Episode 0 - Introduction

Welcome to Read Smut, the podcast that reads and reviews romance and erotica. We're your hosts, Faith, Katie, and Meg. We're joined by our illustrious sound engineer and Who has never read romance? We would like to remind you that this podcast gets spicy and is not recommended for children. So hi listeners. Hi listeners. We uh would like to apologize to Who've been waiting a long time for this podcast, two years now. We decided that because it's been two years since we started recording.

We should probably do a new

'Cause uh world pandemic happened. Um and people are gonna wonder why it's not mentioned in some of our episodes. It's not mentioned because they were recorded before. So this this is us addressing it ahead of time. And that is why you might not hear it. And we'd like to thank our friends and family who have been patient. uh in getting this podcast up. But because of the pandemic we also have a little bit more time to work on our

So here we are. We are all staying inside. Please stay inside. Stay home. Stay home. Wash your hands. Wash your hands. Wear a mask. Wear a mouse. Okay, so along with Corona since we started recording in twenty eighteen, we actually have had some other things happen since then, some exciting, some you know, that just made it a little more challenging for us to get together record this and even just have the time to read in general.

So among those we've all been working. Um, Kelsey has also been taking classes. Megan and Faith actually moved up to the Bay area, which is very exciting. So That was mid twenty nineteen. They made their way up there. Also, since we started recording, Meg has gotten married, which is Super exciting. Um so we'll you'll probably hear her m mention her fiance, which he is now her husband. Yeah. So

Sorry. And then no no you're guys married. I like it. Um and then Faith, do you want to talk about you a little bit? Oh yeah. So I in since we recorded our original intro recorded some of our episodes. I have officially come out as bisexual, publicly or you Which feels great. Um. Yeah. And then oh wait, go ahead, Meg go. And then um

Because of the the COVID-19, the world's pandemic, unfortunately Katie has had to postpone her wedding for the time being. But we're all very excited to go to her wedding when we're able to see each other. Whenever that happens it's gonna be the biggest party ever. Oh my gosh. So We're very excited for that and it has been a bummer but we're figuring it out and listeners if you have any other big life events that have been also postponed because of this crazy pandemic, uh you are not

Well and I thi I think it's good to just acknowledge like obviously we have the time to work on our podcast more. Um and then that comes with privilege because a lot of people in the world are are definitely not uh having time to work on a podcast. Yeah. Um and so we do want to acknowledge that and

say h how grateful we are be able to continue working on this and get it rolled out and how excited we are to talk about romance novels with all of you. Yeah, yeah it's kinda Talk about romance when the world Is that appropriate to say? I don't know. It's like it's escapism, you know. It feels about accurate, yeah. Right. Oh, and then we did also want to address something else that has happened since we started.

So recently twenty twenty twenty, twenty nineteen. The beginning of the year, there was a very large scandal with the Rita Awards and the RW. Um and the fact that Courtney Milan, who is an amazing author, we have one of her books this season. So we're very excited. She made a comment about, you know, she Kind of called out a book for for being racist. And she was penalized for speaking out about.

She was basically barred from membership and leadership opportunities in the Romance Writers of America, the RWA, for just speaking out about an issue that has definitely plagued the romance. community. I mean, myself as a woman of color, I very rarely find a hero or heroine. of color and it's very evident to me and there are a lot of problematic things that I read in romance novels and so I really appreciate her for calling that out.

And so the RWA really unfairly penal I don't know how to say it penalized, like sh they just like they basically cut her out for speaking the And then also Nora Roberts came out like saying that the RWA also had some very homophobic things that they were sending her. And so the RWA ended up canceling the RIA award. which are um given out to amazing authors every year.

