Boozy Bookgasms - Cajun Casanova

Episode Date: March 5, 2025

Beneath This Mask by Meghan March Hot congressman's son, ex-Navy fighter pilot, and a runaway tattooed princess with a secret past and a fake ID? Yeah, what could go wrong? Join the girls as they hit the streets of New Orleans and explore Meghan March's first book in the Beneath series. Signature Cocktail: Hurricane Ingredients: 2 oz white rum 2 oz dark rum 1 oz orange juice 1 oz lime juice 2 oz passion fruit juice .5 oz simple syrup .5 oz grenadine Orange slices and maraschino cherries for garnish Add ice and all of the ingredients into a cocktail shaker and shake well. Strain into a tall glass filled with ice  then garnish with a orange slice and cherry to give it that true NOLA style. 

So there's also like this other house, this like river house. I don't remember the river house. I don't remember a river. Oh. Oh, shit. Is that the next book? That might be the next book. Book of literature fans.

We're in for some boozy bookgasms today. Join three cousins creating a titillating headspace where steamy romance novels collide with strong cocktails. So sit back, sip slow, and enjoy the ride. Hey, Clitter's fans. Welcome back to Boosy BookGasms. I'm Lynn. I'm Kim. And we are excited to be here with you guys tonight. We are reviewing Beneath this mask, which is from Megan March. This is the first book in her Beneath series, which are all standalone books, but in the same city and era. And I'm super excited to dive into this because I'm a huge Megan March fan. But before we get started, Kim, what are we drinking tonight? Well, I really went back and forth on this one. So although this, Sazirac is the official cocktail of Nola. I decided to take it more touristicy route and go with the classic hurricane. So I always love a good rum, love rum, dark, light, whatever, just throw it in the pan. Got some orange juice, lime juice, passion fruit, some civil syrup, and always the grididine, stir up and enjoy.

True Nola, Nola fashion. I've made many good choices in New Orleans after a couple of these. Are they good choices? I make poor choices. You think they're good at the time. There has to be a reason they call it a hurricane. Yeah, because you're a hurricane after you drink one. Like you don't taste anything except like a fruit punch and it is wildly dangerous.

Well, this is why I can only drink one because they're so sweet. You always had. Patoos, Hurricane. Oh, Pat, I was just at Pettos, the other. Day, Yum. That's the original. Yeah, it is the original one. It was made in Paddows.

It is so good. So great choice for our Nola book. We are here in New Orleans. And our family, we are family of cousins, has good ties to New Orleans. We're in New Orleans a couple of times a year. Our families from Louisiana. So I always love a good book that's based there because I get to pretend I'm there. That part was really fun.

Yeah. I love it. And Megan March actually does a lot in New Orleans, which makes it fun. We are starting this book with our main female. character. Her name is Charlie. And the opening scene opens up in a courtroom. She is watching her father's very high-profile trial. He is essentially a Ponzi scheme swindler. She grew up in this very privileged lifestyle. She went to all the best schools in New York City, you know, Central Park penthouse. But basically all of that was built on lies. Her dad has swindled basically all of their

high-profile friends and others out of billions of dollars. I would say it was hundreds of billions. It was an outrageous amount. I traveled the globe. It was all over the place. Yeah. The trial's high profile, right? I mean, you're definitely like all the cameras are in there. And they're focused on her too and the mom as being kind of part of this.

But Charlie went to school for finance and accounting. And I guess it's done some internships at the dad's place of business. She's not on trial herself, but there's a lot of like speculation, I think, on like how much she did or did not know that this was happening. But she's not in trouble herself. But she's testifying against her dad at the trial. People get angry when you steal their money and they want to blame everybody and she's under the microscope. Yeah.

So she lays it on the table. She does testify against her dad and basically that she had nothing to do with it. But they don't really believe her, but they haven't kind of gone after her herself. So she's on the witness stand, knows that her dad is going to jail and runs away from the courthouse, goes straight to their penthouse apartment, right off Central Park. starts packing it back gets, I think she has like a couple hundred dollars. A few thousand. Oh, is it thousand? She ended up taking 10, 15,000 dollars with her. Yeah. Okay. And then enough to basically get her out of town on her way out of the apartment she runs into her nanny or their housekeeper who's really been kind of her mother figure. Her mother is not a mother figure.

Her mom's the worst. Yeah. She's a socialite. Yeah. And it's important to say that Charlotte, the person we're talking about, she's not taking any couture. She's not taking fancy things. She's taking her chucks and she's taking jeans and she is like downplaying her whole life and going on the lamb. Yeah. And she really like it doesn't seem like she's like sad to lose all those things. Like that was very much like her parents lifestyle, this very luxury lifestyle. And that's what she's used to. But she's very much also saying, I'm going to go be a normal person. I want to. out of this lifestyle. So she runs into her housekeeper who hugs her and says, you know, you can't be on the run

forever, but I love you. It does introduce that her mother is just the worst. Like, only really cares about the socialite, doesn't really care about her daughter, kind of has always pushed her daughter out or used her daughter when it's been like helpful to her or to the family. There's no love loss there. She escapes. I think she ends up taking the Greyhound bus, but that ends up in New Orleans, which is a

great place to end up. So fast forward a few years. And she's now in a tattoo parlor. She's gotten a receptionist job at this tattoo parlor. She's trying to keep a very low profile. She's changed her name from Charlotte to Charlie. The guy who owns the tattoo parlor really took a liking to her and basically agreed to pay her under the table. And so that's where we are introduced to her new persona.

She went from the high elite girl. Hair up, beautiful, very bright together. Strawberry blonde. Strawberry blonde. Beautiful. What color were her eyes. They were turquoise. They were like a green, like very, but very striking.

