well hello All You Beautiful [Music] People you know what time it is ladies and gents Guys and Dolls and everyone in between gather around get you something real nice to sip on and comfy to slip on cuz it's time for smut Club here's your hosts Chelsey and [Applause] Hannah hey everybody and welcome to smut club I'm Hannah and I'm Chelsea and this is the podcast where we sometimes Day drink sometimes don't today is definitely a day drinking day yep and review uh romance novels of varying
caliber yes yes mhm yeah and share them with each other yes and then share them with you um but only if want them I guess if you don't just turn it off what the yeah do that but stick around cuz we're pretty funny I think yeah I like to think we're a catch yeah oh my God okay so I was speaking to a client and I said something about my husband like I said my husband and I had something for dinner or whatever like whatever and this person goes hold up you're married and I was like yeah and I
like pointed to my ring I was like I wear my ring every day like yeah I'm married and he went no no no no no no you're married to a man what like flabbergasted in such a way that like he genuinely was like no you're not and I was like yeah I am and he was like like okay so like does your husband know and I was like no what and he goes you know and like did a little shake with his hand and I was like yeah no what what does your husband know that I've assumed you were a single lesbian this
entire time I've known you I was like what is happening right now believe it or not Matt doesn't know any of I was like oh my God oh my God so immediately after that which it was you know it was especially funny because I was wearing a shirt that day that somebody had told me was looking very queer and I was like cool cool cool I love that aesthetic for me so I just leaned into it apparently and so I've told everyone everyone I know now knows that like this guy
genuinely was like that can't be true I was like what have I done well also like not even like a like what vibe are you putting out in the world because I've known you for several years so I know the general vibe that you're putting out in the world but I'm just like fascinated with the lens through which he has experienced you yeah me too and also it just like dumbfounds me the things that people feel comfortable saying to other people that they don't have that level of relationship
with no I was like uh quite frankly I thought I overstepped with my massage therapist earlier this week because he was telling me he like works like a full-time job elsewhere as like a director of operations but he's like yeah I work like a 90 hour week last week and so I was like okay so we need to talk about boundary setting CH see why is he working a second job poor guy does he just like it uh I think that's just like a bigger a bigger got that we are not paid to
analyze is what you're telling me that I also think that like with anything right you're like okay I want to start something that like might not be the most lucrative from the jump so I have to support myself while I build that but then like the thing that you're supporting yourself with also needs time and attention right so then I think and can easily take over 1,000% so that's my rough Assumption of what's happening in his life but none of this is relevant to what we're here to
talk about tonight what are we reviewing today wow starting strong okay today we are reviewing the XEX by Aaron Sterling okay um that I believe is uh an alias for Rachel Hawkins oh okay yes the only reason I learned that is because I had Googled the XX and it was like by Rachel Hawkins and I was like no you silly [ __ ] the other giant book with the same cover silly and then I was like oh maybe this has a chance for me to learn something new sorry I called you a silly [ __ ]
Google we can be open to new experiences right we can learn all of the things um okay so this book is like just such a cozy fall read oh I want to read it on my front porch with a cup of like mold CER M when the leaves start turning on a chilly night with the fire going sort of like that's nice yes um so that's just not that that's relevant for anyone else but I need everyone to know the environment and WEA I was longing for this is the vibe yes 1,000% so we open in the prologue with
viven she goes by Vivy um she is a witch she is 19 years old and she is drunk as a skunk in the the bathtub crying because she just had her heart broken a by Rees that's how you if your name is spelled RH Ys that's Reese right yes as a child phonetically I [ __ ] that up and ever since I've doubted myself even though I've since corrected but I still have that moment where I'm like was 9-year-old Chelsea right was she no she really she wasn't like I think that's also what
happens when you read a lot as a kid and like there like words that you're like no one taught me how to pronounce this I'm just like read it you didn't read it right I know what it means but I can't say it yes yeah so viven just had her heartbroken by reys penhollow uh he is his family is one of the founding families of graves Glenn Graves Glenn Georgia this book takes place in Georgia is this like a savannah area or like no it's like supposed to be in like the North
Georgia Mountains area yeah but at one point they are like and she crunched through the snow in winter and I was like no she didn't that's not Georgia that oh I was like we must be in different georgas cuz that's don't know her we haven't had snow in 3 years right yeah even I feel like there was a weird year where we had snow that like hit in Atlanta and like in Dunwoody and we didn't get it further north yep and I was like but I would like that just a little bit just a just a little yeah
even though I work remotely so no one will give a [ __ ] and I don't you don't get snow days as an adult no no no you don't um okay so Vivian and Reese had been having this fling for the summer and it was like all well and good and as they're like laying in bed and they're Afterglow he's like yeah I'm going to have to go back to Wales to sort things out with my betrothed and oh no yep and that was viv's response and she was like [ __ ] you and the horse you rode in on I'm