there was some backlash about that. It's a very white community. Like not it's it's just very n it's not well represented. So and I say white, I mean it is not a white community, but the representation is sorely lacking. So we just want to touch base on that. We know that it happened. We fully stand with Courtney Milan and we really want to see inclusion in the room. And it's a diver diverse community and we love that about it. So while you're listening along, we also hope you will

opportunity to read some of these books with us. We do want to remind you to shop locally and try to purchase the books through independent bookstores. if you can. I do want to give a shout out to the Ripped Bodice romance bookstore in Culver City, California. If you are in the SoCal area, I'd highly recommend going to their store. They have mostly romance novels. They do have a few other sections as well on the store, but it is a primarily romance dedicated

with some amazing people there. They also offer great classes and book clubs as well. So I definitely would recommend uh checking them out. And even if you don't live in the SoCal area, you can shop online with them as well and they do ship. So uh please check them out or just any local bookstore in your area. Uh definitely would be Shop was

And then do we want to do the questions? So we're just gonna quickly answer a few questions so you listener can kind of you get to learn us and our little perse our personalities, our big personalities, not our little I feel like Kelsey as we're doing this is just like that's not staying in. Rule of the podcast, if someone says we're gonna edit that out, it will not be editing. Probably not. Um

I think I I think we have had things like that in some of the episodes just like Kelsey edit that out. Uh the rest of us are like We're keeping it in Kelsey's our sound engineer and she edits and she made it very clear that she does not want to be one of the speakers, but that does She has she has a lot of great common. It's really great. Okay, so do we want to do like all ten questions for each person individually or do we want to round Robin? I liked you asking

Each answering ours. Okay, so alright, we'll we'll do it. Okay, so first question, who are you? Who am I? Okay. It's deep. Um who yeah, right? Deep very deep, Kelsey. Who are Um, okay, so I am this is Meg. I'm a sewing educator who also has a degree in English literature and creative writing. And I am currently writing a historical romance, which Faith has written.

Um, she's like my in-process beta reader. It's great. It's amazing. Thank you, Faith, for reading it. Oh. They're amazing. So I love history and a good murder. So uh my name is Faith. Uh my background is in environmental justice. Now I'm I'm mostly a volunteer. What I do for a living uh is work with with my husband. on our indie game studio for virtual reality. a game and that's what I've been doing for a living. is working with frontline communities. So I do not have a background.

in romance novels or or literature. I yeah, I I definitely am along for the ride. Yeah. Uh yeah, I'm I'm on this podcast against my will. Help me. Megan's forcing me to dance. Um so uh yeah. Do you guys maybe wanna address that you guys have been friends forever?'Cause I was gonna address the fact that like I'm engaged to Megan's

Oh Yeah. Oh yeah, we should we should also say that. Yeah. So Megan and I have been friends since you know, she's my best friend. We've been friends since we were kids. Yeah, we were thirteen. So it's been Twenty about twenty years. Thirty almost thirty two. Yes, it's um about twenty years. I feel I don't feel old. I feel very young. Thirty is actually really young. So Yeah, but we're best best friends. We are sisters. Considering her mom came out.

Ground me she was given permission by my mother. And that's how I got pulled into this uh podcast. And then Katie Yeah, hi, I'm Katie. Uh I am a writer. I mostly write YA fantasy. Uh I'm originally from the Midwest, but I've been in Los Angeles for about two and a half years now. I have a degree in film studies with a focus on story and concept development. And a creative writing minor, and then I also have a degree in French. And I am actually engaged to Meg's brother, so that is how I was.

roped into this and I am just glad no I'm just glad to be here. Seriously, it's been amazing so far. So Oh yeah, and Kelsey's dating my other brother. It's like a family thing. Very much so. Welcome. Yeah, welcome to yeah, I mean basically, yeah, listener, like welcome to our family. This is how we interact with each other all the time and I think just like

We wanted to start a book club and I kept pestering everyone. I'm like, read romance novels. So that's kind of how the podcast was born. We were like hanging out, sitting around. So we're like, let's record ourselves having a book club. It'll be fun. And it's been a blast. So Kelsey is our sound engineer. She also will have just graduated. school and started her new job in engineering and laser tech up in Nor California. NorCal.

Up in mid-Northern California. Uh to the Bay Area. She will be moving to the Bay Area to to pursue a job there. So it's a really exciting time and we're really excited for her. Yay! And it's happening right as Yeah, so congratulations on graduating Kelsey. Ah it's so exciting. She says thank you. She's so You'll never hear it, but she is so polite.

