Boozy Bookgasms - Fairy Smut Episode 4: A Court of Frost and Starlight

Episode Date: January 23, 2025

Tis the season for the Winter Solstice! Turn on the fireplace and snuggle up for warm and fuzzy fairy feels! Jen, Jennie and Aimee break down this holiday Novella by SJM.   Cocktail: Sexy Snowball Fight Ingredients: 1oz of Vodka, 1oz Amaretto Liquor, 1oz heavy cream, always sprinkle with a little silver luster dust. Shake and serve over ice. Cheers!

Buckle 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. Hello and welcome back all you fairy smut fans. And hello to my favorite twin sister, Fairy Smut-loven co-hosts. This is Jenny. Hi, this is Amy. Today, we, Today we are talking about a quart of Frost and Starlight by Sarah Maas. But before we wrap ourselves in this warm hug of a book, what are we drinking tonight? Since Frost and Starlight is kind of the Hallmark Christmas special, I thought that we would have that reflect in our drink tonight. So we're going to start off with our sexy snowball fight.

One ounce of a really good top shelf vodka. One ounce of amaretto liqueur. One ounce of heavy cream. Always sprinkle with a little silver luster dust and you shake it over ice and strain it into a martini glass and you can garnish that with a cinnamon stick. But we're doing something a little different. We're also doing a little choose your own adventure, if you will. You're like me and you love that Nesta is now in like seedy bars and swilling wine, reading smutty novels. Hello, let's be friends.

Then let's raise a glass of our finest boon farms to our best girl. Cheers. Nasty nesta. Nasty nesta. I love it. That's what we're calling that drink. Yeah. Let's do it. A.k.a. Boone's farm. All right. What is your favorite top shelf vodka? You know, I'm a Tito's girl. Like, I don't know vodka really well, but I do love my Tito's. That's my go-to. Yeah. That's my everyday vodka. And then, you know, if I feel fancy, I'll do a little goose. Oh, or a little belladere. Yeah.

Yeah. That's like a goose. That's like a nose. That's like a nondytoe. That's like a back off, but it's just as good. At least that's what the guy at the liquor store told me. Tonight. And he saw me perusing. He's like, hey, the euse. I'm like, I don't know. I might want to upgrade. So this was a really short book by Sarah Ma's standards. And they call it a novella. But the whole book really revolves around the upcoming winter solstice holiday, which as Amy mentioned is very Christmassy. It's got gifts and family dinners. And didn't you say

Ames like in the Akitar cult world, they do call this the Christmas book? They do call it the Christmas episode, yes. The episode. They call it the Christmas novella because it's so much shorter. Okay. Yeah. Kim makes fun of me because when I clarify that a novella is a short book, she's like, you know, no doy. But it's still 200 pages. So I mean, in comparison to the whole series, it is a novella. But, you know, it's still, you know. It's still a book. It's a book book. But we get a quick update and we learned that Elaine still lives with Fahra and Reese and Nesta is living in the slums on Riesan and Farah's dime. Lucian has a place on the river, but he's really not there very much. And we start the book when Fahra kind of wakes up and it's wintertime and she tries to message

Riesan down the bond. But he's too far to reach. He's been spending a lot of time in the Illyrian war camps. And they've got a couple of concerns going on. One is, The women are not getting to train, which Resan and Cassian do not like. They are very passionate about women's rights. They are. And they want equality. And if these women want to fight, they want them to get a chance to learn. And the Illyrians are kind of old school.

And they do not want to teach the women to fight. Not only that, but they'll bury the weapons like after they use them. It's ridiculous. I know. The other concern is that there's some upheaval and talk of disloyalty. on happiness amongst the soldiers. Reese and Cassian are working on solving for these concerns, and Reese tells Cassian he's basically required to come home for winter solstice,

which Cassian eventually just agrees to. And we go back to Fahara, and she's walking around what they call the rainbow, which is kind of like an arts district with like shops and restaurants, and she finds out a studio is for sale in the rainbow, and she sees someone she recognizes from the last, book. As someone that was fighting against the hibern attack, this woman invites her to a painting party. Sarah Mazz really wants this painting thing to be a thing for Fara. Oh, dude. Especially in this book. It's like, okay, paint, paint, paint. We get it. We get it.