To a fully tatted. Oh, yeah. Her arms are completely tatted up. Her hair has like purples and red and black. She's dyed it. She's got piercings in places that are not- Unmentionedable at the time. And she has completely done a full flip in her personality.

She is now in this, I run my life. I'm not doing it to be a social. socialite. I'm not doing it to be in the paper. I am low key. I'm working at the voodoo tattoo shop for an ex-military guy under the table who I'm, you know, sleeping with. Sleeping with on occasion. She's like living the Nola life. Yeah. And it feels right. It feels like she found herself. Her true self. Yeah. She's on her path of finding herself, right? Yeah. And like the tattoos all mean something and she's kind of addicted now. Yeah. That was super fair. And she has tried to change her. her appearance so much so that no one will recognize her too, right? I mean, that's part of it with, like, the hair being dyed. She still has her same striking eyes that comes in later, too. She's like mad at herself. She didn't wear contacts or something so that she was less recognizable. She's gone from Charlotte, Miss New York Socialite to Charlie, our tatted up, low-key, girlie in New Orleans. So she's working at this tattoo shop, voodoo tattoo shop. She's the receptionist and a couple of guys walk in. They're out on the town. It's a bachelor party.

they're drunk and one of them insists like they want to get a tattoo. Basically the idea is like you don't give drunk people tattoos because they're going to regret it. He wants a tattoo of his fiance's name on his ass. On his ass. Mandy on my ass. What he wanted. And his old... It's a great idea at the time.

All his guy friends are like, this is a bad idea. And he's like, no, this is the best idea ever on the eve of my wedding. I'm going to get this tattoo. And basically Charlie's like, you're not going to get that here. because we refuse to give you a stupid tattoo, especially when you're wasted. And so she basically kicks them out. But part of this Bachelor party is a guy named Simon. How do you pronounce his last name?

Dushain. Dushane. Okay. Thank you. The Cajuns. They know how to say that. I do not. So Simon Dushan is there.

He's not super drunk. He's very tall and handsome. And he is immediately intrigued by Charlie. And so he's basically one of the guys telling the drunk guy, like, you don't want this tattoo. She kind of kicks them out. But Simon starts really talking her up, really wants to get to know her. He's polished. She's legitimately and really contrasts with Charlie's tough, guarded personality.

She definitely thinks he's hot. And she's definitely intrigued, I think. But she's also like, not for me. You guys are a bunch of like preppy assholes. Like, I don't want to have anything to do with you. They walked in and they were a bunch of douchebags. Yeah, totally. So he does ask her out.

And she's like, no, I don't want to go out with you. Thanks. But no thanks. He really pushes her, but she holds her own and says no. Well, and her co-workers slash hookup buddy comes over and gets a little territorial. Friend with benefit. Yeah. Kahn. Kahn is his name. Con. Constantine, right? What's his full name? They call him Kahn. But Simon and Kahn have this backstory. They went to high school together. Yeah. So Kahn comes over, puts his arm around her, puts his hand. close to her ass. Simon's like, is she with this guy? Khan's like, go away, Simon. Like, we don't want to have anything to do with you. And Simon's like, but I really think she's hot. He does leave. We've kind of alluded to this, but she is sleeping with Khan every so often. Like, he is her kind of friends with benefits. He sleeps around. She doesn't, but she could. He's very protective of her because he knows that she has a backstory. Doesn't necessarily know what it is,

as far as we know at this point. But the one thing I think is so funny is that between when they sleep together if he sleeps with someone else, he has to go get a STD test. Like, she makes him do that. So, like, every few weeks, he's, like, putting the STD test on the counter. He's like, she's like a frequenter at the clinic. Yeah, totally. Me again. I do think it's worth saying that the way that Simon got back to the tattoo parlor is he's military or ex-military. Ex-military. Yeah. And Conn was very much like, hey, I see your tatted too. We do free touch-ups. So you can come back in and do it. So he was like, yeah, I'm coming back then when I'm a little more sober and I can actually hit on this girl without you here. Again. Yeah. So he does come back in to,

yeah, to your point, the tattoo parlor. And the other tattoo artist, not Khan is there, cleans it all up. And then while he's there, he's like, well, maybe I'll get a new tat. And then Charlie comes in, con comes in. And Khan's like, yeah, you had your free tat. Get the hell out. Basically, like, we don't want anything to do with you. And he's like, well, I've got a paper. for this tat oh by the way charlie you're still here and starts to kind of flirt with her more but he definitely starts kind of wearing her down like she knows it's probably a bad idea to get involved with him but he's so charming and cute and he's persistent he's her original type i think that that charm that southern draw he's her stuck up mother's dream yeah yeah that's true but he kind of represents

because of that everything she's running from everything she's running from everything she's running from, right? And he's also, I haven't mentioned, he's an aspiring politician. Like, he's on, like, the city council already. His dad is the former congressman that represents that area and there's speculation that he might be running for that seat again. And you don't know if he is or isn't, but that's, like, speculation in town. He's this very upstanding guy. And her life is built on lies at this point, right? Like, nobody knows who she is. He's also in, he's a very eligible bachelor in New Orleans. So he's often in the social pages, like in the newspaper, like he's getting photographed with socialites. New Orleans has a pretty high profile social scene, too.

Yeah. Okay. So she lives in this little apartment, like this little garden area behind, like her college roommate's eccentric aunt. She hasn't cut off all ties with everyone she knows, but she called her friend who her mother, of course, hated. And her aunt lives in New Orleans, I guess, Garden District area. It's in that quarter thing.

