's like to deal with. And I just thought it was scary because I was like, what's going to happen? But like, I was like thinking to myself, if I were a woman reading that and this would be. like my worst nightmare. I just wrote a town. Damn. I know some of the dark romance you've read.

So it must be terrible. Well, some of the dark romance I read, I'm like, oh, I kind of like that. Well, I know. I'm like, okay, break into my house and watch me sleep. Okay. I just love me. I want to be terrified. You're off a chair for you.

I've heard you talk about those authors before, like their previous books, and I have yet to pick one up. So maybe this is my sign. This is definitely your sign. It's my favorite out of all three of theirs so far. But like you can't go wrong with any of them. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Because they're just so good. Yeah. So good. That's awesome. Well, speaking of toxic relationships, we were, well, Gare and I watch Tell Me Lies. Steph is maybe going to watch it, but she gets the gist of it. And like everyone else is watching it at least. I keep hearing about it on podcasts, even, all over the place.

So we wanted to do books that you should read if you love, tell me lies. Yeah. So dark academia, toxic friendships or relationships in general, I'm obsessed with this idea. You cannot go wrong with all of these elements to me. So like this has been, like I've been losing. sleep the past couple of nights because I'm so excited to discuss this. Yes. Oh my gosh. I can't wait until you see the ending of season two episode one. I was shocked. Shocked. All caps. Like, holy shit, didn't see that coming at all. Wouldn't have guessed it in a hundred years.

Okay. So that's our little. I actually have plans tomorrow too. Like I have plans on a Friday night, which is like never happened for me. So like now I'm like, huh. Wait a second. When are I going to sneak this in? Yeah, for real. So you want me to go first? Yeah. Okay. So the first one I thought of was when I read recently called Lady Killer by Catherine Wood. And it has like very toxic female friendship, toxic male and female friendship. And everyone is a necessarily sexy and having sex so often. So that's also like, tell me lies. But it's about Gia and Abby, who have been friends since they were girls forever bonded by the tragedy that unfolded in Greece when they were 18. In the aftermath, bookish Abby threw herself in her studies

while Eress Gia chronicled the events of that fateful summer in a salacious memoir. Twelve years later, Gia is back in Greece for the summer with her shiny new husband and a motley, crew of glamorous guests, preparing to sell the family estate in the wake of her father's death. When Abby receives an invitation from Gia to celebrate her birthday, she's thrilled to be granted the time off from her high-pressure job. But the day of her flight, she receives a mysterious threatening email in her inbox, and when she and Gia's brother, Benny, arrive at the Swedish resort, Gia isn't there. After days of cryptic messages and unanswered calls, Abby and Benny are worried enough to fly to Greece to check on her. Only when they arrive, they find Gia's

beachfront state eerily deserted the sole clue to her whereabouts a manuscript she wrote detailing the events leading up to her disappearance the pages reveal the dark truth about gia's provocative new marriage and dirty secrets of the guests entertained with fizzy champagne under the mediterranean sun as tensions rise gea feels less and less safe in her own home but the pages end abruptly leaving abbey and viny with more questions than answers that was the long one damn it is like it's not like so much sex that it's like erotica or romance but like there's just there's a lot of sexual tension going on between everyone the girls the guys the girls and the girls like it's everywhere i just wrote that one down because i keep seeing it and i keep seeing good things about it and i

probably would like it yeah it's fun and it's like if you like destination thrillers there's like that aspect to it but it's not just like oh we're on vacation but or Greece. I'm trying to order it from chapters. But, oh my God. We've talked about this before. And I don't know what's going on with my life. But like it sounds like you're pitching it even better tonight that I'm like, okay.

It's time. It's time. It's fun. It's so time. Yeah. They don't want. And the cover's so cool. That was.

what we talked about on that episode last time. We were both like, oh yes. Oh, it sounds good. Look at me, like, wanting to read a book about Greece when I'm, like, praying for fall weather. Oh, I know. Yeah, I think I read it in, like, June or May. It was very summer. Yeah. I kind of don't care. That's what I've realized, too, though. Like, I just, I don't care what, like, I don't need it to match up with, uh, my, my, my season of the year. I think my thing is is I want to be comfortable when I read something I'm really looking forward to.

