Ep 89 A Very Cringy Christmas! 🎄💋 Reading Viral Popular Holiday Romance Books

This episode is chalk full of all the magical things we hope to receive this holiday season, including but not limited to: revenge on abusive fiances via honeyed ham cleaver, several foot long Krampus tongues, monster cages, Christmas tree farms, skiing sessions, and double penetration involving a college hottie and his… step dad? 😳

It’s our unhinged, cringy Christmas novella episode, second annual! We picked two popular holiday smutty books under 150 pages and gave them a try to see if they lived up to the hype, were Christmas-y enough, and if the SMOT™ ratio was well balanced. Stick around if you want the 411 on Gifted to His Dad by J. Wilder and Cry for Krampus by Aiden Pierce. What are our spoiler free star and spice ratings? And should you add these books to your winter vacation TBR? 

We get into quotes, reviews, our summaries, and of course our deep thoughts and opinions. Then we also make sure to go over our own winter hopefuls, repeats from last year, and finish with a monster smash or pass involving a very tall and popular sweet angel baby and an animated classic.

Don't be shy, subscribe! New Podcasts every Tuesday!! (And sometimes Friday!…)

Check out these author interviews? ⬇️

Need more Halloween reads in your life? Find out if “Halloweentown for adults” with Gilmore Girls vibes might be for you with our Haven Ever After Hazel Mack Interview! https://youtu.be/-kDxchCTysw?si=KpEbcsCHAniU-JTS

Penn Cole talks with us about Strong Female Characters, Feminist Themes, and her debut bestselling Spark of the Everflame Series! https://youtu.be/7ukNImyoObw?si=7C3Y9kOUMN4hfcKb

We interviewed Callie Hart all about her NYT Bestseller Quicksilver! Watch it here! https://youtu.be/CED5s7qDBdQ?si=8xtIRO1IzX6Rsld4

Check the official Follow Up Author Interview with Lindsay Straube of the Split or Swallow Universe all about Between Two Kings! https://youtu.be/OW1cxXTVcTc?si=oOxVIzbIheET_bNE

____

Shop Bookish Merch we are wearing:

Ashley is wearing: Red Starboard Fae Hoodie from @LionheartThreads | * https://go.magik.ly/ml/27ucw/  | Use Code: LIZ15 to save! 

Liz is wearing : He Sees You When You’re Sleeping Crew by @darkanddisturbedshop | https://darkanddisturbedshop.com | Use Code: VEGAN10 to save! 

Any link with an * is an affiliate link through the service Magic Links and is eligible for a commission to us with no extra cost to you. Thank you for helping support our podcast!

Chapters

• 0:00 Spoiler Free Intro
• 6:12 Fav and Fails Holiday Book Edition
• 11:35 Gifted to His Dad Spoiler Free Book Review
• 16:35 Gifted to His Dad Book Discussion
• 33:30 Cry for Krampus Spoiler Free Book Review
• 36:00 Cry of Krampus Book Discussion
• 55:26 Christmas and Holiday Themed Book Discussion
• 59:10 Unhinged Smash or Pass

Transcript

Have you been living under an actual rock? I've been living under a mountain of books, Liz. I would dare say four, just because we've Have we finally desensitized? She gets in her like freaking Subaru Outback. I'm writing this dude over 10 times.

Welcome to the Besties in the Books podcast, guys. I'm Liz. And I'm Ashley. I'm so excited. Me, too. Me, too. Welcome to a very cringy Christmas read.