Yeah, and I think it is very ironic that she's like the sound engineer in sound tech and does all the tech stuff and helps us with microphones and she does not have a microphone. Oh, that was intentional. Yeah. The so she says the picture of her on the website is her holding a micro microphone'cause she was the MC at my wedding. But and Faith's wedding. Faith's wedding and my wedding. So it's uh it is ironic that she has the microphone and yet she does.

Alright, um, okay, so what literary genres do you usually read? I read romance and erotica primarily just because I really enjoy it. I also read a lot of historical fiction and I also love a good like a scary, spooky murder mystery or Or Dean Coons. Thrillers. So I I do not normally read romance. I have read a few romance.

But my my my big reads are, you know, honestly I haven't had time to read a lot in the last decade because I've been reading nonfiction for work, um, or when I when I was in school too. So when I do read though big favorites are sci fi and fantasy. So The one about the kings, right? Oh man, uh The Way of Kings is the first book in the Stormlight Archives. That's my like current favorite fan. I that's on my to read list right now. I bought it um

about a month ago. I just haven't started it yet'cause it's quite a commitment. So I will um be reading that hopefully soon. Um, I mostly read young adult fantasy. Um, I actually just love fantasy in general though. I also have a book blog, so if you want to check out what I'm reading in the YA fantasy or just fantasy world in general, go ahead and uh check that out. That'll be linked on the website. But I mostly read YA fantasy and now romance with the start of this podcast.

About two years ago, I really started diving into romance and I've loved it so far, so I alternate between Romance when I'm reading. Yeah, follow her blog. Yeah, follow it. Great, great, great. So had you ever read romance before this podcast? Kelsey says no and she still has not, which spoilers Except her vicariously through us. Except through vicariously through.

Yeah. Yeah. Technically it's not reading, but that's right. She isn't reading. Yeah. Okay. Um okay, so I read my first romance novel when I was twelve years old. My mom had one in a bo on a bookshelf. Pirate and a very busty blonde woman. Um I learned a lot reading that book. Uh oh yeah, I vividly remember reading it. And so I've had a double stacked bookshelf, like double depth bookshelf, right?

um of romance novels since my late teens and I bought my f my first romance novel, which I think is gonna be the first book we review. It is the first review. So I bought that at fifteen. That's actually perfect, you guys. Sorry, side note. That's actually perfect. I think it's great. Yeah. So it was the first romance book I purchased with my own money that I made when I got my first job at

And it really shaped my view of relationships and made me much more confident in communicating my expectations of a relationship, um, like emotionally and physically. So even as a teen, like me having that background. romance novels really made me say, like, Okay, well, this person's treating you horribly, you need to, you know, I don't know. It it really did form I think it helps. Depending on the The ones I found were Yeah, I've read a couple of things.

Like like I said before, just at at the uh request of Megan and I usually, you know, like would skip To the nitty gritty. Um, and I'd be like, I don't and Megan would be like, No, you need the background. And I'm like, No, I'm just gonna I'm just gonna skip skip. Um which is valid. I mean I'm definitely glad I had that experience of reading those few books before and now I can say I've read a ton of romance. So uh since starting this with you guys. So two years ago.

Yeah yeah. As I mentioned I'd never read romance until a couple years ago when we started this. Uh I did really like Jane Austen in high school thanks to a few of my friends. So I did read her, you know, when I was younger, but otherwise I never got into romance. Um I think having read a lot of Jane O'Shea. lot as a teenager. That's the reason I really appreciate historical romance. Uh or the ones we've read so far that actually has been my favorite. Subgenre in romance.

Uh but other than Jane Austen and I think my friends and I did find a couple, you know, smuddy books. I think there's actually a series that was a not retelling, but it was the story of Darkseen Elizabeth after they got married and it was a romance Smut book uh that my friends and I passed around. Otherwise, no, have not really read romance until this podcast. So what was your impression of the romance genre?