The first book in this book, I'm like, okay, got it. But even in the last one, she'd be like, this is the last painting I would have painted. Like every chance she gets to reference. I'm taking the mental note. Click about what colors to use. Click. I'm like, oh, come on. I know. So I'm going to do us all a favor and just condense this painting storyline, then just make it real quick. Thanks much.

You're welcome. Fara ultimately decides it's time to pick up her brush again and chooses not to do it at the painting party because she wants to paint in peace like a kind of therapy. She doesn't know what's going to come out of her. And she ultimately paints herself as she saw herself in the auriboros mirror. Did I say it right? Yes, you did. You did not say Aurora Borealis.

That's more fun to say. Towards the end of the book, she's ultimately gifted the studio from the previous owner and turns it into a therapy painting retreat for trauma victims, remembering that the surreal told her to leave the world better than she found it. So that's really the gist of her painting storyline. It's a lot of the book, but you're welcome. We can be done with that now. What I found interesting is that when she's talking about the painting of herself as

She saw herself in the Orboros, it was a beast. It was a monster. And I'm really curious as to why this was super glossed over. And there's some fan fiction or some kind of talk out there that she might actually be the villain in all of this because she's the monster. I don't know. That's just a little fan theory. I kind of believe it. She's been insufferable even as like a human and a phase.

So like it kind of tracks. Okay. That's interesting. And I love how nerdy you are in that you like find all that stuff too. Back to the rainbow, Fahara runs into Morrigan, and they plan to visit the Hewn City, which is also the night court, being run by Moore's father. And Moore found out that heiress would be there. So she wants to go there. They always go around this time anyway, and let's just go see what they're up to.

We switch over to Moore's point of view. So that's another thing about this book is we're jumping around to POVs. And I loved that. I loved seeing it through different eyes. Like, I just thought this was really well done. But Morgan's having like a bit of a crisis of identity. This is sort of her main storyline through the book. So they go to the Hune City and she's unsettled when she sees her dad and Eris.

And she's having a lot of flashbacks about what they did to her. But the main thing is they find out that Tamlin's not doing a great job of holding the borders between the Spring Court and the mortal lands. And Eris wants to take advantage of that and get some more land for the autumn course. court. He's also kind of planning to kill his dad and take over the throne, which is a secret that everybody's keeping from his dad, which I think is important to note. And it's also something they can hold over him a little bit. Ther says, hey, it's not allowed for you to go take the mortal lands. And we're not so sure they're listening. They're like, yeah, yeah, whatever. Sure, Jan. So then in later

chapters, like Morgan and Resan go for a walk. And she asks if her father, Keir will be coming to Valara soon. But it was part of the deal for Keir to help in the war was that he would have access to Valar. So eventually, Resan's got to let him come and visit. And she is not happy about it at all. No, this is her sanctuary. This is her thing. And really, the dad only wants to do it to upset her. Right.

So Resan offers her a new job. He says he needs someone to move treaty negotiations along in each of the kingdoms. The job is heavy on travel, which will make her not there when her dad shows up, really not there most of the time. And he's recognizing like she's been cooped up here a really long time and she's getting itchy. And he knows that there's something wrong with her and he thinks that this is probably what it is. So her storyline really ties up in the book with her riding a horse. She has a secret estate that nobody really knows about, but she bought it 300 years ago. And she goes out there to ride horses and clear her mind. And ultimately she decides she needs to go far and

ride and travel, even if Keir thinks she's running from him. And that's one of the things holding her back is like, I don't want him to think I ran away. Yeah. But who cares? Right. You know, he's an asshole. Just ride her horse. Yeah. Go ride your horses. Like, what the hell? And live your best lesbian life. Like, you got a lot of things to do. Crepean is pretty progressive. I mean, it's time to come out more. So after the visit to the Hewn City, Reese goes to the spring court to see for himself if Tamlin is in fact enforcing the border patrol. enforcing nothing. And Jenny, do you want to tell us about the poor, miserable existence of Tam-Tam? You guys, I know, I know that we're still conflicted about our feelings for poor old tampon,

but I really felt for the sky during the scene. So the wall between a human and Fay World is now destroyed, and since the lands of the Spring Court are the only border between the two worlds, it requires Tamlin and his people to guard them and keep any shenanigans at bay. But where it gets out to Reese that the border is completely unprotected and under no guard whatsoever. So he pays a little kind visit to Tamlin to figure out what the deal is. Not so kind. You guys.