Christmas is coming to town. Hey,

guess what? We are back here with another cringy, unhinged holiday episode. Not unlike our Halloween, Thanksgiving, and even Valentine's Day episodes where we read some nice smutty holiday themed nollas to get us in the mood. Are you guys holding it all together down there? Where's Christmas going? And Christmas isn't even here yet cuz we're preiling. Yeah. Just take a breath. Bring the Morocco back out. We're just going to listen to you like just it'll lull us to a sense of calm. It does feel nice. There is something about that. It is. Those Reiki people and such, they got it. Yeah. Ho ho ho. Merry Christmas and happy Hanukkah. Hey guys. Hey. I like that we've just lost our minds now. It's fine. It's great. Is the season. Mhm. Yeah. Okay. Yep. So, here we are. We did a search for cringey, unhinged, or curveball. I didn't include this in the notes. Curveball, just popular. Yes, we decided to go a little bit different this time around just to see if it might be a little cringy in the opposite direction. Like, are things going to be a little bit romcomy for us? Are we still going to enjoy it? Did you guys like a book that maybe were like, we don't really get it? So, we decided to do kind of a little bit more of a well-rounded selection this time. Yeah, we've done a lot of monster romances in all of our holidays. So, then I was like, "Hey, Liz, let's do a popular like Christmas nolla." You know, she still picked the most unhinged one that she could out of the three that I gave her. I was trying to cringe her out a little bit, but I'm also still nice, so I still gave her one with some daddy themes in there. And uh but it was very highly rated. A lot of people talk about on Goodreads and on Tik Tok. So I thought let's we should give it a try because sometimes people don't want a monster romance. Yeah. So we're bringing you guys both today. We don't know why but we'll try to understand. Okay. Yeah. We'll do the research. Yeah. So we read Gifted to His Dad by Jay Wilder, which I've already had several people reach out to me about this book and say that they love it. So, yay. There there's that. Um, and we read Cry for Krampus by Aiden Pierce. So, if you guys have been around since Halloween, you know that we did read Burn for Jack by Aiden Pierce, and we really enjoyed it. So, we decided to bring her back on for a repeat um of more of the dark Christmas romance variety. Um, so yeah, we have one that's more of a lighthearted romcom, if you will. Um, and one that's a bit more of like a dark almost like dark romance Christmas horror a little bit. So, yeah. Yeah. So, we'll get into that in a little bit. I did want to give you guys a disclaimer. We need to give you a disclaimer. Um, due to the nature of the content in this episode, they'll be a bit more graphic and sexually explicit than our typical. So, there's just no way around it. Guys, we read a book called Gifted to His Dad. So, yeah. So, hey, if you got your kiddos around, pop those headphones in cuz this ain't for them. You know, this is a Christmas episode, but this is Christmas for adults. Christmas. Happy holidays. There's dad for everyone. Yeah. Ho ho ho. Emphasis on the ho ho ho. Um, so, you know, and as we always say in these episodes, too, we're here to roast when roasting is due. We're here to, you know, have fun, make fun of stuff. Um, but at the end of the day, you know, like what you like. We're not here to judge anyone. It's all in good fun. We judge ourselves. We judge the books we love. Um, just as well as the books we don't love. So, more power to you. We just have to say, yes, happy holidays. And happy holidays. On a serious note, on a serious note, bring the Moroccans back out. Okay. So, here we go. Here we go. Ashley will be anytime you're feeling frantic, I'll just bust them out. She'll be uh the end of this episode just leading us through a Christmas meditation. So stay tuned for that. Um you know, before we get into any of that, um including our, you know, faves and fails, spoiler-free reviews and all that, we just want to say thank you so much for being here. Seriously, thank you. Take Thank you. Thank you for taking time out of your day and your book and your holiday season to pop us on into your ear. We so appreciate having you here amidst all the chaos. We're hoping this gives you a chance to kind of get in the spirit and laugh and have fun and to have and to hold and holding and having. Giving and receiving. Giving and receive is the season to give and receive. Heyo. Um, make sure to like, follow, and subscribe anywhere you like your favorite podcast. We are also on YouTube hanging out there and we are also on Instagram, Tik Tok. We're at Besties in the Books podcast everywhere. So, if you like this vibe so far, if you're just stopping in for the first time, hey, what's up? Welcome. Jump on in. The water's fine and a little bit unhinged. Little unhinged. Just enough. Yeah, just enough. Okay, so fave and fail of the week. We decided that this week we're going to do a holiday books edition. So, fave um would be like a Christmas book that we're looking forward to reading this season or like a holidayish kind of book. And then the fail would be one that we were supposed to read last year that we still have not gotten to. So, great. Great. Share with the group. Liz, what are you going to read? What didn't you read? What are all the readings? What are all the readings? Okay, so my uh fave, so the thing that I'm really looking the most forward to reading is, so as you guys know, last year I read a book called Dance Sugar Plum by Aurelia Knight and Amy Oliviera, I think is how you say it. Um, so it is the Royal Ballet. So it's like a dark romance Nutcracker retelling. Well, since then two sequels have come out. Ooh. So, Scream Snowdrop, I have already ordered it. So, this is book two and then book three that came out pretty recently. Let's see, what is it called? Run Starlight. So, I am going to complete that trilogy. I'm really excited. These are all pretty short nollas, but it's like dark mafia ballet Christmas. It's so good. So, yeah, really excited to read book two and three. And then the fail, the ones that I did not read last year that I am going to hopefully read this year. So, I actually have two. So, there's a Court of Sugar and Spice by Rebecca F. Kennedy uh that I heard from a lot of people is really good and super unhinged and I didn't get around to reading it last year because it is longer. So, it is also a Nutcracker retelling, but it's like in the It's like 350 pages. So, I want to get to that one. And then also this one, How My Neighbor Stole Christmas. It's been on a lot of people's lists and hot topics. Yeah. Longer. Yeah. By Megan Quinn. So, this one is, let's see, about 470 pages. So, these are two longer ones, but they've been on my TBR since last Christmas, so I'm bound and determined to get to them this December because I am curious what all of the hype has been about. Yes. So, what about you? What have you got on your holiday reading list? H Well, since you talked about it last year, you hyped it up so much. The dance of the sugar plum one. Is that what it was called? What was it called? The first one is called Dance Sugar Plum. Yeah, Dance Sugar Plum. So, that's been on my list for sure. I don't think I added any to my list last year, TBH, because the holidays are just they're hard. They're hard, man. Um, and I think we were like literally reading Quicksilver and a bunch of other stuff. So, I didn't get around to anything else last year. Um, and then sure, I'm going to put this one on here. Krampus Crunk by Serena Pier. Age gap dark romance Christmas novela. Why not? Heck yeah. Heck yeah. age gap. We love a good age gap of 500 years. So, yeah. So, hey, why not? Why not? There's I feel like there's another one that has been like floating around everywhere right now. And someone even posted a video of it at Barnes & Noble. It's like the new dark romance Christmas book that of of uh 2025. Do you know what I'm talking about? No. Uh it's got like such a Did you Wait, did you see that? A Very Stalker Christmas just came out with a book too on November 12th. Yeah, that's on my list, too. I just I didn't want to get too crazy. A Very Killer Christmas. I actually pre-ordered that one, so I should be getting it soon. Um, but Oh, I wish I could remember what it's called. Oh, here we go. He Sees You When You're Sleeping, a dark and steamy holiday romance of obsession and secrets by Ulta Hensley. So, that one has been everywhere. It says it's a bestseller right here on Amazon, so I'll probably try to read that one, too. But that one's also full book length, so yeah. Yes. They can only fit so much. It can only fit so much. That's what she said. Yeah. Okay. Well, tell us what's on your guys' holiday reading list. I'm curious. I love the holiday nolla a day. It's like all my brain can take sometimes. It's like an advent calendar you could do. If you did all novellas, you could do a little advent calendar DIY situation. That's cute. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe I'll make myself add Hunted and Holly to your list cuz just to follow up on last year's very uncringed no a very cringy and unhinged holiday Christmas episode, we read Hunted and Holly and actually really loved it. So, and that one is If you haven't read it yet, do it. Lean Bell. I have it right back here. So, just Yeah, if we're doing shoutouts, Hunted and Holly by Lean Bell. Excellent. And then White Out by Gracie Williams. If you want something that is truly unhinged, probably one of the most unhinged books I've ever read. Yeah. Yeah. There you go. So, Christmas dark romance had by all. Yes. There's a sampling for you guys. Choose your own adventure. Choose your style. There you go. All right. So, should we get to the task at hand? Yes. Let's get to work. Let's get to work. All right. Let's start with gifted to his dad. Dad. Great. I gifted it to you. You did gift it to me. You really did. Um, and I have to say, like, if you guys haven't seen the cover of this one, I have to pull it up and show it to you because it's just it's such a I feel like such an old lady saying this, but there's no better way to say it. Like, it's just it's got a darling cover. It's such a darling cover. But really, that's so darling. Look at this. You're going to be such a cute little lady. Oh, it's so darling with your little witch uh you know, stuffed animal lady on your couch. So cute. I mean, look, it's like you've got the college age version and then you got his dad right over here. She's just in the middle. They're all cute little cartoons. So darling. Okay. So, so let's just give our spoilerfree short review star rating spice rating of this book. What did you think? So, I gave four stars for this one. It's exactly what you expect. It's does a good job. Has a good flow. It all makes sense. You get just enough of what you need and then the other stuff you get a lot of and it's great. And what does that mean? What more could you ask for? Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas. One and all. One and all. Um, okay. So, four stars for you. Yeah, I gave it four stars as well. Mhm. Yeah. If the stepdad trope is something that you enjoy, you'll love this book. Yeah. Yeah. And I think something that needs to be said and something that is mentioned in the beginning of the book as well is that everyone were adults when they met. Yes. Very important disclaimer. Yes, they are adults. They were adults when they're met. Everything is consensual and any like issues that you have while you're starting to read it are squashed real quick. So that's good. Yeah. You know, there's no like I mean it's in its own way, but like you know I mean it's still Yeah. It's very taboo, but yeah, in a way, it's taboo, but in a way that like makes sense and is like safe and comfy for everyone involved. Like the stepson basically becomes like moves in with his stepdad when he's like 19, I think, something like that. Like literally an adult, like over. So, yeah. Yeah. So, just in case anyone was wondering about that, if you're like, "Oh, no. H like I can't, you know." For sure. For sure. Um, so I gave it four stars. spice. I mean, I'd say probably a five, guys. A five spice frequency and uh just the taboo nature. There are definitely swords crossing. So yeah, I would dare say four just because we were Yeah, just cuz you know I'm I'm getting all picky over here like now now now I'm like well actually just cuz the amount of stuff that we've read so far nothing really goes I mean like have we finally desensitized yeah I think we Your evil plan is paying off. I mean, listen, we're coming off basted over here. Okay, that's true. So, in the context of the other things that we've read, it's like a four because there's nothing real crazy getting put in places. I'm going to just say that. That's true. There. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, there's it's we stick to human anatomy in this book, so that's different for us. No spoilers or anything, but hey. Yeah. Um, we'll we'll move on on our second read to non-human anatomy. So, don't you worry if you're here for the monster romance, we've got you. Um I think yeah going from monster romance that we read so much to like this I'm like ah four even though it's very frequent and it's still his dad stepdad sorry still stepdad stepdad very important it's very very important very important um I mean I still stick by my five because I think that when there's um that that level of frequency and taboo and swords crossing and double penetration. That counts as a five to me, but like I could see how maybe it wouldn't be some people. Depends on your personal scale. Depends on your personal scale. Ashley, four star or four for spite. Um, but anywhere in that zone I feel like would be accurate. Four or five depending on what you're comfy with. Um, and yeah, solid four stars. Hey. Hey. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So, should we get into the official spoiler section? Yeah. Okay, let's go. Oh, I should have used this for Between Two Kings. It sounds like a rattlesnake. It does. This I dropped the ball. I'll get it in the prequel. Yeah, I was going to say next time I'll do Okay, so uh it's my turn to give a very brief summary of this book. Um so not a five sentence summary, just a brief summary of what it's about. Basically, you have um all these characters whose names I cannot remember at all. Everyone has left my brain. Okay. So, you have this I will say probably 21 year old early 20s guy who's like in college and this is his girlfriend and they decide to go to their family cabin like out in the woods or whatever to have a nice Christmas and um his stepdad is going to come join them the next day or whatever. Well, he shows up unannounced a day early and sees them doing stuff and she's like, "Oh no, I'm so embarrassed. This was so horrifying." Well, come to find out over the next few days, which I would say this was my only problem with the book, but over the next few days, they kind of end up in like a throppple situation. Um, decide that they want her to move in with them. It's a definitely a happily ever after. you know, they have a good fun time in the cabin, go back to their normal lives and decide to all be together. Um, he's obviously the older man is obviously the younger guy's stepdad, but it was kind of like an unique situation because he didn't move in with him until he was like in college because he got abandoned by his mom. Mhm. Um, who had divorced him. So, technically, he's not even really his stepdad anymore because they also divorced. Um, but yeah, I feel like that's pretty much pretty much it. Yeah. Yeah. Um, the only problem I had was I felt like the insta love was a little intense for me. I'm like, really? You fell in love with him in like 4 days? I don't know. Like the relationship with the son made sense because they had been dating for a while. Um, but like it's one thing I think for her to become infatuated with the dad so fast, but for him to also become that infatuated with her as like I don't know, someone who we're guessing is in his early 40s just didn't really make a whole lot of sense to me. But I was like, whatever. Yeah. I try not to think too deep about it because it's not what it's meant for. No, it's just a good time. It's meant to be a good time. But it kind of pulled me out a little bit when he was like, I'm in love with you, too. when they're profess when everybody was professing their love, I was literally like, "Wait, no, we don't need to do that, but whatever. It's okay. You can just have a good time for a while and see what happens." You know, that's all right. Yeah. Um it was kind of like it gave me like when she went back to their house and like decided to move in with them, it gave me like if we finally got our special fanfic about like Edward and Carile. Yeah. You know, like that's what it would be like. That's what I was thinking. I was like, "Oh, yeah." That fantasy that so many of us have. Yeah. Great. Um, okay. So, that's pretty much what it's about. So, what was something that you liked? I felt like for what it is, a spicy Christmas nolla. It was well written. The spice didn't like cringe me out. The most cringy thing was the I love you. I love you, too. It was like, well, you've known him for literally three days. Yeah. So, calm down. You know? Mhm. Yeah. Um but otherwise, yeah, that's something that I liked. And I did like the Christmas woven in. Yeah. Like it was just enough because obviously now we've read a lot of holiday books and I felt like some of them are just it's just happens to fall on the day and we're not really getting the holiday. This one it's just enough to satisfy. I always want more with my holiday ones. I want a lot of holiday. But it's it's cute in that way. They go to a Christmas tree farm. That's probably my favorite part. That was so cute. I was like, "Ew." But okay, they're going to have Coco, you know, they're at a cool cabin that I want to go to in the mountains. So, yeah, it's cute. What about you? What was your favorite thing that you liked?