Since I was exposed to romance novels from such a young age, like a preteen, early teen, it is honestly like my favorite genre, the one that I feel the most I'm sure I've read a bunch of like really bad stuff from like the Right. But I have always really loved I think that the emotional connection between characters is the best part of a story. And like even like an adventure story or whatever, like the building of relationships between characters has always been

parts of stories. And so having an entire story about two people falling in love and forming an emotional bond, it's amazing. My impression of romances prior to the podcast was they kind of like I said, I skipped ahead and I so I found them a little little boring at the time. I've since very much But yeah, at the time I I didn't have a lot of experience.

I would say a pretty vivid memory I have of romance is going into bookstores, especially used bookstores, and just seeing shelves and shelves and shelves and shelves of romance books. And just thinking they all looked like they were unfairly too, I will admit, I think I had some pretty unfair assumptions about romance. They all just seemed like they were.

They look like they could all be the same book. I think I wrongly assumed the writing probably wasn't great and it just was gonna be, you know, two people falling in love and doing it and just, you know, just there's gonna be sex and no great characters, no good plot. that so I really honestly never even went into that section of the bookstore, which I regret now. I think I would have liked to have read it a lot earlier. I think it's definitely

been really, really enjoyable for me. So um I'm so glad that I've learned so much about the genre and just how much it can offer with, you know, writing, characters, plot.

And just what can be accomplished I think is really Yeah, um and then that dovetails into our next question, which is how have your m your first And I would say I'm much more willing to read an independent author and a self-published author now that I we've kind of gone through and like looked at titles that we might review and just kind of delving deeper into like good reads.

a great community. Um and just kind of finding those self-published gems that you wouldn't normally see on the shelves of like Borders or Barnes and Noble or like a big So I think that I have found that the romance community is far

So uh my impressions have definitely changed. I think part of that is understanding that there isn't one type of romance novel and it's about finding what you like and everyone has different, you know, tastes and so I've been able to figure out what my tastes are in romance novels and that has made it a lot more fun. And now I really it's like I get it. Um and yeah, so the my impression has definitely changed. It's a great outlet. It is such

And While the world is burning. While while the world is burning. So Exactly. Yeah, I would say, Faith, I agree with a lot of what you said and I also think there's a lot that can be learned from the romance genre, even just as a writer. I think

again there's a lot of really great writing in the romance genre. I think you can definitely learn from a writing standpoint, even if you just wanna have a romantic subplot in your book, I think you should definitely be reading some romance just to understand how to really make those characters and their connections. I think it's definitely worth it.

I'm gonna ramble here. Even from like a world building perspective, um character development, all of that. I think there's so many amazing books that we've already read, um, both for the podcast and then I've had others I've read um in my free time as well that just that just blow me.

That's awesome. I love that like that you've found a genre that you really that really speaks to you too.'Cause like you're a writer, like but like, you know, it's it's really great to have those outside experiences. you know, make your writing even deeper, like make it even more well rounded. Yeah. I think it's a really good skill to have as a writer to read something that's out of your comfort zone.'Cause you might learn I think that's great.

Yeah, it's been it's p become my second most read genre, definitely. Um I actually try to use romance novels as kind of like palette cleansers. that makes sense between reading fantasy series just so like the different magic systems and characters and all of that don't overlap in my mind and it's been Really, really fun. And like Faith said, I I do also appreciate that they are a great escape. There's usually gonna be a happily ever after.

that just is always, you know, you know going into it you're probably gonna you're gonna probably go through some heavier topics or dark topics or meet some bad characters, but in the end it's um there's a pretty good chance it's gonna end up okay. This is the this is the question that I'm gonna kinda rant a little bit about, but it's fine. Um so do you think the romance genre is important?

And I think that the romance genre is incredibly important. So first off, it is the most lucrative and popular literary genre. It accounts for over half of all ebook sales. That's including every other genre. Like over half of the people in the world who are reading on an e-book are reading a It's a very diverse genre. It's very widespread. It's really easily accessible to

You can find like Faith was saying, you can find a subgenre of romance that really that you like. Like it can have it can be all the way from like a Christian romance novel or an Amish romance where like at the end they get married but they don't kiss or you know, like there's no physical Intimacy all the way to like a hardcore erotica where they meet and have sex in the first page, or like you open the book and they're already having sex, right? Like there's such a diverse spectrum of romantic.