Okay, what Reese discovers is so sad, y'all. Tamlin's estate is in ruins and he's now a broken, haunted, and isolated man that's been abandoned by his entire court with his estate. what I think is a clod up tomb he created for himself. So this is when I start thinking, Reese is kind of a butthead. And although I feel, No. Yes.

Okay. These people killed his mom and his sister. I know, but it's like, Tamlin, thank you for saving my life in the last book. Well, that's true.

Okay. So this is like, like I said, although I started feeling like I should be here for it and kick a horse, when he's down. I actually felt really bad for the sad sack of Tamlin. I kind of did too. His hair's all maddened. Thank you. I know we're so conflicted. His locks are not flowing. No. And his muscles aren't mussels. His hair is muted and dull and like unwashed and skinny. All the flowers died. I thought that was

sad. That was a really sad day. I know. And so Reese starts bragging about how Fara did her job too well when he sees the pitiful estate and that all of his servants have abandoned him. And then, like, he's continuing to smugly bait him and calls Fahara his mate while saying how disappointed they are in him. Like, gloating asshole. Yeah, I was not a fan of this scene. We're so disappointed in you, Tamlin. They got some unfinished business. They have not worked through all their stuff. And it's coming out sideways here. Yeah. So Reese offered guards to help protect the border. And when Tamlin respondent that he refuses to let Reese's night court ilk onto his lands. Reese loses it and said he deserves everything happening to him and said he wants him to

live the rest of his miserable life alone. Instead of Tamlin fighting back, you guys, he simply said, you won, get out. It broke my heart. So this is what I envision, even though like I have no idea what I'm talking about, it actually like broke my heart and reminded me of a wrestling match when poor Tampon is trying to tag out and nobody is there to relieve him. So he keeps getting like head butted and flying clothesline and suplexed into oblivion. So yeah. So then like Reese leaves and retells the meeting to Fahara who seemed to like totally be detached about it and basically said like, well, it sucks

to be him. Well, she said like, Reese, was it that bad? And it's like, yeah, Reese, you made it that bad, asshole. Yeah. Yeah. This is the beauty of Sarah Maz's writing. out because we love Tamlin in the first book. We hate Tamlin in the second book. Now we're feeling sorry for Tamlin in the fourth book. I mean, we've been on a roller coaster with this man. We're conflicted. I'm like, I should be here for like, you know, and I know that Sarah Maas wanted us to be here cheering Rieson as he was kicking him while he's down, but I'm like, man, this is really sad. Yeah. I don't know if she wanted that. I think she wanted us to feel like, conflict. about it.

She wrote it in a way that you feel bad for this guy. And you're divided. Because I feel like he was abusive and he did some really shitty things and he wasn't really there for Fahara and we've all moved on. And it is sad what he's going through. But he also wasn't that great. So I don't know. But at the same time like Tamlin saved her life.

Tamlin brought her into like without Tamlin. Tamlin saved him live. Yeah. Yeah, he saved Risan for Fara. I know. He loved her. And told her at the end of Wings and Ruined to be happy. Yeah.

So we're all conflicted. We're all conflicted at this point. I really am. I know. This part was hard, but I'm still Team Raysan. Sorry. Well, yeah. I mean, he's hotter.

I wonder. Of course. Yeah. Yeah. Well, he is beautiful. I mean, we're all team Rays sound. But we can agree he was kind of an asshole on this one. Yeah.