Close to the quarter. And she has this sort of 500 square foot apartment above her courtyard. And so that's where she lives. And she also has a very giant dog. I don't remember what kind of dog it was, but it's a humongous dog that also comes to the tattoo parlor and like hangs out. It was like a St. Bernard mix, wasn't it? It was huge. It was huge.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So she's a guard dog. And she like rides her bike everywhere. and the dog comes with her everywhere. At some point, like Simon gives her his number and says,

just call me whenever you decide that I'm worth your time. So she's in her apartment. She's kind of getting a little drunk. It's like during the day. And she decides, okay, I'm going to call him and see if he's as into me as I kind of am him. So she calls him. He doesn't answer. And she leaves a voicemail, I guess. So then a wedding March comes through her show. streets. It's a wedding parade. And I thought this is huge in New Orleans. Yes, but I don't, I don't think I've ever seen a wedding parade before. Oh, totally. The whole wedding party. They parade through New Orleans for anything. Funeral, wedding, drink of the month. It doesn't matter. That's true. You see a pair of hall. Yeah. It's a huge deal for weddings where they like leave the ceremony and

march down. Yeah, the streets with the band playing and everything. She loves this, which I also love this. I think it's very fun. It's very New Orleans. Yeah. And so she goes to her little gate and she starts watching the wedding parade. And she's smiling and laughing because it's like such a great thing. And then, oh, Simon's there very dressed up and his tuxedo, like spinning around an older woman, a mother or an aunt or something, like very much part of the scene.

And she's like, oh, shit, there's Simon. And he sees her too. He runs over. So they talk. They flirt a little bit. She gets scared. And the wedding party is now, like, down the street. Somebody's calling Simon's name, like, get your house over here. And she's like, go away, go away. So she had called him and left a message. He hasn't gotten it yet. So he goes to the wedding. You really can't get her out of his head, picks up her voicemail and realizes, oh, wait, she called me. Like maybe I should go after her. So she proceeds to get drunk in the back courtyard. There's like a backyard or oasis. She calls it a oasis where it's like there's a pool, a garden. It sounds like a garden home. That's what I was saying too.

Yeah. Yeah. Very New Orleans though, right? Where the beautiful parts are like behind the walls. And so she's kind of getting drunk with her pup downstairs. And Simon shows up after the reception. She's a bottle into the wine. And he comes in and really starts kind of flirting with her, talking to her.

She's really drunk and kind of into him. And she takes all of her clothes off and gets into the pool. And it's like, come get me if you want me. And he takes off all. all his clothes and gets in the pool with her, comes up to her, and they're very into it. But he's a gentleman. And basically, she's like, you can have me. And he's like, I want you for more than tonight. And she's like, tonight's all I can offer. And he's like, then I'm out. And he's like, if this happens, are you just never going to call me? Probably. Probably. And he's

like that. Bye. No, mind. I'm out. Like, I really like you, but I want more than a night. Yeah. I'm not going to put my heart on the line. So he gets out. Her eyes are closed. It's dark. But she's like, how's he going to dry off? So he had to. an undershirt on. So he dries off with his wet white t-shirt and then puts all his clothes back on and, you know, says, Charlie, you have my number. Like, I'm here whenever you're ready. Like, call me. She does end up putting his number in her phone because she has it. It's like a burner phone or something. Like she only has like a pay by the minute phone. This must have been in the early. Yeah, this is an older book. And so she has like only four phone numbers in her phone. It's like,

you know, cons number. her two work people, the aunt, you know. And then now Simon. So there's only so many people she can even call from the phone. She also has a job at a clothing boutique that's somehow also connected to the aunt. Like the aunt owns the boutiques. It's a vintage clothing, I should say. So it's like, older stuff.

It's like rocked t-shirts. And yeah, it's kind of grungy. But so the aunt got her the job. So she's got the tattoo parlor job and this clothing boutique job. So she goes to the clothing boutique. she's working. She kind of is still thinking about Simon. The dog is a really good dog in well-trained, except for if there's a horse-drawn carriage going by, and that dog freaks out. If you've ever been to New Orleans in, like, the quarter, there's a lot of horse-drawn

carriages, like running around. So. They're coming around. Unless there's a rickshaw on, like, on a bike instead of the horse. So she rides her bike, and the dog, like, trots beside her. You can see it all in slow motion. The dog goes after the horse trunk carriage, but there's a big truck also driving down the street. She yells, no, right? The dog gets hit, flies in the air, whatever, falls on the sidewalk. She's horrified. And the truck just drives away. And she's now on the back street with no traffic and a dog that's now been, like, seriously injured. Like, this dog is her protector. It's like her best friend. It's the thing that she has in this new life that she can count on. So she picks up her phone and dials a number. And it's Simon's number.

And she's like in tears, crying. She can't put words together. She's like, my dog. So he's like, I'm on my way. Just tell me where you are. She tells him and hangs up the phone. And then, of course, Hero shows up. White Knight. White Knight. So sexy. And his BMW, like, it's a, you know, luxury car, SUV, like pulls up. There we go. Opens the, you know, tailgate, like helps her get the huge dog in the car. She's crying. He's like, we're going to take care of. As it turns out, Simon's best friend is a veterinarian. I mean, how perfect is that? And calls the best friend and says, I've got a dog that's been injured, like, help brother out. Shows up to the emergency vet where his friend is there. Now, again, our girl Charlie is like, live in paycheck to paycheck. She's like, I don't know how I'm going to pay for this, but I'm going to. It's my best friend and we're going to figure this out. And Simon's like, I got it. Don't worry about it. So she's, of course, like, I'm going to pay you back. Da-da-da. He's like, it's my best friend. We'll deal with it when we deal with it. They have to leave. They have to leave. They have to leave. They have to leave. They have. They have to leave. They have. They have. They have. They have the dog there though for like at least overnight probably like a week as he's like recovering and so then simon of course like takes her home and tries to you know make sure that she's like doing okay we're nearing my favorite line in the book because we we meet he takes her back he lives with his mom and dad well in a guest house because he's in the guest house after he got out of the military and we we haven't said this he had a incident in the military and that was traumatic, and he ended up getting honorably discharged.