Yeah. And if it's like 80 degrees and it's not like chilly enough for me to have a blanket, like I'm not going to enjoy as much as I should. Oh, yeah. So, Steph, do you have one? Oh, really? Okay. So I just shifted things in my head a little bit because I mostly had picked.

friendships in dark academia and I did shift once we talked about like relationships so we'll see there's a lot to pick from obviously um I picked one that I just recently finished called we love the nightlife by Rachel yes she wrote Stone Cold Box which I know a lot of people liked um and this one so I like have always kind of been into vampires not like twilighty but like growing up with Buffy type And so this one is, the synopsis is London, 1979. Two women with a deep love of disco meet one faithful night on the dance floor, changing the course of their lives forever. Nikola, a beautiful and brooding vampire for nearly two centuries, can't resist fun-loving and feisty amber from America, ultimately offering her an eternity together where the glamour of the nightlife always takes the center stage.

but it is not all what it seems. Nearly 50 years later, after an unexpected betrayal, Amber wants out from under Nikola's thumb. But Amber realizes it won't be so simple to break up this festering friendship when she learns others have done the same and wound up dead. Sensing Amber's restlessness and in one last play to keep her close, Nicola proposes they open a nightclub of their very own,

hearkening back to their best days as dancing queens. Amber agrees, but she's secretly hatching a dangerous escape, plan and if she fails the party is over for good so i loved like the glamour of it and i loved that um like one of them was in present day her timeline and the other one was like all in the past um so it made me like the past timeline i'm like well what does she know like does she i don't know so i had like a lot of like questions which was fun and i do love a good like origin story of a vampire yeah so i thought it was like very toxic and fun I need to bump this one up now too.

I know. This is what happens every time we record. I'm like, okay. I got to go. I'm being so fresh. Yeah. It was definitely different, which I liked. And I've been reading kind of slowly lately, and I, like, was reading it in a hundred

page chunks, which is a lot for me right now. Wow. So I, like, wanted to know what was going to happen. Well, if we want... What do you have? I have one of my favorite books about... toxic relationships between women and women and men, romantic friendship. A little bit of mystery to it.

So this is like the first book I thought of that gives me a little bit of like, tell me lies where there's like small mystery elements in it, but it's not like necessarily a thriller. But it is called Only If You're Lucky by Stacey Willingham. Oh. I absolutely gobbled this shit up. I loved it so much. Lucy Sharp is larger than life, magnetic, addictive, bold, and dangerous, especially for Margot who

meets Lucy at the end of their freshman year at a liberal arts college in South Carolina. Margot is the shy one, the careful one, always the sidekick, and never the center of attention. But when Lucy singles her out at the end of the year, a year Margo spent studying and playing it safe and asked her to room together, something in Margo can't say no, something daring or starved or maybe even envious. And so Margot finds herself living in an off-campus house with three other girls. Lucy the ringleader, Sloan the sarcastic one, and Nicole the nice one. The three of them opposites, but also deeply intertwined.

It's a year that finds Margot finally coming out of the shell she's been in since the end of high school when her best friend Eliza died three weeks after graduation. Margo and Lucy have become the closest of friends, but by the middle of their sophomore year, one of the fraternity brothers from the house next door has been brutally murdered and Lucy Sharp is missing without a trace. That's a good, that's a good pick. I'm, oh my God, I love this book so much. Yeah. I was, like, thinking about it in my head as I was, like, reading that synopsis and I'm like, yeah, like, I'm right.

Like, this is about more, like, toxic relationships and friendships. Oh, yeah. And then it's like, and then the frat boys found brutally murdered and Lucy's missing. And I was like, whoa. there's still a little thriller to it. Yeah. Definitely. And there's a Lucy. Yeah. Oh, yeah.