All right. Yeah. All right. And it was sad the flowers were dead. That made me sad. It's the spring court. There's no roses. There's no roses in the spring court?

No, it's just thorns. So throughout this book, we're getting a lot of reminders about the character backstory. So it's almost like an 80s family sitcom, like family ties or something where they have like a holiday episode. But really is just a bunch of clips from previous seasons, you know, and it's like they get a freebie out of it. But here's some updates. in the book that felt important, but sort of were sprinkled about. And this is in no particular order, but I thought we should mention. I haven't read the next book. So these may or may not be important. It might be like the weaver where I'm like, oh, shit, I should have told you about that.

Jenny, you and I are in the same space. And Amy is over here going here. Amy's sitting here like rubbing her hands going, I know everything. Yaldo. Okay, Amy. If we leave out something like the weaver, you got to say, Okay, before we close, let's talk about this one thing. So, Reese and Farah talk about how bad her menstrual cycles are and how they're only two times a year. And she's not ready to have kids yet. So that happened. Jurian is ruling the human lands south of Prithian, which never really had a queen.

He's setting up shop at Grayson's place. That's Elaine's ex-boyfriend who was kind of a dick. The firebird queen, Vassa, is also there. And she got a break from her curse of being a fire. bird and is helping Juryan, but the break is temporary and Reese is trying to figure out a way to fix this curse. Right now, she's on a break. I don't remember how they worked that off. The curse and her are on a break. So the four remaining human queens have not returned to their territories and we don't know where they are. And highburn's general population is not real

happy about losing the work. Right. So that's all going on right now. Yeah. I'll keep going and then Amy, if I did leave out something else important, just let me know. Or we'll bring it up when we need to in the next podcast. Like, oh, the weaver was a big deal. Christmas Eve, I mean, Solstice Eve dinner is here. And Cassian arrives to help Farah put up the decorations. And apparently they both just really suck at it. Well, they got wasted.

Kind of funny. Yeah, they got hammered and said it really bad. They got wine wasted. Yeah. And I guess resamper. has an amazing wine collection. Do you think he's a billionaire? Because those are my favorite.

Of course he is. He's got rubies and sapphires. He's got a whole vault of juries. But I love the scene is that Cassian and Farrar are just wasted trying to put up all these decorations. And Azriel comes in horrified because they're so ugly what they did. He didn't even fix this. He didn't even take off his jacket before he starts fixing all the decorations. How very dare you hangar, Len.

like that. It's like this sad like Charlie Brown Christmas tree. I mean, talk about wait till the last minute though. They do it at dinner the day before. Right. I mean, put it up right after Thanksgiving and leave it up for a month. After Halloween. Fahara goes in the kitchen to help Elaine prepare the bread for dinner. And when Fahara asks Elaine if Nesta will be coming, Elaine says Nesta doesn't want to come to anything ever. Like I've tried. She ain't taking the bait. She wants a break from us. So you kind of like, Yikes. Like, what's going on with her? She's working through some stuff. Yeah, she's going through it. And everyone sits down for dinner and is having a good time. But then Elaine asks Amran about her new body. Amaran doesn't appreciate the

intrusion, but Elaine isn't really picking up on the social cues. Like she's like to have a new body and Amaran's not loving her new body because she has to like digest food and go to the bathroom. I mean, but it was really funny. That was really funny. It had me laughing. She was like so pissed and was like, I gotta take a shit. What the hell? Like, I don't know where to go.

But then she says to Elaine, you cannot return to being human no matter how much you want to. And it gets awkward. So it's that awkward dinner moment. That's usually my job at the holidays. Yeah, it's a typical family drama. You know, there's, you know, pretty typical Christmas. Yeah. Yeah. Like, why didn't you bring your husband today? You know, I usually say something like that. So then Asriel defends Elaine, which, you know, he is still fiercely protective of her. Then the good mood does return. And after dinner, Fahira and Reese go out to find Nesta. Now, Nesta is hanging out at the seedyest bar. So I didn't realize, I thought Valeris was perfect. There's a seedy side of town and Nesta found it. I mean, there's always a seedy side of town, even in the nicest of places. Even in Beverly Hills, you always find a little towny bar.