And once that happened, his parents expected him to move back in with them. And he was like, no, I'm a grown man. So then they built him this guest house or whatever. But so she goes back to his place and she's like, wow, really? You live with your parents? Like, you're kind of old for that. And he said, this is the best. I like sports, hunting, fishing, fast cars, and even faster women.

But I love my mama. My mom. That is a good line. That was well right. I was like, well, I think we've summed him up pretty beautifully in this moment. Yeah. Yeah, it's very southern, very cliche. But then there was a lot of, I probably flagged 10 very cheesy.

There's some good lines. They're good, southern. You know, they're pretty good lines. They are good, but it was also like, oh, oh. Yeah. Oh. But a little melty, but at the same time, that's, you know, it's pretty cheesy. And they're super wealthy too, right?

So, like, the dad's a former congressman. And then when he left Congress, he started a big shipping company where Simon is now, like, a VP of the company. So they are super wealthy. And while the mom really wants him to be close, she's not super overbearing. They're just, like, a guess, like a kind of a close-knit family. I think she's just a southern mom. I think is what she is. And she is, she doesn't come from money.

She comes from like the sticks. She is, she is good, grit Cajun. I wish I could remember the city she came from because it sounded very familiar. But she is. Grit Cajun. She's good. She wasn't in the society pages. Like she was, right.

She was kind of scandalous when the dad married her because he's always been on a political track. Mm-hmm. See, they go back to, yeah, his house. He doesn't want her to be alone. She's, like, so traumatized. He lets her shower and, like, gets her some pajamas and he's going to put her in the guest room. He falls asleep. He's having a hard time knowing she's, like, naked in the shower just on the other side of the door and, like, um, but she goes to sleep. He goes to sleep. He starts having, like, a nightmare. And she gears him, like, screaming in this nightmare and then goes in to his

bedroom to try and, like, wake him up, wakes him up. And then we start to realize, like, he has PTSD. And when he wakes from his nightmare, it's pretty scary because he like pins are down. And I mean, he's a big man. They're literally night terrors. He's reliving the actual traumatic incident over and over again. So there's a struggle. He's trying to fight to survive and all this. And so he's worried. He's never slept with anybody overnight because he's worried all this is going to come out. Yeah. And he's going to hurt somebody. Right. And then like the mom shows up. And then she meets Charlie and is so nice and lovely to Charlie. And like Charlie's a bit like, oh, shit, like I've met the mom already. And like it's a bit, it's a bit tense. But the mom's cute and like invites her to dinner.

This is one of my issues with the book. And I didn't have a lot. I thought it was cute. But she's very self-conscious of her tatted up persona and her black hair. And she knows she looks like a bad girl, you know, and she always like calls herself the bad girl. I'm like, but you chose to do that. Like you chose to get the tattoos and dye your hair black and purple and whatever. So own it.

But don't be a victim because, oh, they're looking down on me. But I don't think she is a victim. I don't think that's what it's about. I think it's she owns it. But then she realizes like, this guy is kind of out of her league because she's owning that life. Part of herself. That part of herself is she is down to earth.

She owns them. the badass tattoos, the grunge, that's where she's going to be. And here she is in this mansion like guest house on mom and dad's property and meeting the mom for the first time in his clothes hanging out in the kitchen. And the mom's so super nice to him. But she's, she is a southern mom. She's got like that, that sweet, but I'm still, I still want to know what the hell you're doing. Right. Give me some more information, you know, and she's, she's pulling it. So I don't, I don't think that it's not that she's not owning it. I think it's that she has self-confidence issues in the fact that she thinks any kind of relationship that they would have wouldn't work

because he deserves better. Well, yeah, I think not better now. But because she chose to get the tattoos and dire hair block, like she chose that. So it's like you, if that's how you wanted to look, if those are things you wanted to do, then you own it, you know. I think it's about her look, though. I think it's about her sense of confidence. She's owning the tattoo. She likes her tattoos. She keeps putting them on there. I think it's more of the, I don't deserve you because my dad's a snake and a scumbag. And I'm uncomfortable in this situation because if you first meet her and you see that persona and you are from the elite group, you might take a step back. He says to her at some point, stop. I like the tats. I think they're hot to don't even.

So, I mean, she does kind of say something to him along the line of, well, look at me, like, I'm not really a type of person to be with someone that's running for office. And he's like, knock it off. I like the tats. So she does have a lot of insecurity about the way. I think there's a lot of insecurity, but I don't know if it's about how, like, I think that she has trust issues. I think while the tats, she likes the tats and she keeps getting them, like they are also like therapy for her against where she was before. before, right? And he is the epitome of who she should have been with in her prior life. So I think it's a bit like a little like scared. Like you are this and I probably should have been with you five years ago before my dad, you know, embezzled all this money. But now I'm this person and it's like, things aren't like adding up in her head, right? Like why would he want to be with me? So I think

there is insecurity. I think there is trust issues. And then there's also like shit. I kind of like this guy. And if it goes anywhere, I've got to tell him the truth. And then everything's going to fall apart, right? So there's just like a lot. There's a lot of emotion here about that. And she comes close to wanting to tell him about her past, like a bunch of times. And then she just keeps getting scared because I think she really likes him. And as much as she's kind of pushing him away, it's like self-preservation. There's also some of her mom kind of in her ear to you about what what is proper, who gentlemen should look like, what, you know, all these things. So they're all just kind of beating at her door. When here's this guy who's in the society page with all of this. So I don't think it's that she's

uncomfortable in her skin. I think she's uncomfortable being in her skin in that situation because she can't be who she really is and say who she really is. Right. She does in his house say something about the artwork. And she used the artist. Oh, and he starts to realize. Yeah. He's like, hey, wait a minute. Yeah, she's culture. She's culture and I'm, yeah, She's got some culture. There's more here than meets me. There's a couple things like where she's like, oh, if you need help with your financial papers, here, da-da-da, and she names off the exact paper. And he's like, what the hell?