I was looking at that one and thought that one of you two would pick it. Yeah. Yeah. I just, that's so crazy. I didn't even think about there was a Lucy in it. I know. Lucy's the main character and Tell Me a Lies, too. For anyone who didn't know what we were talking about. It's just so, so good. And it's, I think it's also, one of those things that like if you read this book by stacey willingham it's less thriller

esk than her other ones but if you enjoy it then you'll enjoy corolla lovering's books who wrote tell me lies because they are very much like about relationships and there's like a small mystery element to them but they're not like strictly like a thriller so that's how i kind of tied that one in yeah for sure i love that i hope you're enjoying this episode of a book wild and if you are could I ask you a favor could you go and rate and review this podcast and whatever platform you're listening ratings and reviews make the biggest difference in discoverability of the podcast and I definitely want to find all of our fellow thriller readers out there so if you could go rate the podcast and leave a short review that would make a huge difference thank you and let's get back

to the show well my next one takes place in college a college of sorts too so it has more of the dark academia elements to it. And it, okay, it comes out this upcoming Tuesday. So as you're listening, four days from now, it'll be out. It's called an Academy for Liars by Alexis Henderson. So I feel like I've read this recently enough that I can probably explain it or maybe I should just read the synopsis. So Lennon Carter's life is falling apart. Then she gets a mysterious phone call inviting her to take the entrance exam for Drayton College, a school of hidden magic in a secret pocket of Savannah. Linen has been chosen because, like everyone else at the school, she has the innate gift of persuasion, the ability to wield her will like a weapon, using it to control

others, and in rare cases, matter itself. After passing the test, Linen begins to learn how to master her devastating and unsettling power. But despite persuasion's heavy toll on her body and mind, she's wholly captivated by her studies, by Drayton's lush moss draped campus, and by her brilliant classmates. But even more captivating is her charismatic advisor Dante, who both intimidates and enthralls her. As Lennon continues in her studies, her control grows, and she starts to uncover more about the secret world she has entered into, including the disquieting history of Drayton College and the mentors tragic and violent past intertwines with it. She's increasingly disturbed by what she learns for for it seems that the ultimate test is to

embrace absolute power without succumbing to corruption and it's a test she's terrified she's going to fail. This one's like epic like I saw a review that talks about how it feels like you almost read a trilogy and it is like it's 470 pages that's longer but But I agreed with that so much. Like she just fits so much in this book. So there's like kind of like a coming of age art because she's 20, I think, when she starts going to this school. And then there's like the fun psychological magic.

Like she does like that world building. She also has a crush on her sexy professor and advisor. So very tell me lies coded as of right now. um it just it has so many things i think if you like ninth house you would really enjoy this one basically so it's like if you it's not like overly paranormal but then there also is magic to it but also all these shady dark academia vibes are like people are having dysfunctional relationships with each other sold it's it was so fun i love tvr is like skyrocketing right now No.

It's interesting because I have never read Ninth House and I like, so growing up, like, I read Harry Potter and I like in general, like magical realism. I love the idea of it. But there's so many books right now that seem to have like some of these vibes of like this dark broody school and like some magical realism. And like I loved watching Wednesday, for example, the series. But I have yet to dip my. my toes into like those books. Yeah. And I'm like for some reason in my head, I'm like,

I don't know if I would like it, but I'm like, why wouldn't I like it? I don't know. No. That's what I've been leaning more into like, because this one like on Goodreads, it literally says horror, gothic, fantasy, thriller, mystery, paranormal. So like there are just like a lot of things happening in it. But then like I loved No Road Home by John Fram that has like gothic horror in it, but like, that's like 10% of it. And I have been enjoying it more. So it is a little bit like from what I like, it's almost like an X rated Harry Potter. Like there is the idea that like just a few people can go to this magical school and have magical powers, but then it's like they're acting like adults, not while they're acting

like young adults instead of like the kids and Harry Potter. I mean, yeah, I think that that series got like really adult by the end too. So it's like. Yeah, that's what I didn't know. I haven't read. I didn't. My parents thought it was Satan. Satan propaganda.