If there's a dive bar, I could probably find it. Yeah. Like, I am not judging. That sounds like a good time. I know. Fahara walks in, and she's sitting around the table with some cute guys and playing cards, and Favored dismisses them. You may leave me, please, with my sister. And Nesta doesn't really appreciate being cock-blocked really so much.

So Fahara asks Nesta, you know, hey, are you going to come home for the holidays? And Nesta's like, nope, no thanks. And she tries a few dirty tricks and says, well, our father would have wanted this, which is kind of low. This really upsets Nesta. And when Faire is like, all right, she gives up. And when she's leaving, Nesta says, don't forget my rents do soon. Because Fara and Rysand are bankrolling her lifestyle, if you could call it that. The balls on the apartment and her booze.

Yeah. Yeah. So Farris says, we'll make sure it's delivered as long as you come spend winter solstice with us. So it's kind of a dirty trick, but Faye was running out of options. Like she's trying everything. So it really pisses Nesta off. And so she leaves and Rysand's kind of got his arm around her like, sorry about your sister. And so it turns out, but that Nesta has stayed in touch with Amaran though. And she's checking in with her once a week and they've stayed close. And Fahira goes to talk to Amaran about Nesta. Amher's like. Like, I'm not betraying her trust. This is not my business. That's not my information to share. You might be my high lady, but I've got something special with this chick, so butt out. Yeah, this is my girlfriend. I'm not going to betray her.

I'm in a girl code. That's not surprising either, because Amaran's kind of a cool chick like that. So Christmas morning is here or rather the winter solstice arrives. And so it's also FARA's birthday. She's a Christmas baby. Yep, she's 21. I know. I'm like, I forgot.

how young she was. Like, she started this book at, she was 18. Yeah, and he's like over 500 and any other kind of genre that wouldn't work so well. That's a hell of an age gap. Some people like that. He got her a sketchbook, a scarf, and a satchel, which is all very practical, but for a billionaire, I thought was a little anticlimactic. So they go downstairs for breakfast, but before they can eat, Reese is whisked away by Asriel and Cassie, and as part of their tradition that they do every winter solstice. Once they leave, Elaine comes out from the kitchen and ring-dong Lucian's here bearing gifts. It is awkward a. F. per usual, every time he's around Elaine. And she freezing. Yeah, she skittered out of there to go make tea. She's like,

I'll be right back. And so she gets lost. And Fayeira sits with Lucian. She's like, you know, hey friend, like, I haven't seen you in a long time. Why don't you come and stay with us for a while? And he's like, uh, no thanks. And he says, look, I can't stand to be in the room with Elaine for more than two minutes. And I hate knowing that Resand is funding my lifestyle. Yeah. And he's also having a crisis of identity. Because when his family disowned him, he was Tamlin's guy. Yeah. And now Tamlin has kind of kicked him out because Tamlin's going through his own shit. Yeah. And he says, I just want to be alone. Get out of here. Because he just got back from Spring Court and was. really welcome there. So he says he's been living with Juryan and Vassa, the Firebird Queen at Grayson's house and they call themselves the band of exile. It sounds like a

bad 80s band. That I would totally see in concert because that sounds badass actually. Like the breakfast club, these like misfits, you know. Again, like Lucian can't catch a break. The poor guy, he just, I just want him to find his peace.

I thought he should be with the lame but now I'm like, I don't know. Sarah Mosque, she's got tricks up her sleeve to make us change our mind. So after that awkwardness, Fahra finds more and the two go outside to see what this tradition is that Cassian, as and Reese, take part of every year. And Amy, do you want to tell us what these grown men do every year, these 500-year-old men? Okay. This is the famous snowball fight. It's such a cute, but it's kind of a ridiculous scene.

But I just kind of loved it. We're coming off of the seriousness of wings and ruin. And so I just love that we're seeing a sillier side of them. And basically, they've done this since they were kids. They built these snow forts with no wings or magic allowed. And they have this like epic snowball fight that lasts for hours and hours. And I just love the visual of them popping up from behind their snow forts and with their dark heads and launching snowballs at each other. And it was just really cute.