And it there's this idea that is very common that we've heard over and over again from all sorts of people that that romance readers are all like old ladies or like old frustrated housewives. And the average age of a romance reader is actually in their mid-30s. Uh so like we are we in our early thirties are definitely the, you know, people who are reading And even though the majority of of readers are women, there are a lot of men who read written.

And um I think that that's really great. And write it. Yeah, write it. They're one of my really um there's an author an author team I really like and they do sci fi and alien romance and it's a husband and wife. and they write romance together. I think that's amazing. Um so it's really diverse, it's open to everyone, and it also I think it also does shape how women

view and perform romance in relationships as well. So while sometimes that can be bad, I think a lot of times it is good because in the end it's about communication. Opening up and you know being honest with yourself. So that's my little rant, my little soapbox. I will get off I honestly probably was gonna say exactly what you said, so I don't feel like I n no no no. So no I'm saying that's a good thing. So I'm saying I don't think I need to like add anything without it just sounding like ranty.

making it up on the spot. So I don't think I need to like unless faith you want to add anything, I don't have anything. Because I agree with what you said.

Um so I like the while Vega was talking it made me Um well obviously I I've s you know, like both Katie and I were like, it's a good you know, like a she said palette cleanser and you know, for me it's good for decompression, so I do think it's important But also I don't think it's any secret that when it comes to sex, you know, especially in mi not Western culture, but you know, especially here here are

Maybe not all of our listeners are in the listeners are in the United States, but um here in the United States we're kind of repressed. Oh yeah. Like it is it is more like violence is more acceptable than than sex. Um or in our country. I think that it has a huge impact on people's growth. We should be able to talk about this stuff and we should be able to be comfortable about it because we shouldn't feel repressed or dirty. Not that

it being dirty can be really fun. But it it we shouldn't feel that way. Like that shame. It's very unfortunate and I think it's really toxic toxic for both women and for men. And I don't think it it helps create healthier p adults. So I really value it. Like if I had a young teen right now, I would be

Read all the romance you want. Eat it up. Cause Yeah. I think it's really healthy. And I think it's also like the nice thing about the romance genre is there's a spectrum of comfort, especially because a lot of us have being open about it. It's a lot easier probably for someone to talk about romance than it is to talk about like porn. And though I think we should be able to openly talk about porn, having that spectrum and comfort level for people I think is really

Yeah. I that was a rant, sorry. No, no, no. We all love romance, so we're very not defensive about it, but we like to sing its praises, which I think is good. That's why we are doing this.

Yeah. Oh and that leads to the next question. Like what do you hope to accomplish in I guess I'll go and I'll get I'll put this soap box back out, step on it with my little feet. I would really like to normalize the genre of romance, like Faith was saying. one of the like the naming of the podcast, right? Like Read Smut so I mean, we all like had a hand in naming it, but one thing that really clicked in my mind was when my mom

would find me reading these romance novels, she would say, Oh, are you still reading that smut? Because romance novels are often called And although she was joking and like she read them too, it really, like Fa Faith was saying, it really made me feel ashamed that I got enjoyment out of these. And so I just kinda wanna normalize it. Like these are valid novels.

this genre is incredibly popular. So many people are reading Um so I hope we see more positive and inclusive stories, positive depictions of healthy relationships, but honestly like just normalizing it, like hey, yeah, I read erotica, I read romance novels, there's nothing Okay, now faithful step one. I really like we need to be able to talk about sex. And so a shout out to anyone out there who's being brave. I hope a lot more of them are talking about

I I don't want young people to like not feel like they can talk about this a as they grow up. So you also will notice like, you know, since we're doing this intro later, like I've become more confident. Like we like we're already benefiting from this and that's what I hope this Also I just realized I'm not in my TV so youthful yes. Excuse me. You're a little bit more than a little bit. Kelsey and I are both in our late twenties. My live late twenties. Mid to late twenties.