Yeah. There's a couple of dates, which I think are really fun. So at some point, he's like, you know, get dressed up. I'm going to take you out. And so she gets a little nervous, like, where is he going to take me? I don't want to have any pictures of me, blah, blah, blah. And he ends up taking her to, like, the shipping yard, like, climbing on top of a shipping container and, like, lays out this whole. whole picnic. It's very cute, like overlooking the river. And he, she's at some point,

she's like, I just thought you would have taken me somewhere different. He's like, oh, if you want that, I'm happy to. She's like, you know, this is perfect, but why the dress? And he's like, I like, I like your legs. It's a very, I want to see you in a dress. I wanted to see. Yeah. She doesn't wear dresses. We have to say that. Right. Yeah. Yeah. And he likes that about her. And he knows that she's very shy. He doesn't really know why. He knows she's hiding something. He can't figure out what it is. And so he does take her in this like very cute little date. And then they almost get caught. He owns the shipping yard, by the way. But there's this like light that like comes across because they start making out. Of course, right as they get to the good stuff, the light,

the spotlight comes across, he covers her up, says I'll be right back, goes down, talks to the security guard, says like, oops, comes back, gets her, they get in the car, they gathers all the picnic stuff or whatever. And he's like, close one. They like drive away, which is really cute. But she has a very nervous moment because she feels like they're going to get arrested and they're going to, she's got to think I'd do. Yeah. Yeah. And it's like, oh, shit. And he realizes, like, she's really overreacting to this security thing. Like, there's, there's always these hints. Like, there's something she's hiding and she's not telling me. And he keeps saying to her, like, you know, I'm going to like you, no matter what. She's telling me what. Where are you from? And then she dodges. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. She won't say. Oh, yeah. Her age, yeah, he won't. She finally does tell him her age, and he's like, oh, like there is a different, there is a bit of an age gap, not a ton though. She's 23.

Yeah. He's probably in his 30s. Yeah, I think he's like, yeah, early 30s. Then there's another point where she invites him back up to her apartment. They get going. He goes down on her. She's really loving it. She tries to return the favor, and he's like, no.

She's very confused. So he's started to go to therapy. And he's basically like, when we do this, I want the. whole night and I have some things I'm working out. I've got to take care of that first. But in the meantime, I'll take care of you. He discovers all of her piercings. She has lots of piercing. Oh, yes, because her nipples are pierced. Her clit is pierced. Yeah. So, and he thinks this is great. Like, he loves it. She loves it. He drops her off at the tattoo parlor where she's got to work because she doesn't have the dog now. He does not like the fact that She's riding her bike or walking in New Orleans at night by herself at these late hours at all.

It's not safe. And so he's like, I will take you. I will come pick you up at two, three in the morning whenever you get off work. They have a great day together. He drops her off at this tattoo parlor, picks her up, takes her home. But the next day, she realizes that between the time that he dropped her off at work and picked her back up from work, he went to some sort of charity event on the arm of another woman. So this is the family friend, and he never told her about the event, not that she would have gone, and didn't tell her after that he went. And there's rumors that they're getting engaged.

There's a lot of talk about that. So she goes to get her coffee. It's like a double whammy, right? She picks up a paper. The first paper has her picture and all this stuff splattered all over it about her dad and the embezzlement and daughter's still at large. And so she stuffs that one in her pocket and she's pissed. And she's like, well, I don't want anybody to notice it. And then right behind it is the next one that has like the leading society page.

Rumors are still that he's getting engaged before he announces his candidacy and she's living. She leaves work early because she knows he's going to show up there, goes home, locks the gate. She unplugs the intercom. Yeah. So he can't. She won't hear it. 19. After they've had multiple great dates and he finally feels like her walls are coming down, she builds them right back up.

The dog is still at the friend's veterinary clinic, and they had together plan to go get the dog. She calls the veterinary friend and is like, listen, I know we were supposed to pick up the dog, but can we reschedule it earlier? So she's hoping the friend just doesn't call Simon. So she calls Kahn and says, hey, help me out. They go to the veterinary clinic. Simon is already there. He has got her number. He basically showed up at like Dawn S-30 to wait for her.

He's like, what the hell happened? We were on a good path here and you ghosted like, what's your deal? Khan does go away, stand by the truck with his hands in his pockets and just watches this drama unfold. But Simon convinces her that he's not the douchebag that she thinks he is. He had forgotten about the thing, had to rush, like whatever. So she does forgive him. They get the dog. Simon is back in her good graces and helps her set up the dog.

I'm going to call this a second act breakup. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Because we also have a third act. Break up. And I'm like, okay, Megan March. Like, will they?

Will they, they? Like, to me, this is like, oh. Well, it's her fault there. But I love how, like, I think it was this breakup where he was like, ooh, that was a juicy. Right. We're good, though, right? We're done with this fight. Yeah.

First fight. Yeah. Right now we're really, really going to stay together forever and tell each other. We love each other. We're going to have sex and it's going to be great. And now forever we're going to be together. Yeah. Yeah.

And it is her fault. Like, she is the. reason these keep happening. He did show up in the society pages with another girl. He might have given her heads up on that. Well, he does explain it how he dropped her off and completely forgot this thing was happening. The friend called. She's already at the event.