Yeah. No, I had mixed feelings about it. But like when I was younger, I was very into it. So I'm like, I wouldn't have other books, right? So it's interesting. I would say that you would really like 9,000. house. Like there's it's so like thriller e that like sometimes like the magical realism or like the supernatural parts in it. You're just like oh like that's normal. Yeah. I mean like not like that's not

normal to read it. But like you're just like reading it and you're like oh okay like as if like somebody's like running you know down the stairs like it just like because you're like so wrapped up in the story that like it almost seems like you've read something like it before when you're reading it because it's like definitely heavy on the thriller part. So I will definitely recommend starting there too. I do own both of them. So if you want me to send them, just let me know. I do.

I will add it to my list. And I will add it. He looks so stressed out. I'm just like I'm so moody lately. Like I used to be so good at making a TBR. And now I'm like, I just, whatever feels good at the time. So I feel like waffling about buying books lately, even though I'm the same way. All right.

Yeah. What was the name of the book that you just put as your pick, though? And Academy for Liars. It's a really cool cover, too. It is. Who's the author? Alexis Henderson. I'm going to, oh, my Alexa thought I was talking to it.

I'm going to interview her in October. So I'm excited. Yeah. Cool. Yeah. I think you're next. Okay. Man, there's so many good ones with toxic relationships in our little like world of books we love.

Yeah. Like thrillers. Yeah. One that I think could relate to Tell Me Lies is potentially a lovely lie by Jamie Lendred. Good one. Yes. It has like some dual timelines. It has a car accident.

I know that we've talked about this book before, but it's been a minute. In 1999, the night of their senior picnic, Scarlett Kane and her best friend Pepper were involved in a car accident that left two of their classmates dead. Afterward, they lied to the police protecting each other from the consequences. Then Pepper left town and Scarlett never heard from her again. now 22 years later scarlet has buried that deadly incident deep in her mind and built a comfortable life for herself working in a hotel on the west coast of florida and raising her teenage son with her husband vince her piece is disrupted however when pepper's daughter shows up with news of pepper's death Zoe is 21 and studying to be an investigative journalist. She has a cryptic letter from Pepper addressed to Scarlet that alludes to the events of that fateful night

and Pepper's initial intentions to get an abortion. Now Zoe wants answers about her mother's past. Who is Zoe's father and what really happened after the senior picnic? As Zoe continues to dig into the past, all of Scarlet's buried secrets threatened to rise to the surface. Oh, man. yeah that's a really good one that's such a good pick staff oh my god i'm obsessed toxic friendship for sure you guys are two of my favorite humans you guys too or however you say that back this is so much fun i love i know i know even when you've read the book you're like oh that's so

good i know and i'm like damn well okay like full transparency i feel like we like hop on here and stuff is like like a little like I don't know if my picks are going to be like that good and then like she like completely like knocks us on her ass and we're like what the hell like you're picking books that like I didn't think of like Kate and then we're like oh my god that's so good yes I totally thought you would pick that one honestly because when we when Kate and I when you weren't feeling about Kate and I talked to Jamie Lynn Hendricks and you and she was like how's gear doing like she loves you so much I love her too but like it wasn't even you know what my problem is with that book is I correlate it to the show Cool Summer so much that like I totally didn't think of it tonight for like toxic things. Yeah. Relationships. Better for me because I was like, better talk about it. Better talk about it first. I did find one person who I was very excited to squeeze into tonight's episode. Is this the one you thought, we would never guess. It was the one I was like, I will come for your heads if you take this over me.

Oh, yeah. So I will be talking about the favorite sister by Jessica Knoll. Nice. Oh, I have not read that one. It is gold. So this is one of my favorite books ever, but like obviously Jane will like for life. Yeah. But it is about two sisters, Brett and Kelly, who have always towed the line between

being supportive sisters and bitter rivals. Growing up, Brett was the problem child in the shadow of the brilliant and beautiful Kelly. However, in adulthood, all that has changed. Kelly is a struggling single mother and Brett has skyrocketed to such meteoric success, which has been chronicled on a reality TV show called Gold Diggers. When Kelly manipulates herself onto the show and into Brett's world, Brett is right to be threatened. Kelly and only Kelly, knows her younger sister's appalling secret and it could ruin her. Still, when the truth comes out in the explosive final weekend of filming, neither of them could ever expect that the season would end in murder.