As I'm like drinking out of my uh thing with my sticker that says literally fil me daddy on it. There you go. Um, yeah, that was my favorite part because I feel like it was just done in such a way that was it was just Yeah, it was safe for everyone involved. So, as the reader, it's like a way to enjoy like The Daddy Kink in a way that's like it's just a fun time. Yeah. Probably the best way you can do it. Yeah. That doesn't have me too like, you know, it's like listen, not for me, but like I mean this this is if you're going to do it, this is a way that makes sense. Yeah. So, yeah. Um, what about your least favorite part? Was it the insta love or like was it something else? Um, just in general just moved too fast, but I understand it's a nolla, but I think without the love thing, I probably wouldn't have felt that way. Yeah, same. You know, cuz Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it did move fast. Like, she's literally moving in with them, you know, and I understand that she was from an unfortunate situation, but then that gets me thinking, okay, like she's kind of, you know, it's a little manipulative. So, I get too reading into it because it's moving so fast and it's not meant for that. Yeah. I feel like you're on to something though because I felt like her bad backstory. Her unfortunate backstory seeped into the current story because she was very insecure about kind of everything in her life. Like she was very insecure about her body. She was very insecure about her worth as a person, about her living situation, about her history and family. And I think that they kind of took advantage of that in a little like a little bit in the way of having her move in so fast and proposing so quickly and like all that kind of stuff. I think she was kind of like starved for affection a little bit. Or at least that's how it came off. Yeah. a little love balmy, a little um and of course we are reading into it, but that's what we do here. Yeah. Uh yeah. So it just depends like I don't I think we would be remiss to not mention it, but then at the end of the day it's like supposed to be like a fun like short Christmas nolla. So hey, maybe they all had love at first sight and it was Christmas magic and they lived happily ever after, right? It's like you could also just take it as well, but I did put that I disliked the most kind of like that dynamic like her being very insecure and them harping on it constantly. But making her feel like she had worth, but making her feel like she had worth, but we don't get to see her personality. We don't see that they see her personality. So then her worth is just that she's willing to be a she's a willing participant into their throppple situation. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. So, that's kind of makes me go Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Cuz like did did we have to go there? Like, did we have to make her so insecure about everything? Could she have just had a stable upbringing and just, hey, cool. I'm into it. Why not? Yeah. Then we wouldn't be even having to have this conversation in a and that would be a positive for me. I think that what the author was trying to do was show how much these men catered to her and really at the end of the day treated her really well and made her feel like she was worthy of love. That is a good thing. But she should also be able to understand that she's worthy of love without having to like have two guys tell her that, especially one that she's only known for three or four days. So, I think that's where it becomes a little bit problematic. But again, you don't have to read into it this deeply if you don't want to. Kind of go off the rails here. I mean, and then the fact that like they really loved that she ended up playing video games with them a little bit. Pick me. Not that she was trying to be pick me, but that the author is using that as a tool and a device, you know, and then, oh, I accidentally won. You know, it's like, well, now that we're really thinking about it here, there were some things I didn't like. But hey, on the surface level, fun. Yeah, on the surface level it's fun. just, you know, it depends on how deep you want to get into it. I feel like it wasn't that necessary to make her that insecure to where it was harped upon so frequently. Like they could have still showed that the guys showed her respect and love without that, but it was there. So, we have to talk about it. We have to talk about it. Yeah. How Well, how was the smot? The smot was smotting. Yeah, the spot was spotting. I mean, I think for what it is, it made sense to have this ratio be the way it was. 75% spice, 25% plot to basically justify the smot the plot. The sput slots. What do you think? Yeah, I thought it was great. I thought it was well balanced for what it was. Was like do what some of the books did and like, okay, well, why the hell did we read all that and they never talked about it again? Yeah. So, they didn't do that. So that was good. Yeah. I also like that there wasn't too many things going on, right? It was like we're on a special holiday vacation. We're going to do these few activities and then, you know, she's going to get [ __ ] down by these two dudes and it'll be great. And that's like literally the plot. You know, I think it went a little off the rails when it was like permanent commitments, you know, with like the proposal at the end and stuff, but hey, whatever. Like to each his own. Some people really like that kind of thing. So, totally. Um, but yeah, plot versus smut ratio was great. Okay. Yeah. So, I do have some reviews. Great. From good readads. So, on good readads, it looks like it gets an average of a 3.62 out of 13,389 ratings. See, that's that's a lot for one of our unhinged reads. Yeah, for sure. That is a lot. Not a great rating, though. Interesting. Yeah. Kind of low, for sure. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. This person, one star. No wonder the mother abandoned her son and divorced his stepdad. Harsh. Well, she's like, "What is going on here? I got to go. I'm out. I'm out. I'm leaving." Cuz there was a talk like he did say at one point the son did kind of try to come on to him a little bit and he's like, "No, no, but if there's a girl involved." Yes. Yes. Like as a So that was mentioned. Yeah. So, so maybe maybe the mom was like, "What?" Yeah. Yeah. There was some dynamics. Yeah. Happening. Some tension. Um, okay. One star. I did one star and five star. So, here's another one star. Two guys who desperately need therapy manipulate a girl with daddy issues who also desperately needs therapy into being a throppple with an extra dash of double penetration. Um, and I was like, "Yeah, I could see how that could get a one-star review because that's kind of how it felt at times to me as well. You said it would have been different if they didn't write it the way they did. If they didn't harp on how like down and out she was like emotionally and like just in life in general physic. Yeah. Every every facet. Yeah. Now I feel sad for her. Great. That's not like but don't feel sad for her because maybe she does get a happily ever after. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We don't know. Yeah. I mean, they're loaded, so hey, win win-win. Um, one Okay, one last one star. How can you take this premise and turn it into something so boring? There is zero chemistry between all of them, and I'm so done with this kind of female main character with zero self-confidence and zero identity. I don't know what is supposed to make her so interesting and hot that two guys would fall in love with her instantly. I did struggle with like I think it's completely plausible that her college boyfriend would be in love with her by now. They've been dating for months. Like it makes sense. It did not make sense to me that a 40-year-old man would fall in love with her in 3 days. Or one that's well adjusted anyway. I mean, and hey, that is something to Yeah. Mhm. Agreed. Something to think about. Yeah. something to think about because talking it out I'm like well yeah maybe this is going down a star because Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We'll let you guys decide for yourself. I keep I maintain a four star because it was just like a fun good time and like like I said I think we need to bring you guys all the information but that didn't make it less entertaining to me. Yeah. And I think it's something that we've only are we're figuring out as we talk through it because you're not reading it for that deeper level when you're reading it. And now we're like, wait, she didn't have a personality. Wait, what? Who is she even? You know, it's like, oh, other than this Saab story and he has a savior complex. Okay, great. Yeah. Yeah. So interesting. So on the reverse side, yeah, five stars. Uh, this novel was so good. The only thing it needed was for it to be longer because I didn't want it to end. This is how you do a cozy book. I love the characters, the tension, the spice. Um, if you need a good smutty holiday read, this is your book. So, yeah, I would agree with those things. Mhm. Um, let's see here. Okay, so five stars. This was a quick read that I loved. I love the chemistry between the characters. The way the MMC's ensured that she was safe and comfortable throughout the book was terrific. The smut in this book was incredible and delicious. Jesse, the author, did an excellent job writing the short story. The Christmas scenes in this book were so freaking good. So there you go. It had it had good Christmas vibes. I also I also love this one. This was a mess. Five stars. Okay, so maybe that's like a good way to put it where I'm just like, "Yeah, it has issues, but I still give it four stars." Yeah. Well, we can appreciate the way it was written, the balance for a spicy book like this for the smot and not necessarily like the characters or like the way the author chose to wrote write them, but it was well written. So, and it did deliver on what it was promised. Mhm. Yeah. So, hey. Hey, it we've read a lot of off the rails and this does not deserve a three star. No, I don't think so. There's definitely other ones that did that were like, what the hell just happened? Okay. So, there you go. And do you have any quotes that stick out to you? I only had one. Yeah. Okay. Let's see if it's the same one. Go ahead. Um, so they're just talking about her. Someone we could both cherish who could fill that deep void that exists in both of us. If he says Eve can be that girl, I can't deny I want it, but not at the expense of Cole's happiness. So, it's like the dad basically talking about that. And it just gave me that was the quote that gave me a red flag because I was like, "She's the one who could fill that deep void that exists in both of us." And I was like, "Oh no, oh no. Alert, alert, alert, alert." And that's why I wrote this one down because they were there was definitely a lot of like fun like I don't know, just like spicy quotes. But I feel like that was the one that I wrote down because that was the problematic one that I found. Yeah. Um, and the spice was written well, but there was no like quotes that particularly like caught my eye. So, what caught your eye? This one. It's freaking massive. I have to crane my neck to see the tip of the tree. Standing at least 12 feet in the air. The base is as wide as my arms spread. My mouth drops open. Are you sure? Can we even make it fit? Just needs to be patient. We can always make it fit. Cole winks to me and I can feel my face flame because I realize I'm my mistake. And that's what she said. So, I just thought that was hilarious. That is hilarious. I love that. Okay. So, you know, I just have to ask because I'm curious. Would you read more books by this author? I definitely would. Yeah. I don't I never I'm not canceling anybody out yet. You know, it was, like I said, well written, so we'll see what else they have to offer. Yeah, maybe some more holiday different I feel like lots of times when these authors write holiday nollas, they write them for different holidays, so maybe they'll end up in our rotation. I liked it, so I would read another one. Yeah. Yeah. There you go. Okay, that being said, do you have any more things to say about Gifted to His Dad before we move on to Cry for Krampus? I do not. Do you? Okay. I don't. Okay. That's good. Time for Cry for Krampus by who? Cry for Krampus is by Aiden Pierce. Oh, yeah. That's right. The same person who wrote Burn for Jack. Yep. Great. Okay. All right. What is Do you want me to go first on my review for this one? Yeah, sure. All right. Switch it Uh, I rated this one four stars as well. Yeah, I love a good horror romance. The fact that it was horror and romance and Christmas all at the same time, I was like, "This is great. It's perfect." Um, so yeah, I feel like it could have, strangely enough, been spicier for me. Like given the length of it, there wasn't like a whole lot of spice. Um, I would still rate it a four spice just because of the nature of the content. However, it was not frequent. Mhm. It was not frequency. There was basically like one major spice scene. So, um, but yeah, I mean, I really liked it. Four stars. What about you? Oddly enough, two spice. No, I'm just kidding. It's a movie. No. Uh, just kidding. Four spice. Um, well, I would say four stars for this book as well. However, I was prepared to give it five stars cuz I really liked the beginning. Um, and then honestly, just some things were just too cringe for me and my personal feelings and reactions. So, that's what brought it back down to a four stars. But, see, I I thought the beginning was going to be like too gory for you. Oh, no. And I'll tell you why in my favorites and least favorite parts. We'll go all through that in the spoiler section. So, I'll say this for those wondering if they should read Cry for Krampus or not. Spicy monster romance Christmas nolla set in an idealic town of Levvenworth, Washington with themes of feminine rage, horror, stalker, and revenge. What more can we ask for this holiday season? This holiday season. I mean, it's great. Yeah. No. Thought it was great. Thought it was great. Okay. So, should we get into the spoiler section where you tell us what this is all about? Krampus Claus is coming to town, baby. Spoilers coming up for Cry for Krampus or Yeah. Okay. Um, what is this book about? Well, I kind of just said it, so I'll give you a little bit more. Okay, great. But did you know it was going to be Levvenworth, Washington? Have you heard of Levvenworth, Washington? Yeah. Oh, I've always wanted to go. That's where I was gonna be. Yeah. I was like, "Oh, this sounds like Levvenworth." Oh, it is. That's so cool. So, that's like a German Christmas. It's not a Christmas town, but they really go all out for Christmas in Washington. Not too far from Forks. So, you guys could make a whole trip of it. Okay. I didn't realize it was near. Okay, cool. Like within like a few hours, I think. You know, Washington's still spread out and hilly, so it'll take you a little while. But anyways, um, so we start off in this idealic hallmark town, if you will, and you find out this girl, the main character is d is a fiance to this raging a-hole, abusive a-hole, and Hank the Hamman. Hank the Hamman. Put it together like that. I'll literally never forget Hank the the Hamman. I never will. and the man of ham, who then became Ham himself. So, no, wait, it wasn't Hank. It was Hogan. Hogan. Oh, well, the Ham. Hogan. I'll never forget it. I already forgot it. I already forgot his name wasn't Hank. Hogan. No, no, no. Hogan the Honeyed Hamman. That's actual. Yeah. Okay. So, either way, he's a piece of crap. You get this little introduction to her tree delivery guy who's kind of chill, you know, kind of interesting, you know, maybe just that small quiet guy from that she grew up with. It's a small town, so everybody grew up together. She he gives her a book and then you find out she kind of has to hide things because her fiance is super controlling and jealous and abusive. So, we basically go she goes back home. It's almost Christmas. And you get a little bit of her backstory of what her goals in life are and how her mother had cancer and had to give up her shop to pay for those treatments. her dad abandoned her to go live with her girlfriend in Florida and she ends up putting antifreeze in the spiked eggnog of her fiance because she has just had enough of his abuse and it's crazy. So she gives him that but not quite enough to take him out quickly. So horror ensues and she goes has to go at him with a cleaver cuz he's going to strangle her. They run outside. He has a shotgun. She hits him, backs up. Hits him. Backs up. Meanwhile, Silver Bells is playing on the music. You have a stalker Christmas tree delivery guy watching from afar eating a candy cane. And then he she he comes and helps her clean up the body. So they figure out that he could feed them to his ham hogs, honey ham hogs. And they'll eat him because of that one book that you've actually read, right? Yep. Yeah. Where they feed what is it called? It's one of the HG Carlton books. Where's Molly? I think is what it's called. Yeah. So they feed him to his hogs cuz they'll eat anything and then cleans up the body. She clean up the place and it's a small town and nobody the only thing people really know about the ex-boyfriend or now the dead boyfriend now dead fiance is that he is an alcoholic. So it's very plausible for him to have fallen into his hog hole and gotten eaten. So she's scottree. Meanwhile, Christmas tree boy has a dark secret that he is actually a long line of Krampuses and he is the next Krampus. So, he's been hiding the secret and but meanwhile has that Krampusy vibe underneath the cute shy guy and uh you know they have their first kiss and then he's like you're going to owe me for something. Don't worry about it. And then she's like, "Ooh." And so she's into it. She finds out. He kind of leaves her hanging which was kind of stupid. And then they he takes her to her cave and Krampusness ensues and we get the monster part of that romance and the only spicy scene really that we get. Short and sweet. There we go. Boom. Happily ever after. Monster babies. The end. The end. Yep. It was beautiful. It was beautiful.