So much younger. Are you older or younger than Ed Fieran? That is where Yeah, for some reason that's become this like joke that we all have like are you older or younger than him? And that's like how we Aged our age, and it doesn't really make any sense. But I'm younger. Younger than a Chiron. Okay. Well

Well that's the thing. Kelsey's like, wait, it tells you if you're like you're an adult or a child, right? That's kind of the joke. But no, it doesn't. You can be an adult and be younger than a sheer. I mean, I hope so, because I I am Yeah, Kelsey will forever be younger than a curate. Oh. Wait, is it what have Oh yeah, what do you hope to accomplish with this podcast? I would say

continue learning both on a personal level, kind of like you both have touched on. And then again I'm gonna bring up the writing just from a writing perspective to keep learning just because like you said there are not only because other genres can also be found Uh like you mentioned Meg, but just from I feel like I keep just like ranting about Like world building is amazing, characters and character development are amazing.

plot, story, stakes, uh a a lot of that you can really, really learn how to be a better writer through reading romance. So I'm hoping not only to continue to find new authors and subgenres and series that I love but also just to continue learning um how to be a better It's so exciting. Ah I love that. I love that we're like getting to put this out. I don't know, it's just so exciting. And like having you guys do it with me. Like you guys are like my best friends and it's just really exciting.

Ha ha ha ha. So I just wanted to say like this is so exciting that we're like actually getting to do this. This is amazing. Um It is. Okay, so we're getting to like the like more fun, less s I'm officially putting the little

Okay, okay. So unless you feel very strongly about these things, which you could, that's fine. So um what are your favorite romance genre tropes? So um mine for instance is Forbidden Love. I love a Forbidden Love story. A brusque hermit, preferably one who lives in the mountains and has not seen a woman. Or an alien who has never seen a human woman who's also a breast hermit. Oh my gosh. Ten out of ten. And I also love a happily ever after an an H E S.

I do not like continuation stories where you have to read the next book to get the end of the story, not my cup of tea. I like to have one book, finish it, move on. I guess my two favorites, probably my my all-time favorite is Forbidden Love and I definitely like Enemy to Lover, I think that's my favorite for any type of relationship, even if you know, in a story, even if it's not romantic, like Even if it's just a friendship, I don't need a friend. Like, who doesn't love

Aang and Zuko in you know uh Avatar Las Air Bender. So, you know, like the I yeah, I love that transition. Like I feel like that's a really good ramp up. So Those are my my two favorites uh hands down. I would say mine actually would probably be

when you have a slow burning relationship. Uh, that could stem from my reading a lot of YA because generally in YA they pine for each other a lot and you know, like each other the whole book and they may also have elements of enemies to lovers or some of those other tropes and then they don't even a lot of times kiss to like the second So that could be part of it, but I think what I I like even more.

is when they kind of develop a foundation in their relationship before they go into falling in love. Like maybe they're friends or they're on a team or something along those lines where they slowly develop feelings for each other. And there may be like insta love or not insta love, I hate oh my God, wait, you have to be a bed at that.

You love Insta Love. It's your favorite. You would die for Insta love. No, I don't I I do not like Insta Love, which also does happen in YA. I am totally cool with Insta attraction or even InstaLove. in romance more often is insta lust, um which I think installust, insta attraction, that makes total sense. But then when that slowly transforms into love after they work together

Totally love that'cause you get to see their love journey. Katie, I think you bring up something really good. Like having that insta love totally cuts out the relationship building portion. Of the character. So I completely agree with with Yeah,'cause Installove not only, you know, doesn't give their relationship as much room to develop, but it also gives the characters individually, I would say, less room to develop because it's a lot more satisfying when

part of their character development also happens to include falling in love with the other person. I think when it all comes together like that, it's absolutely amazing. So next question is do you have a literary crush and how do you think that will affect what So I've got two. So I love Mr. Thornton from North and South. He's the brusque, stoic factory owner who Margaret Hale ends up Meg has a type, if you can't tell.

And then Richard Armitage like playing him in the BBC version is just like oof great. It's great. Thorne Elkinshoe. Oh man, gosh, he's so handsome such a handsome man. And he seems like such a nice person. Sorry to bring up. That's okay. He was great in that. That was like the highlight of the movie for me, I'm not gonna lie. Like the orc, the weird giant orc, the Didn't know. I didn't like that. That was terrible.