Like, where the hell are you? But he saw her later that night and gave her multiple orgasms. So before that, could have said, B2-Dubs. That's all he could think about with her. Why would he want to bring up another girl when he's about to get late? That's a faux pa. I don't care where you live. It does ruin the mood sometimes.

They set the dog up. in the house. They've had sex at this point. They have, yes. They told each other, they love each other. He said, don't break my heart. And she said, I will never break your heart without shattering my own. And then he says, but I want to know more about you.

And she goes, what the fuck? Hold on. You don't get to know anything. Oh, very dare you. Nothing. And if you keep pushing me, we're not going to work. And basically breaks up with him and gets out of the car. And he's like, F off.

I'm pissed. Well, it started because he wanted to invite her to the fourth of the first of her. to the 4th of July. And she said, I can't do it. And he was like, huh? He's starting his own charity to help veterans who like him, who don't feel comfortable going to the VA, but still need help. And so this is his coming out party for this nonprofit.

And he asked her to go and she says she can't. And he's really sad about it. And this is where they kind of get in this big fight. So she decides to, instead of, again, being the mature adult that she's supposed to be, she's going to go out by herself. Whatever. A lot of growth in that one year. And get wasted and just drinks and drinks and drink.

Like six tequila shots. Oh, man. In a row. Boom, boom, boom. Six. Yeah. She's in it to win it. Trying to tie one on.

She's walking home and comes across her local hot dog vendor. Her friend. Well, like he's like, yeah. She gets a hot dog every day for her and the dog. Jimmy, the hot dog guy. She gets the hot dog. She takes a bite of it and she realizes, hmm, six tequila in a hot dog. Maybe not a good play.

But because I'm into sustainability, I don't want to waste anything. So I'm going to find a local. A homeless dog. And she finds one in a dark alley that she feeds. Who has a nefarious owner. Yeah. So then he goes after her. She fights back.

He stabs her. She kicks him in the balls and then runs away. And then falls into a bouncer in front. of a club. She calls someone, but we don't know who, and then she passes, she passes out. So then she wakes up and she's in Kahn's bed. He superglued her stab wound, which who knows? Superglues her stab wounds. As most military people would. That's what you do when you have cuts. Superglu is he doesn't take her to the hospital because he knows that she would not want to go. But he knows why. And this is where we find out, but he knows why. But he knows why. Yeah.

He basically admits, like, I know who you are and I know I've known the whole time. And she's like, well, what the hell? You why didn't you tell me? And he was like, well, I realize you weren't a psycho. And if you're trying to keep it a secret, it's not in my business, like what you want to do. But I've known the whole time. And they're good friends. She knows that she's into Simon. They're not going to sleep together anymore. And Kahn's like, if he makes you happy. Simultaneously to this, Simon realizes she's it for him. And if she has secrets, he's going to be okay with that. And he goes, find her at the touch. Two shot. Her maturity was to go to the bar and drink six shots of tequila, buy a hot dog, give it to a homeless dog, and get mugged and almost raped and stab. His maturity was to go drink a little bit and punch a punching bag until his knuckles were bruised up and the bag broke. He hasn't released anything and he is still fuming looking for her. He loves her and he wants to understand why she's hiding from him. So she is leaving the tattoo shop. Conns lives above the tattoo shop. We probably didn't say that. She, you know, kisses Kahn and basically says, I love you as my friend. And on the cheek, but it's like, from an outsider's perspective, it looks intimate. She's saying kind of goodbye to their romantic relationship and saying, like, you're my friend and I thank you for all your support. But Kahn kisses her three times. He kisses her on the cheek. He kisses her on the forehead and wants on the lips to say goodbye. But from across the street, where Simon is, Yeah.

Because he's been chasing her down on morning. It looked like she just left his bed, which she kind of did. Jumped in cons. Yeah. They eventually suss all that out. They're fine. And he still wants her to come to the July 4th party. Bies her a dress.

And a mask. Because it's a mask ball or whatever. Yeah. So it's on a riverboat. Simon's there. He's looking for her. He's hoping she comes. And she does.

She basically says he's it for me if this is what he wants. I'm going to do. that for him. And so she shows up in this beautiful dress. She has this mask on. He finds her. And they're, you know, very happy. The dad is less happy. Simon's kind of decided he doesn't want to run for office. And the dad is unhappy. He's not political. Yeah. He's very happy running the shipping company and just being himself. But at some point, the friend, the girl, he had been going to all of these charity balls with shows up super drunk. Simon's like, this is not like my friend. Let's get her in a cap. There's some sort of a scuffle where her mask ends up being taken off. And there's all

these photographers now there taking pictures and shouting, Charlotte, Charlotte, we know who you are. Where's the money? So her identity has now been blown. Simon looks at her and says, what the hell, like, why didn't you tell me about this? Who the hell are you? She gets scared and like runs away. Simon doesn't go after her right away. The dad's like what's going on. The friend has, is drug, has to be in a cab. So it's basically like total chaos. A perfect storm. A perfect storm. He goes to find her again. It's like the seventh time he's had to run her down. Ends up at the tattoo shop with Khan. He basically is like, this is the love of my life. Get out of my fucking way. Like where is she? And Khan's like, well, now that I know that you really like her, here's this letter. She left me for you.