Okay. Calm down, class. Calm down. All right. All right. Well, I'll take over these questions for you. All right. Hey, Liz. Hey. Would you eat yourself if you were the moon? Have you ever made honey? No, I'm vegan. Absolutely not. What's something that you liked about this book? I liked a lot of parts about this book, but I think what I liked the most was the horror element. Mhm. Yeah. I was like, "Ooh, she's poisoning him." Then I was like, "Ooh, now she's like literally cutting his face down the center with a meat cleaver." Whoa, I didn't see that coming. That's when I thought I was like, "Oh no, I hope we didn't lose Ashley." This is pretty graphic because then I love how she gets in her like freaking Subaru Subaru Outback and she's like, "I'm running this dude. I'm running this dude over 10 times."

They the author did such a good job like with the scenery, the imagery. Like I felt like I was there. Yeah, for sure. And he deserved he so deserved it. So it's like you were like good for you girl. Good for you. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Uh so that was definitely my favorite part. What about you? Yes. Um so surprisingly it did not freak me out. I think because he was such an [ __ ] and the author did such a good job building up the character so quickly that like you were rooting for her. And um I I haven't I okay I'm not a horror movie watcher, but there are some horror Christmas movies out there, right? Like that are kind of funny. So I've seen trailers for like there's one with Vince Bon and stuff. I haven't seen them, but from what I could gather from the little bits I let myself see, that's kind of what this felt like. Like a romcom horror cuz it's kind of funny cuz she's in a Subaru Outback specifically. you know, she mentions that Silver Bells is playing on the radio when she's having so I just imagine this like like and she's ramming him into the car and then meanwhile the stalker Christmas tree boy is just hiding in the corner sucking on the candy cane just being like that's my girl hanging out, you know? So, it's just a beautiful beautiful scene. Well, she even like takes the the wreath off the front of her car, goes in the house, cleans all of his like bloody parts off of it, and then comes back out and hangs it back on the front of her car. On the bloody front of her car. Yeah. So, it was just so comedic and funny. Yeah. And great. Well done. Way to make me not like really get freaked out and cringe cuz it's so funny that you have to like be laughing. So, that was my favorite part, hands down. So I was like, "Oh, this is hilarious." And I and we go in most of these books blind. So other than the title being Krampus and just like the other one to my stepdad, we don't know what we're getting into. So it was out of left field in a good way. For sure. Well, what's the thing that you maybe hated the most about this book? I did not like that he was always sucking on a candy cane. That gave me the icks, dude.