out and so he's leaving to go back to Wales she has called it because she did not know he had a betrothed this whole time where they've been like [ __ ] like bunnies for 3 months straight right and so now she is drunk in the tub Conjuring like the smell of his cologne with her magic and her cousin gets home and it's like oh my God you're giving me a headache will you stop like this is pathetic and she's just like drinking vodka and like tons of candles lit and
just like a complete mess and so her cousin is like let's just curse the [ __ ] and they're like haha okay so they like she she gets out of the tub and they like set the candle and get all like the the salt Circle all created but then they're like throwing out ridiculous like may your hair never flop and do the thing again like may you always think the clitoris is a quarter inch away from where it actually is like those sorts of things which I'm like these are incredible that's excellent yes uh
they're like may you never darken her doorstep or her vagina again and but at the may they never be darkened yes then viv's like just goes like I curse you pen Hollow you and your whole stupid line and when she says that like the candle flame like jumps up super high in the air like the windows slam shut whoops and she's like H whatever I'm drunk this was fun and then they just like kind of like move on with their life and they're like silly cathartic girl things you know so not the same
but a friend of mine in college my college roommate found out that her boyfriend had been cheating on her and they'd been together for a really long time and it was all very messy and so we collected everything he had ever given her every memory they had and we took them to my dad's house and to burn them and my Dad decided to put gasoline in a spray bottle and so um he burned off quite a bit of the hair on his arm because the the flame followed the trail of the gasoline back but we had all been
drinking and we were just like burn it down like you're like not you Dad we're not trying to burn you down like that's not what we meant I know we said all men but we didn't mean you like was he okay he's totally fine yeah okay so he just singed a couple of hairs it wasn't great he we didn't curse an entire bloodline or anything no yeah you get it yeah you know just a light Tuesday afternoon amount of fire sure not the weekend cursing right you get it okay so we are
now 9 years in the future is where this book is picking up okay so we're 28 now yeah we are now in our our late 20s and we are opening with Rees um he he has opened his own very successful like travel Expedition company in London that like had started just as him and like now has like 10 employees and has really built a very successful business he's traveling back to Wales at his father's behest his father Simon is known for being like a very intimidating very like old school man at
one point like his dad's like you're a warlock and he's like that's an Antiquated term that we don't use anymore like that sort of old school oldfashioned traditional and his dad when he gets to whales like his dad is just like annoyed with the life of frivolity that Rees is living and so he's like hey it's the uh 100y year I think 100 year uh founding of graves Glenn and so we need to send a representative for like the annual Founders Day Festival and as you know
every 25 years us as like the founding bloodline we have have to go and we have to charge the lay lines um so we need you to go and do this for the family which he's like not super into but he is like I wonder if Vivian is still there so he's not married no okay single as a pringle that's not a saying is it it should be I liked it a lot as I was saying it I was like no that's not a thing I really liked it though it doesn't even make sense it doesn't cuz who eats a single
Pringle I'm like a single can of Pringles I'm like yes okay we'll work on our uh analogies our Rhymes yeah we'll work on those in a smidge but yes he's single and he is like okay like I don't really want to go and do this but like I'll go Char like make a speech charge the lay lines be out two days later and be back doing what I want to do but he is like also like it'd be cool to see Viv and if she's still there um and he's like telling his brother about her and like
that he thinks of her as kind of like the one who got away yes H so now switch to Vivien uh she is still in Graves Glenn and is a professor at the college that she went to so Penh Haven College um they have a whole like magical degree progam so like they have a whole section of their college that's like four magical students but she teaches on like the Normie side so they're like yeah we just like like you can apply for like the historical folklore degree but like
right if you're not magical you just think it's really hard to get into and they only accept International students like you just choose another major right right um but also we learn like viven was uh her mom was a witch maybe I forget if her dad was a witch as well if I'm being honest my bad uh but she grew up in a house not that didn't really practice magic she didn't know she was magical for most of her upbringing so she's like I kind of feel more comfortable
being on the human side of things and with the human students uh but then she'll like enchant the papers while she's grading them so like it'll like automatically let her know if anyone cheated and she's like and the words turned red and bled off the page and I knew he hadn't written it and I was like oh that'd be a great magical I was going to say so she's like settling into the human side but she's still using like yeah the most magic that I do is like reheating my tea without a microwave
kind of energy um her cousin Gwen and her auntie Lane she Liv with them and they live local they have a like kind of like witchy novelty shop called something wicked that sells like tarot decks and uh crystals and cute yes all of all of those fun things smudge sticks probably yeah yeah all that good stuff right sense mhm whatever you think of when you're thinking of that shop the answer is yes you are correct um but while she's hanging out with her aunt and cousin her aunt or not
her aunt her cousin gets a text and she's like cuz her cousin is [ __ ] Jane the mayor of the Town they're sure so they have an ananan thing I think the next book is about Ginn I don't know didn't even look at it sorry if you're interested you can find it uh but Jane text Gwenn and was like oh they're sending a pen Hollow representative and they're like oh [ __ ] is it going to be Rees she hasn't seen him they haven't talked like we don't know and so Gwen's like let me like do a reading for you