She's left the dog with Khan. She's in the wind. She's out of there. And he basically is like, this is who I am. I'm sorry. I didn't tell you. I've got to go fix my mistake. Well, something we haven't talked about is several chapters back. When she's leaving her home and fleeing, she finds a notebook journal that has coded messages on it. Throughout this entire thing, she's trying to decode her dad's secret coding to find the money. So through this whole thing, she keeps thinking to herself, if I can just find everybody's money and get it back to them, it'll be okay. And I can clear my part of it. Yeah. Well, she thinks she can uncode it and then take it to the FBI and say, like, I have found this, right? Like, she can somehow clear. This is my weight. She basically has not decoded anything, but takes the book and goes to New York. She started to realize that the locations that were in the coding were places she had vacationed as a child going through the years, that every time he would go to a different location, Singapore or whatever, he was making. And they were all like tax havens. big bank. So she is starting. But she doesn't, but she doesn't have bank numbers. She's starting to break it down a little bit, but not enough. So Charlie takes the book to New York. She's ready to commit to assignment, but she needs to get this out of her life. She needs to go, like, make, make this right. So she just shows up at the FBI building, I guess, and is like, here I am to save the day. She has zero plan.

And she has no idea what she's doing. And they're like, oh, interesting, glad you're here. You're arrested. I mean, they put her in an interrogation room. She basically told them her side of the story. And they didn't believe her. And they arrest her. So simultaneously to this, Simon calls a lawyer and says, get there right now.

Like, I'm going to get there. But then his dad calls before he can get on the plane and says, your mom had a stroke. So now Simon has this family crisis happening in New Orleans and he can't just leave and go to New York and save Charlie. So he calls the lawyer and he's like, I can't come. It's all on you. You have to save her. And basically he's like stationed outside the FBI. Do not let her go in without a lawyer.

Well, she slips past the lawyer, notes to her that Simon's done any of this. The lawyer calls and apologizes, kind of. And so he has to wait for her to ask for a lawyer, which she never does. And so he's just like waiting outside for her. So they do arrest her and they send her to Rikers. Yeah, which is crazy to me. Legit. She has not done anything wrong.

I do not understand how she ends up in Rikers. Because they think she did do something wrong. They think she fled with the information. They do think she's part of it. Part of the embezzlement scheme. My thing is like, do not pass go. Yeah. It was like straight to Rikers.

Not even like a minimum prison. we're going to hold you for a little while, like while they're arraining her maybe. Anyway, she ends up getting beat up because, you know, everybody in their dog knows what her dad did. And she ends up in like some sort of solitary confinement. The lawyer is able to like finally get in and talk to her. She's realizing that she was an idiot, like going in with absolutely no plan or no lawyer. And then the lawyer works out with the DA. They found some of the accounts based on this book. and they're all in her name, Charlie's name. So the dad put a lot of these accounts where he was embezzling all this money into into her name.

So she looks culpable for a lot of this that she had nothing to do with it. So the lawyer basically says, listen, if she and all this interest and whatever, if she will sign away all of this money over to the victims, like she didn't do anything wrong and she's willing to help you, will you do that? And after some like back and forth, the DA agrees to that. But they get her out of Rikers at that point, put her in basically like witness protection. Like she's in some sort of random townhouse, who knows where. She's not allowed to leave.

She doesn't talk to Simon. Simon's, you know, in New Orleans. Which is better than Rikers. Which is better than Rikers. Like, how did this woman end up in Rikers? I'm sorry. That shouldn't be so easy to do. Very dramatic.

You've got a college graduate. She's a smart girl. She's been evading the law this whole time. And all of a sudden she walks in and thinks they're going to go, oh, thank you so much for dropping this off. Well, do you also think I'm going to end up in. Rikers, though. Like, that's where they put, like, the worst. That's true. That's true. It is pretty. It is pretty aggressive. But, I mean, they think she's a horrible criminal.

Yeah, but even embezzlement. Those people don't go to Rikers. It's white color. White color. White color. And then they're all. Like, wouldn't you think she'd be in, like, the jail and not, like, the prison? I think they're trying to scare her into confessing. Confessing up. Yeah, they do. She's scared. Yeah, she's scared. She's scared. So she lives in this townhome. with the cops for six weeks while they basically try to decode this book, find as many accounts as they can, and she signs over all the money. And she's happy to do it. Like she wants to get rid of this stuff. They bring her back to the FBI office. They tell her your deal's done. You're now free to go. Lawyer hands her an airplane ticket for the next day and says, this Simon wants you to come home. Finish up whatever you have to do here and make your decision. She is happy, but also conflicted, I think, because, of all the stuff that she's just gone through. You don't know where she's going to land, really, but she has some unfinished business. Oh, I would be so bad for him.

And I would just be the worst thing in the world for him. And he deserves better. And it's like, barf, barf, okay? She still thinks he's running for office. Like, she doesn't know he's just. There's no way you're going to win with a convicted felon. But then before that, it was because she had tattoos. And like, it was still the convicted felon issue.

She was still on that trail of, I'm bad for you and your campaign. She has trust issues, which, you know, I mean, her dad did basically frame her for a Ponzi scheme. So she has some unfinished business to do. So her old nanny housekeeper woman, she meets her on the street and they get to reunite. And then she goes to see her dad in jail. He basically tells her, I left you that book so that you could find. the money and take care of your mother, like, you're smarter than this. And she's like, I gave it all back. And he's now pissed of her for being, he thinks an idiot. And she's like,