Like little prairie dogs. Like, how cute is that? Yeah, so they were just having fun and it just kind of made us giggle. Like when I was listening to it on audiobook, it was just making me laugh and just the silliness of them. So yes, Asriel won his 199th victory. Following the snowball fight, they all strip off their famous Lerian leathers and they go to steam in this birchen to kind of a fairy steam room, I guess. And so now I'm over here going, um, favorite. get your ass in there too sweet. Unfortunately, she didn't, but I would have. I'm just saying.

Yeah, they're all in there. No, but nothing on, Stevie. They're all naked. They're all in there and they're all sweating. So she should have gotten in there, in my opinion. But rather, she sent Reese a very sexy and suggestive image down the bond. And he popped a boner before getting kicked out. Yeah, that would have, I wouldn't have minded checking out the wingspan in that steam room. But I held when he had to get, like, kicked out of the room because he was to add attention. That was funny for me. They all go back to the house for the Christmas Day festivities. And first they do a birthday cake for Fahara. And like I said, I mean, she's, she's 21. That's it.

Like, this woman has been through so much in her 21 little years. And then after dinner, they start opening gifts and Ring Dog. Nesta's here for rent money. I guess she's got to do a little. fam time too. Yeah. So everything changed when she showed up. Everything got like just awkward and, or it was a sad trombone.

And then nobody bought her any problems either. I think she was coming. Except Elaine, of course. But Jenny, do you want to tell us what went on in the gift exchange? There were some fun ones, but I kind of focused on Phaer's gifts. Okay, so I know that the author wants us to think that Faya's solstice gifts were like pure perfection, but I'm just too catty for that. So Faireg gives Amaran the best gifts of both the puzzle carrier, which is cute and a beautiful ruby and silver brooch. And so she totally came in clutch with that one.

Amaran's a jewelry whore. I don't know if we've talked about that, but she's like loves jewelry. And so this was a thoughtful gift. I know Amaran. I got you, girl. And then she also thoughtfully gives Elaine a blue cloak to use while gardening. And that was super sweet as well. But then she admits, she like fully admits that she had no idea what to give more Azrael and Cassian. So she gives them each one of her paintings. And we don't even learn what those paintings are except for glimpses of their story. Whatever that mean. When I read this part, I'm like, well, that kind of reminds me of how I feel when I give away my salsa as Christmas gifts because I like a little self-promotion like a gift

that everybody's like, well, it's, I appreciate it. I'll take two. I do like your salsa, but, you know, I would appreciate some bibles and stuff. Right. I know I make a mean salsa, but I also know I'm taking the easy way out if my loved one is opening a cloth-covered mason jar with a Rofia bow. You know what I mean? Yeah.

So those are paintings. So then, then she gives Reese another one of her personal paintings, which quotes, gives him star bright eyes and makes his throat bob. And I'm sitting here with a side eye going, what? So the painting that she gives him, y'all, this bitch painted him the creature that the Oraboro showed her what she truly is. The creature full of hate, regret, love, sacrifice, bravery, and cruelty. I'm like, uh...

What's on that painting? What? So both of them act like it's such a vulnerable and special painting. But all I could think about is, what the hell is this shitty gift? Here, Reese, this will look great in our bedroom. Never mind the eyes following you while you walk across the room and staring at you while you drift off to sleep. Good night and sleep tight. Sweet dreams.

I don't know if you guys are following friends. It's like that Phoebe painting that when she did that glass. coming out of the wall are we gladys or glennis like I just thought she was being vulnerable but if you think about it it's probably a pretty terrifying

painting based on the way they described it like where do you put a painting like that I would probably put it like in my cellar in the attic in storage and did you guys think it was really weird that Cassian and Morgan exchanged lingerie like in front of Nesta, that was kind of weird.