Yeah, I liked him and I liked the old cast members who came back. That was super fun. But we can we can have a whole episode related to talking about what other episodes are. It'll be fun. And then of course I also like Mr. Darcy because he's stoic and reserved and doesn't show his emotions until he comes to Elizabeth after they've come to know each other and he like bears his heart to her and she's like, Are you fucking kidding me? Like

GTFO, I don't like you. You broke up my family like my my sister's love. Like I don't know. I just love I love that whole dynamic. Oh, it's so great. And I think overall I like a hero that reminds me of my husband because You will he probably hear this several times in the podcast. Um, my husband is very stoic and very spare with his words. Like he listens and you

I honestly I think I mentioned this in the first intro that we had. Like I thought he didn't like me at first'cause he was just so quiet and like, you know, he didn't just doesn't talk a lot. But So uh I don't like players and bad boys also. So I I you know this I thought a little more about this question and like a literary

So I'm gonna I'm gonna say two different literary crushes. I think the reason that this one stands out from when I was young um was just because it was a book series. So I w like I got to know this very long time and it was the Jedi Apprentice series and it was Obi-Wan Kenobi. Um and of of course like you already are introduced to who Obi Wan Kenobi is an adult, but then when you get to watch him grow up when he was younger, I really duh I like grew to like like

have a huge crush on him, right? Over the series of this, of this like kid book kid series. Uh shout out to Jude. But like as an adult, I would say definitely still with my my crushes lie within series, that's for sure. And also like as my woman literary crush, uh Shallan from

the Storm Line archives, which I've already sung the praise. Free advertisement for Brandon Sanderson. She uh like I didn't I wasn't really digging her in the first book and it was like that growth for me. So like I I think that's just the type of person that I'm attracted to, someone who grows over time and me get Trying to think I honestly since I'm not sure.

this, which we can cut this part out, but I feel like I haven't thought of anything new. I like thought about it and I was like, I feel like there's probably someone I'm forgetting that like one of my friends or someone is gonna listen to this and be like, oh my gosh, I can't believe you didn't talk about like this person. I want to Be like, oh dang it. Like totally right. That was someone I was really enjoying.

Um, I would still say I really liked as a Harry Potter fan. I was pretty into Draco Malfoy as a teenager, I think, because he's that. misunderstood bad boy who, you know, is affected by other circumstances that are out of his control and it like corrupts him and it's so sad and tragic, but then he's still a terrible person

I don't know. I don't know what I'm saying. No, I um I I definitely um when I was younger I would read a Harry Potter fanfic and Draco Malfoy definitely was like always the heartthrob because he is like that misunderstood like bad boy. Like yeah, I completely understand. Yeah, so I really like I always um and you can ask my friend Sarah, but I've always had like a soft spot for villains or at least I like

a really complex villain. And I think to a degree he falls into that category. I think Voldemort as well, although I did never had a crush on Voldemort. Um I think there also was actually a lot of fanfic for uh Tom Riddle, which is super interesting. But I really liked those misunderstood bad boy villainous types as a teenager. And those are definitely prevalent in YA as well. The brooding

type with a tragic past. Um, I would say I still endure that to a degree, but if they're too moody or But um it's still I just think as long as it's a character who is interesting and is well fleshed out, I think I will enjoy And then the last question is what draws your attention to a book first? The title or the cover? I think we all probably Yeah. I agree cover. Although sometimes I will like narrow down my searches by title. So it's like if it's like the brooding uh mountain hermit and his

then I'm probably gonna probably gonna be more drawn to it. Yeah. It'll probably have a lumberjack or a guy in a flannel and then a girl in a bikini on the cover. So I know that that's probably what it Yeah, sometimes the title gives things away like the Italian the Italian billionaire's secret love child. That gives a lot of the story away. But yeah, cover movies.

For our podcast, for format formatting of our episodes, just so our listeners have a head heads up, um, we're always gonna start out with judging of Um I think we all agreed that what draws our attention the most is the cover. Um and so we're just gonna take a look at the cover, we're gonna read the back, we're gonna talk about what do we think this is about and how interesting.