I'm totally done with you. I'm totally done with you. Can I also point out a couple of things? Yeah. First of all, there just happened to be with interest, plenty of money to pay everyone off that he stole from, which I thought was convenient. But B, there's more accounts that haven't been disclosed. Yeah. So there's more money out there that they have. haven't found. But luckily, everything you put in her name must have been $120 billion because, like, that's how much he stole. I just thought that was a little far-fetched also. cleaned up very nicely. It did. It's a happily ever after. It's happily over often. So before she leaves the FBI office, they're saying, somebody's here to see you. And she's like, who the hell is

here to see me? And they're like, well, she's been here every day. And it's her mother. So there's like pictures in the paper of Charlie on Simon's arm coming off this boat. And the mom has been there waiting for the daughter because she's like, woo-hoo. You got in with the next congressman. He's our ticket back into high society. Well, the best part, she was too poor to get Botox. Oh, right. So like all her wrinkles came back. Oh, geez. True. And she had never seen her mom look her age before until this day. Until this moment. So the mom brings her, like, clothes, her old life clothes to basically doll her up so that she can go back to Simon. So Simon will help get the mom and Charlie back into high society. And Charlie's like, I'm so done with you. Then she goes to see her dad. She's like, I'm so done with you. So she's done with them. So fast forward, Simon, poor little Simon, goes to the airport to pick her up on the flight for the ticket that he had booked her. And she doesn't come out of the airport. plane. He waits, he waits, he waits, right? She doesn't have a cell phone, can't call her. And so he thinks

she's decided to run. And he proceeds to go to a bar with his buddy to drink it off as. That's why you live in New Orleans. It's so easy to do those things. Right down the road. Yeah. And then I think as we all would anticipate, she does come back to New Orleans. She goes and finds. She goes and finds. Simon and tells him that she loves him and thanks him. When she finds him, he has a daughter, though. I thought that was really nice. Yeah. That's right.

Yeah. And the family welcomes her. Yeah. Mm-hmm. His family loves her. And we find out that he didn't even really want to run for any kind of politician type scene. And the dad is upset, but then not upset.

He's got a very healthy relationship with his parents. Yeah. It was good. I think, you know, cleans up real nice. All the plots have been closed. All the holes have been filled. All the holes have been filled. Our main male character and our main female character have ended up together and are going to be blissfully happy.

In NOLA. In New Orleans. He will not be a congressman. He will be a VP at the shipping company and she will presumably still work in the tattoo shop in the clothing boutique. With her finance MBA. Yes, that would be great. With her finance. And help him run.

Oh, no. And help him run his charity. She's going to be like a finance director. And they will live in their in-laws backyard for the rest of their body. Yeah. And with the big dog. It's going to be great. It's a fairy tale. It's wonderful. It's beautiful. Great job, Megan. Mm-hmm. May I go first? Please. Please do.

Because you guys have been telling me how much you love Megan March for so long. I do. I do. And I do think this is a great beach read. Like, if you're just going to chill on the beach. But I will say it's, it's, it's, it's, super fluffy. And I'm going to go medium on the spice. Yeah. Yeah. It was predictable. But in a way that you want, this is what you get for, right? Like so I'm going to give it a, if you'll allow me. I'm going to do a 3.25. We're doing quarter points now. I don't think it's allowed. Just give it a three and a half. All right, fine. It's a three on three. And then I'm going to give it a three on spice also because I did feel like there wasn't a ton. Yeah. And then when it was there,

it was pretty PG-13. Pretty vanilla. I do love Megan March. I think her books are really good. They're all kind of like- And she introed you guys years ago, right? To run. But I think that's why you think it's so soft. One of them. Yeah. Because you didn't come in the gateway. You went straight to the crack. You went straight into crack. Yeah, I went from crack. And now I'm just. I'm doing a towel and it's like, this is like our weed. You know, we started low. Our expectations grew. Worked our way up.

Worked our way up to BDS in. But even on the reread, you enjoyed it just as much just because you liked it so much. I did. I enjoyed it for what it was. I enjoyed the fact that I love Megan March because I like her development of characters. I like that she doesn't automatically put the mafia or the mob in every book. It drives me nice that that's the go-to. Tushay.

No one's being kidnapped. No one's being kidnapped. Or trafficked, for that matter. What book has someone been trafficked in? What book was that? Five brothers. Dante, also trafficking. They didn't traffic her.

They trafficked all the other ones. Well, they were trafficking other people. They were fighting for the good guys, though. As of the monsters. Even with a second read, I still enjoyed it. I would give her a four because of what it was. And I like, like I said, I could feel New Orleans in this book. You could feel the, you could feel the downtown.

That's the point two five, you know. It's better than it's like. All of her books are like that. You can feel like you're walking down French Quarter. Spice, you're right. It's not super spicy. But again, it's comparative, right? we're reading stuff that's like a little heavier than soft porn on most days.

And so this is like a really good lifetime movie mix, maybe a Passion Flicks. That's what this is. So I would give it a three on spice. Do you not watch Passion Flicks? It's a whole station. It's a whole station. It's like smut books on Netflix kind of thing. It's good.

I am, I'm right there along with Kim. I've loved Megan March for a long time. I think she's a really good writer. I think it's all, you know, the stories make sense. There's good character development. There's, you know, a happy lover after which I love. There's some drama, right? I mean, I think in this one particular, too, like, Charlie was a little insufferable in parts of this book, which is what keeps it from being a five for me. But like, I give the book a four. Like, it is, I think it's really well done. I like. like her and I like the stories. And I agree on the spice. Like it's a three. But sometimes, you know, you need a little fluffy break in between some of the hardcore books. And that's what this is. And it's exactly what I wanted it to be. And I wanted to be there. I wanted Simon. I wanted to change Simon. I would pick up a Megan March book for the beach. Like I would take this on a vacation in a minute. It is easy and fun. And all of her books are like that. You just kind of engulf into the story and the plots are good. They're fun characters.

And they all do intermingle and they become friends. And the intertwine. Pretty good. Oh, the characters do? Yeah, some of the characters. Oh, that's fun. Yeah, you see them pop up in different books. Yeah.

That's cool. I really enjoy going back to some of the older ones that I had read before and to read them again. I'm actually very sad because she hasn't come out with anything. Chop, Megan. You lately, which has been a little, a little annoying. I know. But this was really enjoyable for me. So thank you guys so much.

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