and like starts pulling cards and she's like yeah the fool whoops it's going to be him so they're like already prepared for his return cut back to Reese who has now arrived in Georgia and he is just having a shitty day like flew into Atlanta there was bad traffic got a speeding ticket as soon as he like made it to Graves Glenn got a flat tire tried to fix the tire with magic but his magic was on the fritz and so he's just like it's about to rain I'm standing on the
[ __ ] side of the road I'm exhausted like cool that feels like a hex doesn't it well maybe maybe just a smidge I mean maybe it's just a terribly awful day yeah it's a bad day no matter what the cause is I guess if we really break it down so he's standing on the side of the road being like guess I could walk [ __ ] I don't really have like a great plan and then a car is coming so he's like all right stand here look Charming trying and like get their attention but like the car is
getting closer and he's like they aren't slowing down and they're veering right and I'm on the right and so like then he's like [ __ ] they're about to hit me so he like jumps off the road but like kind of like falls into the grass like a trenchy ditch area right and then the car stopped and was like oh my God sorry I didn't even see you until you move like that was the weirdest thing and it's Vivien but at this point she's now like tripped and fallen on him and
naturally yes as as one does and she's like oh okay it's you and he's like oh were you like were you driving down this road to like come to my house to greet me or something she's like no my aunt still lives on this road like get the [ __ ] over yourself like no he's like well do you want to be a Good Samaritan like give me a ride and she's like why should I and he's like well for one I am here in town to charge the lay lines which helps everyone so that you're
welcome me being here is beneficial to you and two I didn't even make a pervy comment when you just fell on me and three I three was going to be a pervy comment so maybe you should just leave me here okay that's kind of good that's pretty good yes but then Vivian goes okay I'll leave you here and just get up and drives away and like as her tail lights are going he's just like fair play yeah like she really left me cuz I'm imagining there was some like oh she'll turn around like like she did
she is like right yes but also as soon as he saw her he's like she's just as beautiful as I remembered her being but then he was like well I guess I'm walking and then like the rain starts falling and he's like like [ __ ] all of this what a scene yes dejectedly walking down the road after you just fell onto the shoulder into a ditch in a foreign country in a foreign country after your ex just left you there after the one who got away e just left you there yeah that's rough yeah
that feels like a little extra Twist of the knife you know um the next morning like Gwyn and viven are just like laughing about the fact that like Vivien left him and gwyn's like you're the baddest [ __ ] I've ever met and Gwen's like or Vivian's like well you know I I like both feel proud of myself but also a little like I really left him there yeah um but then Jane shows up and is like I I have I can't find Reese where the [ __ ] is Reese like he's supposed to like he hasn't checked in at
the welcome station and he's supposed to give this and like none of this is working and so Gwyn calming her love interest is like don't worry Vivan and Reese are old friends she can go track them down no problem's like [ __ ] you fully thrown under the bus 1,000% that has sister energy yes they they are cousins but they are sisters I got you yes oh you and your sisters would 1,00% do that to each other oh yeah mhm I my sister and I um our phone number numbers are only two digits off
the last two digits are different mhm and um it never dawned on me that I could just if I I could give someone a fake number so I just always gave them my sister's number Chelsea that's pretty good is that I like that a lot that's pretty good which probably means it's terrible in retrospect I don't know if she found it as funny as I did yeah that's pretty hilarious my bad what are you going to do um viven tracks him down he has like a giant coffee in hand and she's like he is
not looking like he is doing his best since he got here um but she's like but damn it he's still cute and so she gets him over to the welcome station like explains where he needs to be and then he's like well after all of this tonight I'm going to go charge the lay lines do you want to come with me like do you want to see them which like it's not open to the public it's not like like Vivian even says at one point that cuz I think he asked if she's been there and she's like no like my aunt was
always very clear like this is like sacred magic place like you don't just like casually go to the lay lines right right it's not a tourist attraction 1,000% so then at the festival Reese is giving his speech and like he keeps it short and sweet like the way you want a speech at an event like that but then the statue of his like great great however many greats there are grandfather griffi who's the one who founded the town uh the head just falls off the statue and like is like like he like
moves out of the way but like almost decapitates him and he's like this doesn't just feel like bad luck like starting to feel more targeted now yeah like he's like maybe something is wrong and so he goes to Something Wicked uh to ask viven and her cousin if they have I guess a scrying mirror uh and they're like well we we do in the back and he's like yeah I need it to communicate with my father and they're like oh most people I didn't know you could FaceTime with this crying
mirror yeah and he's like well they don't have my father so he uses this magic mirror to essentially FaceTime his dad and be like I think I'm cursed something is a Miss yeah and he's like is it cool to charge the lelay lines if I'm cursed and his dad's like you're not cursed you're being absolutely ridiculous the bad traffic in a speeding ticket is what happens in Atlanta yeah like sucks to suck you just chose to travel like a human and that's the human travel experience don't be ridiculous