It is so wild. There is like one scene that like I just like always think of and I like die laughing. But like it has that like Jessica Null touch of like the dry sarcastic humor and like something like twisted happening that's like dark but also like a little funny and it's obviously the lightest of all of her books but it's just so good when it talks about like toxic like sibling relationships combined with toxic relationships in reality TV and I was just completely enthralled like you know and like you see like the housewives and they're like oh like oh my god it was so great to see you and have lunch and then at home they're probably like throwing their purse on their bed like Regina and George and being like I can hate her.

Like it's just like things like that where you're like that seemed a little fake and like you like she did like such a good job with like I don't know if she researched it or it's just in her mind how she thought like the behind the scenes was of reality TV. But yeah, it is so good. Yeah. Is that her debut or is luckiest girl alive her debut? Luckyiest girl alive is her debut. And then this one came out in like 2009. 18, I think. Oh, really? I thought it was the debut. No, this is her second one. Okay. Good to know. I still need to read that one. I remember you talked about it like way at the beginning of like maybe two years ago, I guess is what I'm saying. And then I just haven't read it. I still need to. I love reality. It's definitely like the lightest of her three books. Yeah. Like nothing against, nothing against it. But like I feel like her debut was like so much talk. about and then like this one came out and it wasn't like as like dark and disturbing and like didn't

have some of the elements that her first one had that like some people were like oh like this is about reality TV and maybe they didn't like read it or you know they didn't think that it was going to have like some like the wild you know aspect to it but and then you know bright yellow I feel like the cover could have been better I might cut that out which one for the favorite sister which cover oh sorry the butterfly one right it's a butterfly the hard cover

yes that one incredible oh okay so there's another one it's like um I think it's like an umbrella oh yeah I've never seen that one yeah and I'm sure the butterfly means something but it also like I remember basically what I'm saying is I remember when you

told me about it and I looked it up and I was like this cover wouldn't have ever made me think reality TV thriller you know what I mean yeah I basically could see that like not reaching everyone I guess I don't think either cover really represents oh you're right yeah to be honest with you interesting um I just loved the the umbrella cover I do like that one more well it's your buy it's weird um my paperback copy though will for we cherish because it says to gear a gentleman and a scholar i forgot that was that one too yeah oh that's so cool yeah i've got to read this oh my gosh i also love that she will post i've only seen like two of them so far at least but like her essays in magazines or i've read newspapers

whatever and i'm like she's just so good It's incredible. Like her voice is just, I don't know. Yeah, I think her last one was about, like, their choice to have, like, a surrogate. Yeah. Oh, yeah. It was just, like, in even the little clips that she posted, I was like, wow. I know.

I just would, like, love to spend one day in her head. Yeah. Yeah. A dog is cool, too. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Well, I don't have a segue. way for mine, but the way I'm going to pitch it is tell me lies, but assassins. And it's,

it had to be you by Eliza Jane Brazier. The steamyness is very similar to tell me lies, but assassins. And you listen to it, right? You said it was like getting like whispered in your ear. Yeah, I love that they're a husband and wife, the narrators in real life. Yeah, that's so cool. yeah i was just like okay make sure this isn't on like loud when not that i would ever listen to a phone on loud when i'm not alone this is one of my pet peeves but anyway but i was just like oh it's steamy oh i know i was watching tell me lies like i just had it on the first season while i was working and tyler walked in he was like what's you watching because it just sounded like i was watching like straight porn on my computer like

So this book, though, is a similar experience if you're listening to it on audio. It is about two contract killers, each with a hit out on the other, and they must fight their growing attraction as they face off in an epic game of lust and murder across Western Europe. When Eva and Jonathan hook up on the sleeper train from Florence to Paris, they think they'll never see each other again, which is too bad because neither has ever felt a spark like this for another person. but love isn't on the agenda in her in their line of work six months later they run into each other in the hall of mirrors in versa i this meeting is not by chance because eva has been hired to kill jonathan she's a contract killer but she doesn't know but what she doesn't know is that he he is too their meeting kicks off a high stakes cross-continent adventure across western europe there will be tourism there will be bodies Eva and Jonathan might even fall for each other.