That's so funny. That's the thing. That gave me the X. Oh, sucking on candy canes gives Liz. Yeah, we found another We found another thing. I'm like smoke like a self-respecting man. He's gone. I'm just like I can't deal with I don't know. Freaked me out. I didn't like it. It was like pulled me out. Made it weird. That was the only thing I didn't like about this book that I could really think of. Yeah. Okay. What did you not like? I think I know already. Guys,

the FMC was reading a book involving literal rat tails. Okay. Like, why? Why? Why? Krampus, I don't know if he had a tail. If he did, I blacked it out. But it's like we somehow got tail action in there and it was not okay. I would have liked a trigger warning. Every once in a while, how is it that it's just like perfect? Like every now and then we get a rat tail like and we don't know what's coming. In the defense, it was because he got her a nutcracker. I Yeah, but still romance book. Yeah. So, there's a rat. If that's in Dan Sugar Plum, I'm going to drive 13 hours to your house and slam the book in your face. No, I'm just kidding. It's literally a mafia romance. Yeah. The rat tail and it's in places. I'm like, this is my nightmare. No rat tails. No rat tails. I'm fine. Listen, I am fine with murdered, but I draw the line at rat tales. We're dark romance readers. Yep, that'll do it. Okay. But also in all in all seriousness, um why do we keep reading monster romances, especially holidays that are ending with romance baby uh monster babies? Monster babies. Like every single one other than Haven Ever After, I don't think any monster romance that we've read so far has not ended in monster babies. Even in the epilogue. Mhm. And I'm just sick of it. I wonder why. I wonder if it's like a like a breeding kink that they're like playing into, but specifically for monsters. Yeah. H you know it I mean it must be because every single time you guys like it, let us know. Yeah. Not to not to yuck anybody's yum. I'm just give me something else. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Because it's it is very common. I agree with you for sure. Yeah. Uh Okay. So, how is the smut in this one? smut versus plot ratio, you know. Yeah, it was later on when Krampus enters the chat that we get the smut, but I don't know how else you would do it. So, I was fine with the smut. I could have used a little bit more like tension building, but I get why it wasn't in there. It wasn't in there because she was literally afraid that her fiance would murder her if he saw her flirting with anyone else because he was so abusive. So, I see how that couldn't really make sense, but it would have been nice to get maybe even just some more like tension building like flirty banter with them like ahead of time um to kind of like build up a little bit more because I felt like it was like they were just kind of like friends and then he was a monster and they were banging. Yeah. And or even in that week that he kind of ghosted her to set up his romantic cave. Um, it would have been nice for him instead of ghosting her to be flirting with her and building up that tension, you know, get us some sexy messages or something, you know, take her out on a couple dates. Like, build up that tension. Nobody would have complained about 20 more pages of that, I don't think, mixed in. I don't think so. Yeah. So, yeah. I mean, and obviously he's been playing the long game. They've been friends since like who knows how long. Their whole life, probably. Yeah. Mhm. Sounds like it. Yep. Mhm. I also didn't like that at one point when she's with Krampus. She's like, I can't believe this was the weird kid. And now I'm like and I'm just like, okay, well, she didn't need to say that, you know, as you're falling in love with Krampus. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. So, like maybe keep the judgment to yourself. Yeah. Like, jeez.