don't call me again yeah and he's like no pin hollow man has been cursed for a thousand years go like do what you went there to do and [ __ ] come back I was like you so he he's broken the generational non- curse like never mind I was like we're breaking a generational curse but that's not what's happening because he is cursed my brain's not well my brain's not the funny part is that uh you kind of stumbled onto something that we'll discover later in the book oh where
there are maybe maybe hypothetically some generational ties into all of this well excuse me then yes so it's like a thousand years is a long time how do you know well so as uh like as the one chapter ends with Reese's dad being like you're not cursed you idiot the next chapter starts with Vivian telling Quinn I think we cursed Reese I think that vodka KN yeah she's like do you remember that night like nine years ago I was crying in the bathtub yes I cursed his entire family line gw's like
you're just being ridiculous uh but also like it's like you're being ridiculous about the curse but it does seem like there's a little bit of a spark between the two of you should we talk about that like you two still seem like a little into each other he he and vian's like I really feel like you're missing the point of what I'm trying to say In This Moment Gwen's trying to be a wing woman Vivian's trying to save a life yes one like like there are deeper problems here and gwyn's like
yeah also like gwy exclusively calls Reese dick bag this entire book like to his face that is definitely sister energy for sure um also I will say cousin energy in my case because I think you have heard the general folklore of that time that I my boyfriend came on a family trip to Guatemala with me and 2 days into the trip we broke up but then he stayed for the rest of the weeklong trip um and the only person who knew about the breakup because I was too embarrassed and also like wasn't going
to tell my whole extended family that I was with um was my cousin who I was sharing a bedroom with so she obviously knew cuz I came in after the breakup and like she heard all about it being upet so like the next day we're all taking like a group photo at this Winery and she just goes hey can you stand on the end so I can cop you out later that's so good that's so good I love that I know she also officiated my wedding like we love that yes but I'm like what an incredible she's like yeah whenever
someone's dating someone we always try and get them on the outside you know I do know I like it's a great way to live if we're being completely honest yes we're just planning ahead staying smart you know mhh so um at the lay lines that night they get to the caves and uh reys and viven are trying to find their way through the caves to where like the secret entrances and Reese is like definitely a little bit lost and she's like do you not know where the [ __ ] you're going he's like no
I just like need to like reorient myself and she's like because you're lost maybe it's that like shadow on the wall behind you that like looks like a secret entrance that shadow that's shaped like a door yeah where she's like it's it's kind of obvious like that that's where they're going and so when they like enter I guess like the Chamber of the cave uh they both start to feel the very palpable physical effect of magic which I guess like the physical effects like
sometimes magic can make you feel giddy or sometimes lethargic and some magic can make you feel very horny I'm shocked right and so she's like looking at him as they're like fing this pole and she's like is this mag like what is what is happening but they're like getting like closer together and he's like she's still the most beautiful human I need to kiss her and like right as he's like closing his eyes and leaning in she's like did you really bring me to a magical sex cave
like was this your end goal like [ __ ] you bro oh Reese read the room babe oh my God and he's like oh is that not is that not what we're doing and like to be fair it's not like it was only affecting him like right she like realized it and like actively fighting against this just like innate pull that's happening but he was already wanting it before so he just didn't fight it yeah that is also very true but she asked she's like so did you ask your dad like what to expect like did you
know that was going to happen and he's like well like no and she's like so you brought me here not knowing what we were walking into a potentially very unsafe situation yes and he's like not getting why she's frustrated and she's like because you didn't check like you invited me here not knowing what to expect into like what yeah a very potentially dangerous situation like cool so you weren't really thinking about me in this moment kind of energy yeah and so they're
bickering and they're like whatever let's just kind of like get the lines charged to get out and so he starts like putting his hands over them doing whatever he needs to do to charge the lines and they're like glowing brighter and brighter and then suddenly there's this like cracking sound and the way they describe it is like the lay lines are like clear like bright purple like glowing lines of magic through the rock I guess who knows uh and then there's suddenly like black
ooze and like sludge is kind of starting to fill the the magic lay line oh no yeah and they're like we should run time to go yes they're like oh [ __ ] we were not prepared for that and so as when they leave like Reese is like what the [ __ ] was that and then Vivian's like so funny story uh remember that time you cheated on your fiance with me and he's like I wasn't engaged I was betrothed that's the I'm like we're splitting hair is it just what is the difference like that's a
real question is the difference between like an engagement and a betral is like betral is kind of like dibs like like an intention to be engaged yeah it's like like cuz I feel like people describe betrothed once you're engaged interchangeably but like in that like oh to keep the family line strong we know our daughter is going to marry your son at some certain age so are you is that just your betrothed until you are officially engaged I have no idea I don't either and I've never thought
about it until now and I have questions but if anyone has answers please let us know I think okay okay okay so from Vivian's side for me I would be like you still had a commitment mhm to someone else that you didn't tell me about after we've been sleeping together for 3 months so regardless of if it was like an arranged marriage and a signed piece of paper like I still deserve to know that information yeah like you knew even if you didn't know who the person was