Yeah, that was a little weird. Yeah, she gave him, like, red satin boxers, and he gave her this, like, sexy negligee and weird. Like, if I, like, Nesta sitting over here in the corner, she's scowling anyways, but I would be like, what the fuck is this? Well, you know, I don't think Morgan likes Cassian having a crush on Nesta. And so she, that may have been pre-planned so that she could do a little jab. Yeah.

She told him what to get her. And she was awful to Nesta when she showed. I mean, rightfully so, but still. Yeah, she hasn't really ever warmed to her. So it starts to get late. And Nesta gets up to leave. And Fara offers her the check that she promised her. Fara's like secretly hoping she tears it up and says,

don't worry about it. Nesta puts in her pocket and says, all right, see you bye. And Cassian basically barrels past Fara to get to Nesta. because he wants to walk her home. They start bickering the whole way back, and she keeps telling him to leave her alone. She sees that he bought her a solstice gift, and she just snaps.

She's just pushing him away. Like, leave me alone. Leave me alone. She's being a huge brat. She is, and she marches off, and he gets so frustrated, he throws the gift in the water. And it was sad because it took him a really long time,

and it was really thoughtful about finding her the perfect thing. Yeah, he said it took him months to find it, We don't really know in this book what he got her. Amy, do we find out later? Yeah, we know, we find out what we get the way. Thank God. Yeah. All right. Thank goodness. And I wish it's not in the bottom of the Sidra. That's all I'm going to say. Oh, shoot. She marches off and he flies over her to make sure she gets home safely. And once she knows he's gone, she lights a fire and starts remembering the snap of her father's neck as the fire crackles beside her. And she feels nothing. And so, Sarah Maas writes a lot of PTSD storyline.

I mean, that's what this is. Like, she's having her own reaction to the trauma that she's been through with the war and seeing her father killed. That was super sad way to see Nesta's story end. But the next book is about Nesta, so hopefully that turns around. We do end on a happy note. Reese whisked's faira to their cabin for some sexy time. And I was like this is probably the best spice we've seen in the series yet. I mean, like, they were just, like, connected, like, mind, body, spirit, soul, everything.

Like, holy hell. And Lisa says the sex destroyed me. They shake the pictures off the wall. She wrote it really well. It was very spicy. She does. Yeah. What I loved is that when Fahra, like, when they get to the cabin and she's like, I've got a little

present for you, a stocking stuff for, if you will, my big man, my empty uterus is waiting to be seated. Oh, God. Yeah, she's like, yeah, like, yeah, impregnate me. This was funny because Amy and I were driving back from Texas and we were on a road trip and we were listening to this part. And it was one of those things. You listen to how spicy it is and you're just like, okay, now I feel like I am watching a movie with my child and like it's a sexy time and it's like we're looking at each other awkwardly. Like, wow, this is way too hot to be sitting next to you.

Yeah, like you put in a movie from the 80s And then you forget that everyone was naked In those movies in the 80s with their kid Yeah, I've never done that before Yeah, she does her gift to him As she says, I'm ready to have a baby So of course he's moved and touched and so happy And he stops taking, he was taking a tonic

So I thought it was really hard to impregnate fairies but he was on birth control for men. It is hard to impregnate fairies because, like, they only have a cycle, like, twice a year. And so on a good day, you're going to wait for years and years and years. But we don't have years and years and years to wait. So I was going to say that. Okay, gotcha. Foreshadowing.

I want to meet that baby. I'm, like, really excited with little violet eyes, tiny wings. Give me that baby. Come on. Let me squish it. The next morning, Reese has a final gift for Fara. He takes her to a dilapidated building and says he bought her the estate. They're going to knock it down. She can build her own house. Like exactly how she wants it with a nursery, he says. This is like house number five. Yeah, I know. It's like the house of wind wasn't good. You know, like nobody wants to go there. I'm like, why don't you sell it? Like if everyone hates it and then the townhouse is getting a little crowded, you know.

Equity. I know. This is the time to sell. if you're going to buy, you know. But he's a billion. I know. Why not have all these homes? So the day after the hot sex and the gifting of the house, Reese goes back to the spring court to see Tamlin. And sad Tam Tam is sitting alone with a dead elk in front of him on the table.