Okay. So, um do you have some reviews for us? Mhm. I would like to say though since we were getting in deep with uh gifting to my stepdad, I did like that sentence. I love it. I did like for her the representation, right, that yes, she was this in this abusive situation with her fiance that she handled and she took care of herself. He kind of inspired her with that quote, which I loved. She's kind of reciting that to herself and feeling empowered. She did things with Krampus, you know, that she consented to, therefore it changed it, right? Cuz she had mentioned she had been abused by the fiance and that cuz he stopped asking for permission and just started doing which she didn't like obviously. But because with Krampus it was she consented so it changed cuz obviously it gets very spicy and trigger warning stuff you know going on with Krampus but because it's consensual it's it's different for her you know cuz some people might read that and be like what how come she's okay with that? Well they even address it. I actually have a quote here that I highlighted that says I know it sounds crazy fantasizing about being kidnapped after being stuck in an abusive relationship. I gently gripped her chin and guided her attention back to me. That's not crazy. You're allowed to fantasize about what you [ __ ] want. Yeah. And I was like, "Okay." Yeah. Like I feel like that was a very like important moment exactly for the reason that you said because I feel like you know in the dark romance community that's kind of an ongoing conversation like you know why do you like to read things about stalkers or you know bad guys or like whatever. And it's like because it's different when you get to explore these topics in like a consensual way. Yeah, that's why. Um, so yeah, I like that that was addressed. I agree. Yeah, for sure. Well done. Well done. Well done. Okay, so overall out of 984 reviews, so much less, but we are getting a 4.12 star rating. We'll start with some one stars. Horribly bad and lazy writing. The start is okay, but after that it's all downhill from there. So, I will say like it did feel like the first half of the book was fairly, you know, fledged out and then the second half did kind of speed through. So, like it could have been like a like 20 pages longer like Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Just to add some more to the buildup and the tension. It wouldn't have felt rushed or different separate. Yeah. Uh, two stars cuz there was only two one stars and they pretty much say the same thing. So, two stars. I really love the series, don't get me wrong. And this novella was okay. Technically, I'll rate it two and a half stars, but I can't do halves on this app. Okay. I like where the story was going and the details, yes, but I did feel like it was rushed and lacked something. Not much spice, which I usually enjoy. And the others in the series just caught my eye better. I enjoy owning it though, no less. So, kind of the same commentary throughout all little bit like, oh no, we're getting some good steam. It's like, oh, it was just so I'll remember that scene forever. You know, that's one that'll stick with you for sure. Yeah. And I would have liked to see that throughout the rest of the book more profound cuz it kind of felt like its own separate like any writer we would love like that. We're obsessed with that kind of writing style. And then it felt like just like our traditional holiday smutty books that are just like quick and just try to throw the Christmas in there. Kind of disjointed. It makes me want to like look up her fulllength books and see if she writes some full length horror. Yeah, there you go. Sometimes these are just little teasers. So, and they have they have led us to some great authors. Yeah. Let's talk about some five stars, though. I want Krampus for Christmas. This was short, spicy, and all the bit naughty. If you're looking for a Krampus novela to heat you up during the holiday season, look no further. Five stars. Clara and Bastion are the perfect couple for your filthy monster lovers out there. The way Bastion helps Clara come out of her shell and remember who she really is is all inspiring. You'll never look at Krampus the same way again. Another five stars. This was amazing. Who knew I had a thing for Krampus? I definitely didn't until after reading this. Honestly, who are we kidding? I probably did. So, my I've gone through a roller coaster with Krampus myself. I don't know about you, but I was like, well, maybe. And then I'm reading it. I'm like, "Okay." And then I'm like, "Oh, no. Not that tongue. Not that body. Not not that tongue. Not that body." Same on this the Yeah. long snake like split tongue I was not into. Yeah. Um I feel like I liked her. I like the FMC's character so much that I feel like it kind of overshadowed the fact that Yeah. I don't know that this version of Krampus is really for me. Yeah. Um, I like the Juckle and Hide almost like he is a shifter. So, I really liked that he was a shifter, but I just think how Krampus in that version was described. I'm like, nope. Yeah. Yeah. The half goat, half man, spindly kind of. It's personally didn't really do it for me. Yeah. The long tongue kind of freaked me out a little bit, too. I mean, I could appreciate it for its usefulness. Sure. Sure. we can say. Um, but as far as like aesthetically, I don't know if it's like really my thing, but I could see how people could like it. And the horns were cool. I did like that. Yeah, the horns were pretty cool. I thought of you. Yeah, that's good. Yeah, with the minotaurs. I was like, "Oh, Liz's going to love the horns." Yeah. Cute. So, like he's like, "Oh, she needs some handlebars or something." So, he like grows them. I do like his magical powers, but I did think, well, they could have just he could have just made his body disappear instead of feeding him to the hogs, but what fun is that? Yeah, that's not fun. That takes away all the fun. Yeah. Um, so yeah, I don't know if this version of Krampus is necessarily my favorite, but like I did mention at the beginning of this episode, White Out by Gracie Williams. That's a different form of essentially Krampus, and I did really enjoy him. So, it just there's different iterations, right? If you have a favorite Krampus out there, let us know. Let us know. We're open. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Um, okay. I'm like, where are we? Where are we? Oh, quotes. Do you have any good quotes for us? So, my quote that I wrote down was, "All I want for Christmas is to live out my dark fantasy of being kidnapped and [ __ ] down in the mountains by Krampus and his [ __ ] A new element. But hey, I'm flexible with the details. Yeah, that is that a quote from the book or is that a quote from reviews? I mean, I think that's a quote from the book. Okay. Okay, good. I was writing them all at the same time and I was like, that could go either way. Okay, there you go. What do you got? Okay, so um every time she mentioned Hogan, the honeyed ham man, I would laugh out loud. Okay, so one of my favorite quotes was, "He used to be handsome before all the pork took its toll." Yeah, there. I was like, "Oh my god, that's hilarious." Okay, do you have more? No, that's I mean, other than I didn't write down the entire scene. Just read that. If you're not going to read this book, just go on it's on KU Kindle Unlimited if you have that and just go a couple chapters in to read the whole scene of um you know, taking out her fiance who is a horrible horrible guy and it's just hilarious. Like imagine like Michael Bouubé singing while you're just like ramming and like reversing and ramming this horrible and then the guy is over there just like that's my girl, you know, just hilarious. Um, okay. I have I have a couple more. In my books, the heroes aren't usually good guys, but they burn the world down for their girl. So yeah, I guess if the Krampus was real and if he by some chance had that long tongue and a heart of gold, then yes, I'd let him stuff me in that sack of his and beat me with whatever stick he's packing. All right, that cracked me up. Yep. And then let's see. Um Oh, it's just so funny. I'd be lucky if trying to take that mammoth dick didn't kill me. What a way to go, though. Oh, yeah. That was a LOL. Yeah, it was just a good time. A good time had by all. Yeah. So, there we go. Okay, so let's just do some general uh little wrap-up questions regarding our two holiday nollas. So this year gifted with uh gifted to his dad and cry for Krampus. So do you understand why people are into Krampus? And then I also put here and stepdads.