yet that your dad was working on setting up an arranged situation for you right so would have been nice to know that information yes like very much like a Lie by Omission sort of situation and I can see from his side if he was like I never even like I had no intention of marrying this person I didn't know who they were yes and he's like you were beautiful and I'm 19 right right I'm a very stupid boy like what do you want so in the car on the way back into town viven is like telling him like
about yeah so like I may have have cursed you um but then she gets a phone call from Gwyn and she's like you need to get to Something Wicked immediately so they book it to Something Wicked and when they get there and walk inside they had like been stocking the shelves for the Founders Day Festival and so they had a lot of like chachies and kitsy things including like hundreds of plastic skulls which have now come to life and are trying to bite all of their ankles
that's good they like that's some Buffy the Vampire Slayer [ __ ] 1,000% they like walk in but there's like humans in the shop and and so they're like working on like trying to sweep a path so they like throw a broomed Reese who's sweeping a path to the door for the humans to follow him like sweeping the skull heads left and right and he's like this is why you don't buy [ __ ] online internationally and just like don't use Teemu like very much always have a verified vendor as
he's just helping them to the door so they get the girls out and uh like our shutting doors and Vivian tries to like use magic to shut the curtains and like fire shoots out so she like causes a fire and they're like this is not this is A Series of Unfortunate Events yes and they're like well should we just go hide in the back in the store room which is also like like a magical store room like when you walk in you're like oh this isn't just like a normal store room this is like a Gryffindor
Commons store room sort of energy like Okay so let's go hide in the store room because we don't have a better plan and then suddenly like the front doors to the shop blast open and anti Lane is there and like has like I don't know disabled the skeletons use some magic where the skeletons are longer actively trying to eat people yeah I don't even know what I do so pitiful I don't even know what I do that is a that is a helpless situation I think that's one of those
where honestly like if there was a mouse or a lot of mice after me I wouldn't know what to do I would jump up on a table and hope for the best probably like yeah and you're like I think the thing what it comes down to though is being like okay so is this just like a I have to outlast them until they lose interest or do I just live on this table now is this my home now so my sister texted me and told me that she discovered she has a primal fear of mice that she did not know that she had and
so there was a her cat brought a mouse in and it like jumped up and she said she was like screaming and like trying to crawl up the stairs it was like having it like a full meltdown about it and she said I'm pretty sure I get it from dad because she doesn't remember but I do one of my very first memories is my father tugging his pants into his socks and carrying a broom into our shed to try to deal with a nest of mice in the shed and he was terrified they were going to crawl up his pants
was that like firsthand experience he' previously had with that fear based on don't I still don't know but I distinctly remember the pants tucked into the socks and him just screaming in the shed while we all just like sat there pretty sure my older sister had some chips but yeah so that's I would be like tugging my pants into my socks if there were like little things like that trying to bite me if there were hundreds of plastic skeletons heads trying to bite your ankles if
there was any indication that they were climbers pants into the socks yeah well cuz I guess like I don't know how much skill they have with their teeth right which is a weird sentence to say especially on this podcast what did you say earlier that guy has a Prince William so something on TV this guy had was like I have a balding situation and Chelsea goes that guy's got like a Prince William and both Hannah and my husband paused and looked at me and they were like we don't think we know that sex
piercing like how do you know about his dick piercings like what are you talking about is he like a secret porn St was like I've never even heard of this man how do you know what dick piercings he had I was like no I just met his hairline the one on his head his actual head on his shoulders yeah not the one in his pants there was a there was a high school coach that that was uh the advice he always gave his like I think it was the track team he's like oh think with
the head on your shoulders not the one in your pants like some of his go-to advice for the team a golden nugget of wisdom um even better Golden Nugget of wisdom this is my husband's F story that I think is one of the funniest things I've ever heard where he was at Christian weekend Camp growing up and they were talking about purity and saving yourself from Marriage oh no and the speaker was like if you guys don't hear me say anything else the entire weekend just hear this keep it wrinkled
no that was and that was a period not a comma there was no followup to that I'm like what what that was the that was the official advice you gave keep it wrinkled okay so anyways they're all debriefing the magical heads okay and Gwynn's like none of this would have even happened if reys had broken viv's heart and Reese is like I didn't break her heart and then he like pauses he's like did I wait like did I break your heart and Vivian's like thanks [ __ ] again Gwen no you didn't break
my heart I was a little bummed I was 19 I got drunk It's not that deep then she's like but also maybe a little you broke my heart but like trying to save a little bit of a face there right mhm and so they're like let's just call tonight let's all go home let's get some sleep uh like tomorrow Auntie Lane will start looking at like how we can like remove curses and Gwyn will run the shop and like manage the founders day crowd and we're going to get it figured out nobody panic