And Tamlin's just, he's a wreck of a man. And he asks Reese, his favor ever going to forgive me. Sad, right? But Reese was nicer this time. He's like, I don't know the answer to that question. And I can't answer that for you. And then Tamlin asks Reese, will you ever forgive me for what my family did to your family? Yeah.

Reese says, you never apologized for that. Yeah. Which is fair. Yeah. And Tamlin says it wouldn't have made a difference. But I'll cook you a steak while we chat about it. Cooked him a steak, like a piece offering elk steak. Yeah, he like used his magic to skin the elk.

And it was like he'd wave his hand and it was cut into chops. Then he'd wave his hand and then he sizzling on the stove. And then he says, eat. And he says, you can waste away and die after we've sorted out this new world of ours. But now, for now, you need to eat. I would say he made up a little bit for his asshole moment before. But he still has every right to, like, he murdered his mom and his sister. Like, I don't think you get over that, you know.

So we end with Resand waiting for Farah after an art class. And after all the children leave, she's feeling very fulfilled. And she tells Reese down the bond that he makes her so very happy and that her life is happy. And he gets tears in his eyes. And they tell each other, I love you. And I seriously never thought this day would come. So thank you, Sarah, finally. Yeah.

Fyra is happy. Finally. We needed this. After all of those books that we were getting through, there's some happiness that's I know. Like nothing would make her happy, but now she really is happy. And this was a really sweet way to end the story. Yeah. And I thought this book was very sweet. So I really liked this one a lot. So let's talk about how we would rate this book. Jenny, do you want to start? I loved this book. It was like festive and it was silly. And with the fact that the book before was all war and dreary, I love. I love it. And it was festive. And it was silly. And with the fact that the book before was all war. And dreary, I love. this book and just embraced it. So I think I would give it a 4.5. And for Spice, I would give it a 3.5. Amy and I listened to it in the car ride home, like I said, and it was a little uncomfortable. So that means that's good that they were doing something right. So yeah, it was good.

You were uncomfortable. I was fine. I was like, yeah. Finally. Let's want to find a seated bar. That was your second time listening to it. That was my first time I'm like, ooh, I'm driving. I'm going, whoo. You all just wait until silver flames, you guys. That's going to be even spicier. Ooh. Oh, I'm so excited to dive into that one. So where would you have rated this one? Okay. So like Jenny said, it's the Christmas special, right? It's meant to give us a little bit of a mental break coming off the first three books. So, you know, she's cute. She's fun. She's cozy. You know, there's not a lot of meat to it. Love it. I would say 3.5 out of five. And then with a spice at the end. It's the spiciest scene out of the whole series. I wouldn't say it was a 3.5 for me. I would

just say it's a three out of five. If we had a little bit more of those scenes, then I'd probably write a little bit higher. But what we got was good. I agree. And I, so this was a four star read for me and a three spice, three chili pepper read for me, but only because there was only one scene. Had there been others like that, we would have been pushing five chilies because this was really spicy. That was spicy. It would be as spicy as as Jenny salsa. Yeah. I didn't even get I didn't get any salsa this Christmas. Wait, I didn't give it away because I'm like, I'm not going to take the easy way out, but I've got some for you, girl. I'll hook you up.

Okay. Oh, no. Hook me up. Well, thank you for recapping this with me, ladies. We are having so much fun with this series. I'm loving it. All of you can find us on TikTok, Instagram. Well, TikTok while at last. Instagram and Facebook at Boozy BookGasms on all the things and be sure to check out our season two reading list and show dates. You can email book suggestions to Jen at Boosy BookGasms.com or send a note right from our webpage. And thanks again for joining us. We'll see you next week for a quart of Silver Flames. Thank you guys. Until then, happy reading. I love you guys. I'll see you later. Bye.

Thanks for tuning in. We hope today's episode was the climate next of your day, leaving you breathless and wanting more. Until next time, remember to indulge in the pleasures of life and to keep the passion alive. You can find more tantalizing episodes at boosybookasms.com. Enjoy the ride, and we'll see you soon.