As the two get closer to completing their assignments, it becomes clear that they are also being hunted by something even more dangerous than love. Dun, done, done. It is so fun. I just thoroughly enjoyed reading that book. Yeah. Well, who did I know. It's very, like, it's voicing and steamy and thrilling, like all of it.

And pretty freaking violent. And very violent. Like, she did not hold back with, like, oh, like, I punched him in the arm. Yeah. We're, like, cutting into muscles. You're like, oh, my God. I'm in pain. Yeah.

It is a very fun one. And she's so cool. She is cool. That was my first book by her. I know at least, Kate, you've read a lot of hers, right? Mm-hmm. Yeah, I just need to read her. Her first one.

If I disappear. Yeah. I do too. And it has a podcast element. So. Yeah. Nice. I just realized that might fit another topic.

I know. I didn't talk to you when you said that. Yeah. That's a warning to us, Steph. What? That's like a warning to us. Like, oh, book that for the next one. Oh.

Okay. Oh. Oh, man, I am picking between two right now. One is like just a toxic person and one is a for sure toxic friendship. Oh, this one I gave five stars. So I'm going to go for this one. A toxic person that I really will not ever forget is from Lisa Jules. None of this is true, which also has a podcast element.

but I'm just going to tell you the one that I was thinking of because it's also dark academia was I'm not done with you yet by Jesse Kusu Tanto so I know that that one is also good for this topic I thought about that one too yeah I thought maybe you would pick it actually yeah it was up there um for anyone that has not read or heard of this book which is probably not many people celebrating her 45th birthday at the hot new local pub podcaster Alex Alex Summer crosses paths with an unassuming woman called Josie Fair. Josie, it turns out, is also celebrating her 45th birthday. They are, in fact, birthday twins.

A few years later, Alex and Josie bump into each other again. Oh, sorry, a few days later, not years. This time outside Alex's children's school. Josie has been listening to Alex's podcasts and thinks she might be an interesting subject for her series. She is, she tells Alex, on the cusp of great changes in her life. Josie's life appears to be strange and complicated and although Alex finds her unsettling, she can't quite resist the temptation to keep going on the project. Slowly she starts to realize that Josie is hiding some very dark secrets, and before

she knows it, Josie is invigled, I-N-V-E-I-G-L-E-D. Invealed? Invealed? Sorry, guys. I don't know. Yeah. And into her home. But as quickly as she had arrived, Josie failed.

disappears. Only then does Alex discover that Josie has left a terrible and terrifying legacy in her wake and that Alex has become the subject of her own true crime podcast with her life and her family's lives in grave danger. Josie is so messed up

and to me crazy and I love Lisa Jewel so much. I loved this book a lot. I think that this was a book club pick for me and some people like who enjoy endings tied up with a bow had a really tough time with the ending of this book

because as the title says none of this is true like who knows what the real who knows like honestly and I think yeah I think it's fabulous I do too I love that book it was so dark too it's so dark and I know some people who posted about it and Lisa Jewell will like troll and tell different people different things about it of like what was true and what wasn't so i just love her that is amazing that is like god tier thinking that's amazing yeah she'll just be like i think she would say something about the daughters or something think about this or to different things to different people and i think she's just this little genius queen she is that's so cool yeah i love her yeah that's a really one.