we're just going to do it and so like the next morning the magic is still wonky which uh has now just transferred from Reese's magic being off to The Whole Town's magic being a little off right uh and so Vivian wakes up and her cousin's cat sir Pur Civ all uh is looking at her and just goes treats nope and she's like the [ __ ] cats are not supposed to do that she's like I'm hallucinating and then she's like I'm not hallucinating apparently that's just a thing
now so when Vivian goes down into the kitchen reys is there with her aunt and then talking about uh just hypothesizing potential fixes and being like okay well the good news is that we think when like reys was charging the lines he a lot of the curse that was on him is now in the lay line so now it's it's not as potent in him like his magic isn't quite as Haywire like still can't really just be using it but like he's less cursed now that he shared it with the rest of the
town uh so thoughtful right exactly and then what happened who even knows uh hopefully you hopefully me listen uh I was a few drinks in when I outline some of this and so I'm doing my best to remember they they decide at breakfast that Rees is going to go to the college with Vivien and so while she is teaching he's going to go to like the magical section of the library and try and get some answers so when they get to the college she goes to drop him off at the library
and they're like there's like a The Vibes are off but like on like a magical level where they're like it feels like a little like cold and ominous and like things aren't quite right but like okay we're we're still got to do what we got to do so reys is starting to do research when she goes to teach a class and then calls his brother to be like maybe he will know what to do with all of this and but he's also like don't tell Dad I am cursed I've ruined the streak yes uh the
family line may be ending with me my bad and his brother's like so you need to come home so can fix this and he's like well no I'm going to be here trying to fix it and his brother is like you need to come back ASAP and you need to tell dad and he's like no this really wasn't the advice I was looking for uh so I'm going to go now which all that feels like some real sibling [ __ ] yes absolutely no I was looking for this when I called you I was not looking for whatever [ __ ] you're offering up I
need you to cosign my nonsense not come up with actual solution thank you yes yeah you're like no I need you to be willing to burn it all down with me I was not looking for you to provide a really logical reframe of what actually happened in this moment if I was looking for maturity I'd call somebody else like who would I call if I was looking for maturity probably my husband M cuz Vance Vance is really great at like if there's something that he need that he's like yes I will ride with you
on this all day but if there's something that he doesn't think should be happening he will not blindly ride with me uh which we need that balance and accountability though yes where he's like love you hear why you're upset and I'm not going to burn this down with you let's find alternate solution yeah which also sometimes cuz like my he works in the basement and I work on the upper floors in our house and so sometimes I'll FaceTime him to like when I'm mad about something and
there was one time where I was like this is not what I was looking for I needed you to agree she was being a [ __ ] and then I just like H up you are not meeting my needs I needed you to say wow she really has it coming and he's like I will not I was like damn it but I also like to think I do that for him yeah I'm just trying to say I'm not fully unhinged just trying to calm me down all the time Chelsea's just walking around plotting revenge and murder and Vance is
like maybe not today okay I'm like I'm a I'm a pretty happy person I'm not I'm not that murdery there's a certain threshold that I have to get to you know as we all have I would like to hear about the um threshold um at a later time this is something to process I don't want to spoil that for everyone else well no that's fair but I do think that like I'm super I'm super chill until I'm not super chill mhm and where is that threshold where is that murder line
maybe I shouldn't call it a murder line mine was yesterday when somebody interrupted my lunch and I thought I was going to catch a charge I was waiting for my quesadilla and I got a phone call that I needed to come back to the facility and I was like rage like I just wanted my quesadilla I do think my murder line is often food related it was 100% food related yeah yeah I'm like I even when I'm mad at someone so much less murdery yeah with a with a snack in me mhm
yeah my son unfortunately seems to have that uh characteristic as well Han he does yeah and I know you saw a little bit of it before we started recording today but I need you to know that man this morning has had three and a half bottles a full bowl of strawberries a full bowl of yogurt melts two hash browns oh my God three applesauce pouches and that was still him y'all are going to have to take out a loan when he gets to his teenage years oh can you imagine yeah like I saw a post where
someone was like you think Toddlers and diapers are expensive just wait until their teenagers and eat through $300 of groceries in two days and I was like my one and a half-year-old did that last week I'm like I'm I will never financially recover from this situation we're going to have to get that only fan so that you could feed your kid yes I'm like I'm like an a relatively accomplished professional and I'm out here being like should I start with selling feet
picks or used underwear which is the right option which is the most bang for your buck cuz my kid eats 15 meals a day and that ain't cheap all right so he hung up on his brother sorry I'm so sorry nothing like snorting red wine oh my God let me get a sip of water holy [ __ ] we really went all the way around on that I'm so sorry we did so Vivien gets to the library after class and is joining him in their research and like a in they still haven't found anything they're