I mean yes and you know hey neither of those things do it for me but I get it. I get it. You know, we do an unhinge smasher passes and Krampus is in there for sure. Yeah. I mean, I think I mean, Krampus at the heart of it is just monster romance, magical powers, right? Yeah. And like he's a dawn daddy for sure. Yeah. And like a dark element, right? So, it's like why what's not to like? I think obviously, you know, we're not necessarily into all of his monster anatomy, but he is a shifter, so there's options. Yeah. Hey. Yeah. Um, and yeah, as far as step dads go, what is that again? It's just taboo. It's age gap, right? It's like we get it. So, would you read another Krampus book or another stepdad book? Yeah, I'll read another Krampus book. Stepdads aren't It's too farfetched for me. Too farfetched. No, it's just too many. Like, that's why I think Monster Romance is fun cuz it's like it's just so fantastical. Yeah. I don't like the real life romance book. Sorry. Yeah, I can see that for sure. Yeah. What if he's a monster but also a stepdad? Well, whose stepdad we talking, you know? Yeah. Yeah. Um, so yeah, I mean, I think we'll both obviously read more in the future because that's what we do here. We like to read them for fun. We like to share them with you guys. Yes. Mhm. Yeah. So, do you feel like both of them were Christmy enough? Yeah. Yeah, definitely. What about you? Yeah, for sure. I feel like, you know, the first one was like I think I even posted a thing to my story that was like, if this was what Hallmark movies were about, I would actually watch one. And then I was like, is that just porn? Yeah. Would that just be a porn movie now? But that's okay. Yeah. Um, but no, it just cracked me up because it's true. It's like I feel like that one had way more of like the Christmas Hallmark vibes and then you know this one definitely was just like dark Christmas horror romance. So I was like that's great. Hallmark did monster romance. That's what it would be. And horror it might be it might be a little I think that would be a hilarious movie. Yeah. It would be one of those Christmas horror romcom funny monster Krampus movies. Yeah. Yeah. So Mhm. Yep. There you go. All right. Do you have anything left to say about Cry for Krampus or are we good to move on to our holiday smasher pass? Holiday smasher pass time, baby. Let's go. All right. Okay. Okay. Sure. Um, you have to pick a Grinch to smash. Okay. Cuz I would say, how many Grinches are there? All there's a few. So, and I would feel like I mean, in general, Grinch would be a pass for me. I don't know about you. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I figured that's why I said three. You have to pick one. So, we have Jim Carrey is the Grinch. We have the original Dr. Seuss Grinch from like the olden days. And then the newest one, which was like, did you see that? It was so good. I love that movie. I think I did. Yeah. He's like the new style animation. Okay. So, you have to pick one to smash. Which one is it going to be? But they're all Okay, so two are animated, one is Jim Carrey. Yeah. You know, I think Yeah, I think I was right with my gut feeling and my intuition. I'm going new animated. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I don't really remember his personality that well because it's been a while since I've seen this, but um just based off of looks and general Grinch personality, I feel like this is what I'm going with. What about you? I'm going to go with the OG animated one. OG animated. Yeah. Is a little more. Yeah. I can't with the Grinch's makeup and his teeth in the um Jim Carrey version. I do love Jim Carrey, but it's too grinchy. It's a lot. That fur looks like that bad kind of fur, too. That's like one of those 90s shag rugs. Yeah. And like rough and it's worse for wear. Yeah. Sorry. Yeah. Um the the one that you picked does look very soft, so that's Yeah, he does look soft. That's nice. Yeah. But I like how we both just pick animated. Animated to me. Yeah. You know, it's too too real with the other one. There you go. You guys let us know in the polls which one of those Grinches would you pick. And what do you got for me today, Liz? So, mine isn't Christmas themed, but it just came out and is the talk of the town right now. So, I'm sure even if you haven't seen it, you've seen a bunch of memes, videos, pictures, etc. Jacob Allorti the monster in Frankenstein. Frankenstein's monster. I have not seen any of it. What? Literally. Have you been living under an actual rock? I've been living under a mountain of books, Liz. We just finished all the wicked books plus Crunchy Christmas plus book clubs. I have had no time. You will literally lose your entire mind. Even if you don't find the Jacob Lordy Monster of Frankenstein hot, you will love the movie itself cuz it's so good. So Frankenstein, it's the monster. Yeah. Yeah. Frankenstein's monster. Okay. I have a feeling this is going to be a vibe I need to see. So it's a lot a lot of skin falling off. I don't really like that skin falling off. What do you mean? I mean, he's like pieced together. He's Frankenstein. He is. He's the So, I think this is not fair for me to answer at this point in time without seeing it cuz it's probably a vibe cuz most of our smashes are based on vibes alone and not all cuz it's on what's on the inside that counts, Liz. So, based on the pictures, it's Yeah. No. Um, but you'll have to report back. I'll report back cuz this is an unfair decision right now. I can't believe like literally I can't believe you haven't seen him in like any other context. It's so crazy. Like I've only seen the movie poster and it's I think the doctor. It looks like the Joker from behind. That picture's not doing it. I'm so sorry that I like people to not have their skin sewn on their face, but I'll let you guys know. I'm curious. I think it's going to be one of those that's going to be a very maybe not completely unanimous, but close the book will be close. Mhm. I'll try to watch it this week cuz we are finishing up Nobody Wants This and I love that show. Oh, I've heard from a lot of people it's good. We binge it. So, I think we only have two episodes left. So, we'll do Frankenstein next. Do Frankenstein. Yeah. Oscar Isaac is like such a good Dr. Frankenstein. He's great, too. Like I love him and he played the character so well that I was like I don't even like you anymore cuz you're such a piece of crap. Yeah. But yeah, so good. You sorry. You said smash. Frankenstein's monster. Smash 100%. Yeah. It's like this is the monster romance movie we all deserve that took this long to get it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean it's heartbreaking because it's very very similar to the actual Frankenstein story. But that's good though. We needed one. Yeah, for sure. Um, oh, and I did want to report back really quick before we sign off. I did finish The Scorpion King. Ah, I was so surprised that he was such a small portion just in the end. I was like, that's it. It's like 2 seconds and then he's gone. Um, we all felt that in the early 2000s. Like, what what was all that advertisement about? He's on there for like a couple seconds. Listen, animation was very expensive back then. It was a pass for sure because it was so like disturbing like the CGI like it was really weird. Um but I was like just freaking Brendan Frasier though. What a time to be alive. Yeah. Yeah. We'll just we'll just end on that note. On that note, merry Christmas everyone until all good night. Until a good night. Make sure to like, follow, and subscribe anywhere you like to listen favorite podcasts including YouTube. And we're on Tik Tok and Instagram. best season in the books podcast everywhere. You know, if you have any holiday themed novellas that you want us to add to our upcoming list for this next year, we'll leave a box on Instagram stories to have you guys submit those. And um yeah, we don't worry, we have Am I the a-hole coming up for Christmas season and by now we've announced our next I think if not this week. No, today's I think Tuesday. I don't know what day it is. Listen, if we haven't announced our next bonus series that's going out, check our Instagram cuz it is there. M There we go. I'm excited. I'm excited about it. It's going to be a good one. It's going to be a good one. Going to make us talking about the classics. Okay. Hey. All right, guys. We'll see you next Tuesday. Next Tuesday. Bye. Bye.