Well, if you want a super toxic relationship. Do it. I've got you covered. So I picked this one because it has a very fucked up backstory in the book. And it's enemies to lovers, but like heavy on the enemies. and I think all enemies to lovers are a little toxic so well yeah you like oh I hate you so much

and like all of a sudden you're like I want to jump your bones so yeah um like you hate me by Bethany Winters and get ready kids I've never hated anyone as much as I hate him the day my sister died I told her best friend I never wanted to see him again and I meant it

I lost her because of him everything I used to care about means nothing now because of him it's all because of him. So when he shows up on my driveway two years later and tells me he's moving in with me for his freshman year of college, I kick his ass and tell him to disappear for good this time. But I already know the defiant little brat's not going to listen because he never does. Being near him makes me crazy.

I'm supposed to be the college basketball star my father raised me to be, but now I'm focused on a new game. I'm obsessed with watching him, touching him, breaking him, his body, his head, his heart, anything I can get my hands on. I'm going to take it all until he's got nothing left. And even though he knows exactly what I'm doing to him, he's going to let me do it anyway. That is very Steve encoded. Yeah. That sounds borderline terrifying.

It is amazing. I don't know where she be, but I have my romance car right here next to me. So this was. this was one of my first like enemies to lovers romance it's like a chunker like it's a pretty yeah it's close to 400 um so i started this one on a friday night and i was like i'm just going to read like 100 pages tonight and then get ready for bed i binged all 400 pages in one night damn like i could not i was like after this chapter i'm going to put it down and then like something would happen like it was so good it has like

a little bit of a mystery element to it, but also it's just like every chapter ends like, oh, you think you're done, you're not like, you're just like, it's so hard to put down. And it's super steamy and very like deviantly sexual. You said like you hate me? On point. Yes. Bethany Winters. Bethany Winters.

Okay, okay. It is. It's like a good bingeable romance. Oh my God. It is disgustingly sexy and toxic. I love. The tags are like, male, male romance, romance, dark sports romance. All sports romance at that. All my favorite things. Yeah.

That's awesome. Wait, did I miss you say what sport they play? Basketball. One of them is like the basketball star. Okay. of his college. That, like, always makes me think of Zach Efron in high school musical. The, like, the basketball player my dad wanted me to be.

Yeah. Oh, my God. It's just so good. It's so twisty. I don't think, like, basketball is, like, a huge element to it. But it's kind of, like, oh, like, when I get done practice, I'm going to, like, try to murder him. They were just trying to get another tag, another genre. Yeah.

Yeah. But, yeah, that's my... That's cool. that's my wrap yeah well now you just need to go watch tell me lies so i can talk to you about it done wait decay you went first for some reason i thought i went first i was thinking you were doing another one no do you unless you guys have other ones i think there's a lot of toxicity in the books that we're in the books we read yeah that's true um i do have one more m mm romance if anybody's interest

interested in a book called Hidden Scars by Andy Jackson. It's about a guy who like meets his roommate and they both play hockey. And he like Charles Preston Carmichael is like the golden boy of college hockey. And he always tells his roommate like when the roommate's screwing up and like embarrasses him in public and stuff. And he like still can't turn away from him because he's like, I know this guy's like an asshole, there's something dark that he's hiding and he has a secret.

So when the cocky asshole comes back, he's like broken and haunted and like something is really wrong with him. And so the guy basically decides that like he's going to like try to see what's going on. And it is extremely dark, but there's toxic relationship between them because they're like enemies to lovers. But there's also a toxic relationship. relationship between this golden boy and his father that is like the worst son father relationship I've ever read in a book so wow like heavy trigger warnings but yeah it's amazing and

everybody should read it because I have dude it has 11 it has almost 12,000 ratings on good reads and it's above it's 4.13 that's that's impressive. I have four copies of this book. Oh, I thought it was a series. Or I saw it. I have four, I have four copies of the same book. Oh, that's how much I love it. Your fandom is all in. Yeah. It is amazing. Like, dark hockey romance. Oh, my God. It's so good. So good. Don't give up on M.M. Romance, kids. Oh, I know. I wish I got into romance in general more, but I have so many books to read anyway, I guess. The one I just read called Craving the Chase, which is like a dark stalker romance, I think you would forget is like even like a romance because you're like what crazy shit is going to happen next.