getting frustrated and she's just like it shouldn't even be that hard to reverse this since we were barely a thing and he's like I know I'm annoyed but like don't [ __ ] on what we had is like in his head he's like he [ __ ] on what they had well that too a little bit but like he's like hey that summer meant something but then it like starts to a little flirty she's like I barely remember it and he's like so you don't remember the first time we kissed and she's like I've kissed a lot of guys who
can say yeah and he's like would you like me to kiss you now to jog your memory and she's like I mean if you must is kind of the vibe so they start kissing great kiss things start to escalate he's pushing her against the desk he's standing between her legs at one point she's like touch me and he's like gets his hand under her pants between her legs but above her tights and uh she the moment his thumb touch with her she's like well I guess the clip part of the curse did not come true
yay me that is great news uh but then right as things are starting to escalate they hear a scream oh and they're like oh and then they keep kissing and then they hear another scream and they're like maybe something's wrong maybe we should pause and go investigate so they go out into the uh main library and uh there's a ghost sure yeah my actual notes wrote It's a [ __ ] ghost y'all is it Moaning Myrtle her name is Piper but it's not that far off of an energy but when as soon as the ghost
lays eyes on reys she like shrieks and like charges at him and like flings him across the room oh yeah and they're like wow that is an angry ghost and then like she sees pip not Piper is the ghost oh she sees viven and then just like the ghost disappears and they're like okay that was weird and then suddenly Dr arbuthnot Who's over like she's the head of witchery for the college shows up witchery is there another continue is there another word for it it's a fun
word it is a really fun word that's why I wanted to say it yeah yeah I didn't have anything to add I just what does it say witchery witchery please continue exactly it's like the back part of a spelling be like you didn't actually spell the word but it's when they like yes w t c h e r y Witcher please continue so Ree and viven are meeting with Dr arbuthnot and they're like there may have been a mishap with the lay lines and Dr AR is like well that mishap did just release a ghost
from a very powerful binding spell like she was into some dark magic y'all need to fix this and they're like oh our bad but then like Reese is like that is an intense woman I get why you don't [ __ ] with the witches here like I see why you stay on the Normie side wow buzz kill am I right so he's really not necessarily taking this as serious ly or he's giving the energy that he's not taking things as seriously as maybe he handles everything with like a slight level of
like humor and ambivalence right which ironically going into like this very next section because as reys and Vivien are walking I think it's like they get back to her office and he gets a phone call about his company that like something has like gone wrong and he like she hands him like a pad of paper and a pen and and he starts writing notes and like making phone calls and she's like and I watched him transform into the most competent human I'd ever seen in my entire life and it was hot as
[ __ ] to like see that like that side of him exist she's like makes a girl Swoon you know competency I'm not going to disagree with that though no I get that yeah yeah seeing someone be competent yeah mhm or even all right not quite the same but still competent uh like we used to have when I worked Community Mental Health and one of our like overnight stay units we had mental health Texs on on the unit and there was a dude like he wasn't the largest man like we had some text that
I'm like you are like 65 and 300 lb and like you're probably never going to have to go Hands-On but it's just like your presence is what is keeping everyone safe here but it always fascinated me with like the mental health techs who were the short Kings cuz like I don't know about the mental health techs that you've had that are the short Kings but like they have a level of just like confidence and competency that I'm like I trust you yep no like implicitly mhm not exp explicit
implicitly both okay both I'm not I trust you fully there it is wine we found it we found it teamwork but yes yeah yeah no I get what you're saying yeah and I was like you are not someone that you look at physically and just like think like oh this person is going to beat the [ __ ] out of somebody or like can protect people but there's just something about the way in which you carry yourself that says you've got this you've got all of us yes it's the best um
so I don't I don't know there we jump to like a couple of cute scenes right so you have like Vivian talking to gwy and she's like grinning like an idiot and then gwy is kind of being like if you can make that face from Just a Kiss like I get why maybe you cursed him like seems you seem a little bit giddy then like after that debrief viven and Rees end up going to get coffee and he tries to bring up and like talk to her about the kiss uh and she's just kind of stoic
and is like yeah like it was like it shouldn't have happened and just like shuts it down and can read her well enough to be like I want to talk about this but like she's clearly closing this off and like I'm not going to push this conversation so uh she's telling him kind of about the shop because he notices he's like are the breas magical like are they witches and she's like yeah everyone that they employ here they're like primarily college students who practice
magic uh and then she's telling him that like they use small magic to run the shop with like dishes never break orders are always right no one ever spills anything and just like those like small always the perfect temperature like that kind of stuff very much but as she's saying that suddenly there's this like shattering sound and they look and they like go over to this dude who mug has fallen on the ground and he is frozen solid oh yeah and they're like the [ __ ]
he should not be frozen solid but then like as they're like looking around and like the manager is like calling 911 they see a barista like sneak out the back so they go to talk to her and it's a student who's apparently been dealing potions to her classmates so it's supposed to be like a Viagra potion but because the town's magic was on the fritz and she didn't know that no it didn't just make him hard why would you take that in a coffee shop I'm like was it on the start of the date well cuz