The second part we're gonna do is the synopsis. We are going to attempt to make it as brief and um unbiased as possible. No guarantees. on either of those. Yeah. Um the the third is gonna be third part is gonna be um our thoughts on the book. Uh would Yeah. So bias. No, that will all be all biased. The fourth section will be as I say the smut ometer, and Megan uh corrects me with mono. I can't even say

The smidometer. Um, and so that will be I'll let Megan explain that a little bit. Uh we have to scale. So first is the there are two parts of the smidometer and the first part is going to be the sexual like Spicy net the high the heat. How hot is it? So one is going to be it's a scale one to ten. One is gonna be uh dirty dancing when you see Patrick Spezies shoulder.

move a little bit like in frame and her just like lying there. Um that's gonna be a one. And then five is gonna be the uh car scene in Titanic. a little side boob action, you know, like kinda kinda racy, but like not, you know. And then um I watched it when I was twelve and it was fine. Uh Sorry. Uh and then ten is going to be the Outlander wedding night scene, which is basically just like softcore porn. But like in a good w I mean, yeah, softcore porn's fine as long as the

But like you see almost everything except for his penis. So it's really h I know, kinda I mean, I guess he didn't sign on for that. Uh That's the heat and then the um the emotional scale is gonna be the second part of the smodometer. So one on the smodometer is going to be um Anakin in episode three? Episode three. When Anakin tells Padame, You look so

So that's gonna be a one. And then 10 is going to be the we just have a one to ten on that emotional scale. Uh 10 is gonna be the the fountain scene in a when you can just like feel the palpable love and lust, just like they don't have to say anything and it's just like oh it's so it's a great scene. Um so that's a ten on It's you can say it either way. So it is the smutometer. Faith is wrong about this, I will just admit that. Um and

The the fifth section of every episode and the final section is gonna be would Kelsey read this book? And that's the question. Kelsey and she's gonna not have a mic and respond and we'll really everyone. Since she doesn't read romance, uh I think it is like her after her hearing us talk about it, a a good, you know, indication on the book.

uh on for an outsider who doesn't read that genre, what would it sound like to them? So um yeah, so that is our fifth and final section. Kind of like when you like describe um like oh recently what was a movie I watched? Oh actually cats. I know everyone's gonna be like turn it off. Don't listen to this podcast anymore. We're done. Burn it. Cats wasn't that bad. I still have not seen it.

We watched it high the other day. I don't know. It just made it more confusing for me and make it catch one extend it more. I think it's because I've seen like the nineteen ninety six like VHS, like uh people in Spandex. Yeah, the mistake for me was definitely I should have watched the stage production. It's like sexy in the stage production because they're not like weird CGI CGI cat bodies, but um kind of racy but not real.

I don't know if that's a good thing with cats. Five out of ten sexy. Um after we do the intro for We invite you to then go ahead and pause the episode and then read the book if you would like. You definitely don't have to, you can just keep listening and we will dive into our discussion about the book after we've all gone and taken the time to read it.

Um but we would encourage you to read along with us after listening to the intro and uh then come back. But whatever you prefer, we're just happy to have you.

Okay, so our plan moving forward um after this weekend of launching the podcast is that we will be releasing new episodes on the third Friday of each month. So the next episode will be on June nineteenth and then it'll follow that cadence after that. Uh you can also visit our website, readsmutpodcast.com. Uh or please follow us on social media at ReadSmut Podcast.

And then you can also reach out to us with any questions or recommendations for books. We'd love to hear from you. Our email is readsmutpodcast at gmail.com. Thank you for listening. You can recommend a book, send us a listener review for an upcoming title, or just send your thoughts. Smut Podcast. At gmail.com. Follow our upcoming reviews on Instagram. You can rate us on ice. Subscribe on the video. And remember. Read. In our first episode We were viewing Highland Bride by Hannah Howard.

I I feel like every time we say we can just edit that out, right? Like Kelsey's anxiety just goes up. It's just like a long list. Yeah. Cut.