Yeah. It's so interesting with romance. So I really like the mind fuck series and I thought Butcher and Blackbird was like, okay, I just was compared to the mind fuck series, which I, don't compare anything to that in my opinion. But then I was realizing, so have you read The Unraveling by V. Kurland, Kirkland? Yes. So she writes a lot of romance.

And I was like, oh, I'll give it a try. And I didn't want an audio on hoopla. And like, it was pretty good. But I was also like, if I'm going to listen to a romance, like, I want it to be steamy and spicy. And I was just like, it wasn't enough. So I was just kind of like, I'm not really sure where my taste lies in the romance department yet. Yeah.

Yeah, I get that. I ordered one that, like, had a lot of good reviews called About Last Night. And I was so excited for it. And I don't even remember what it's about now. But, like, somebody on Goodread said, like, I don't really like Y-A romance. And so I'm nervous to pick it up now because I don't know if they mean like I don't like why a romance in the sense of like it reads young adult or if they don't like it because the characters are like 18 but in high school.

Sure. Because somebody else was like this is so steamy and I'm like I don't know what to do. Yeah. I would feel that way too. Like is this just going to be like closed door or everyone's definition of steamy is so different. True. Yeah.

So I don't know. I had somebody tell me this book called Class Act was like not super spicy when I read it and like it was very very spicy and so now I'm like I don't know who to listen to when it comes to this because some people are like oh it's not too bad and there's like descriptions that I'm like oh my lord and then like sometimes they're like oh this is like people were saying red white and royal blue was spicy and I was like when like was my copy missing pages because like I'm like I'm like I'm like I'm I love the story and I love that book, but like it was not spicy. Yeah. Well, one of our book clubs is a thriller book club that I'm in. We read The Unravelling and some people thought it was really spicy, especially I guess if you're used to thrillers, which aren't, won't always have romance. So for some people, it was like almost like too much like crossing a line for them in some

ways where some of the other girls, especially like the romance meat readers are like, if you're giving this like multiple chili peppers, like, oh, man. Oh my gosh, that is the like most recognizable rating system. Yeah. Yeah, I love that. I never include those in my reviews because I'm like what, like, I don't want to be that person that's like, oh, this is like a three chili pepper and like have somebody read it and be like, you are so fucked up if you think this is only three.

I'm like, oh, this isn't like that steamy and there's like a lot of like filthy shit in the very beginning of it. Yeah. I think that's what I liked about. What was the book we talked about today? It had to be you. Like in the first scenes, I was like, all right. We're starting out with the bang.

Literally. Like in some books in romance, it takes to like 60% and I'm like, okay. get right to it. I love when we mentioned something or like a book that's like sexual though and you're like, hey yo. It's like one of my favorite things. Yeah, it's like natural now.

Yeah. I love it. It's one of my favorite things ever. Never stop doing it. I text that a lot too. You're like, wait, I say this all the time. Keep a counter when you do start tell me lies keep a counter on how many times you say that per episode oh okay yeah yeah it's

start it now i don't think anyone else is coming home for a few hours so i should have some time to just be prepared to not be able to stop watching well and i feel like i should be well maybe i'll finish my book in the morning that's my one thing with watching a lot of tv is like i would love to keep read my books faster but then another piece of me is like let it go just watch some tv but then I get really into it and want to keep doing that. Yes. So just like hinders on my, like, which hobby do I want to do? Yeah.

Yeah. I've been torn all week because a lot of people are watching the perfect couple, but it's six episodes. Oh, yeah. And I'm like, I want to, but like I need to make more progress in the book I'm reading. So I'm having the same problem at night where I'm like, which one do I do? There's so many people in that. I know.

And I didn't realize that that author, like, they present that book is kind of mysterious or at least a lot of attention and i didn't really realize that that author like it just seemed kind of like beachy reads and i'm like well this seems way more intense so i'm just kind of same you too yeah Aaron Hildebrand Eelan yeah i mean it's Aaron's more common so yeah everyone's talking about it i'm like i haven't seen it yet no i want to watch that but i've read a lot of books so there's that