like my assumption was that like she like puts it in their Dr Cofe right but I'm like maybe she hands it to them and then they decide when they take it and he's like starting my date early and uh and maybe a little explicitly like I don't know are you trying to get a handy in a coffee shop H valid question why was he taking it in the shop regardless that's hilarious and he is now frozen [Laughter] solid and but it's also when uh when Vivan is talking to she's like maybe
like hold off on like using magic for a while uh and the girl's like well you wouldn't get it since like you don't like she's like that's like asking me not to breathe like I just like magic is part of my everyday life and she's like you wouldn't get it and Vivian's like I'm a witch the girl's like wait what like he's clearly magical you teach on like the Normie side she's like you're a witch huh which just more to the like how Vivien grew up right uh and not growing like her parents are
deceased they didn't practice magic growing up at one point uh reys is like so the full Potter huh and she's like what and he's like yeah like you like didn't find out you're magical till you were older the full Potter she's like no one calls it that he's like sure they do so it's sort of like like um growing up in a home where your parents are from a different country but they don't speak their native language in the house but then like you go around your extended
family and they're all speaking the native language and you're like supposed to know but you kind of know but you really don't like and that's how I'm like conceptualizing it um I think with viven it's not necessarily a lack of knowledge it's just a lack of habit and a lack of practice where like everyone else like when she practices magic she's very good and very competent and can do lots of things um but because she did didn't grow up with magic being a part
of her regular daily life and practice she doesn't utilize it as readily right okay and so like she's like yeah I still clean my house like I don't use magic to do that so I think it's more of those things where it's like not that she can't do it or figure it out it's just that she it's not Beyond her she just doesn't it's not part of her regular habits I got you okay okay yeah thank God because I was like am I getting me um no I get what you're saying so the next day
uh there when Vivan is at work a witch shows up to from the witch witch from the witchery Department The Witch's Department the witchery Department the witch Department the Council of witches whatever the Muggles no way wrong we're just getting it all confused and uh she's like oh it's like a newer Young like Professor her name is Amanda she's like oh she actually seems cool she's not as like stuck up as the others and Amanda wants to talk to her about Piper The Ghost and asks for Vivian help
capturing Piper again uh so they can rebind her so we find out that like Piper uh would had been trying to do like a summoning spell and it was some darker magic and it was too powerful and like that's what killed her so that night Vivian calls reest to meet her and they he's like what are we doing she's like We're going to capture a ghost he's like okay so they're going on this adventure they are going to the house that Piper lived in when she'd been alive so that they can find her
altar uh and then Amanda has given viven a uh I always [ __ ] up the pronunciation idy sure yeah I should have just said that with more confidence instead of being like I might be butchering I don't know what it's supposed to be so sounds right to me yeah a idy candle uh oh yes oh it's because you didn't say candle why I need to say context I get it now the candle context makes all the difference woo so so they're like we have to they're like very simple all we
have to do is find her altar light the candle it will bring her spirit back to the flame she will live in the candle and then we can get it back to the witchery Department done that's the whole plan uh but when they get to the house they're like she lived in like a [ __ ] haunted house it's creepy as [ __ ] it's like a dilapidated Victorian or something very much that energy yeah and so they go in and they're like starting to like look around and then they hear some noises
and so they go and they hide in the closet and it's some students from the college and one of the college Bros is trying to use it as a hookup spot cuz I walk in and like notice like this room like like one room wasn't Dusty the way the rest of the house was you know at least he cleaned it up a little bit I guess great positive reframe I try if that is strength based if ever I've I've heard it h so they're like what the [ __ ] he's using this as a hookup spot but like as he's
like trying to like talk the girl into he's like come on like I promise it'll be like good and she's like that's what you said last time it was only 2 minutes and they're like in the closet hearing this oh my God you can't come back from that you can't come back from that by God he was trying but they're pressed together in the closet it's like feeling more intimate and they're hearing that out there but then like the kid realizes he's like yeah maybe this isn't the
sexiest thing like let's just explore then like well we can't have him like finding us in the closet so Vivian starts using her magic to like Shake picture frames on the wall and like slam doors and windows and so they're like we need to get the [ __ ] out of here so they managed to get rid of the students and then as they're like still pressed close in the closet she like leans back against the wall and feels like a zap in her finger ERS and is like like feels
like a magic tingle and then it's like oh this is like when they like turn their flashlight around in the back of the closet is where her full altar was oh yeah happy accident right very convenient they light the candle they feel Pipers I was going to say Essence but I guess presence is is your spirit your essence yes I don't know yes you're like hey Chelsea that feels like a bigger question that I'm not prepared for In This Moment didn't realize we were like
going full Nichi or some [ __ ] today or whatever kind of pick a philosopher Camu I just like to say that that is a fun one M yeah uh I am having a hard time naming philosophers cuz in my head all I'm thinking of is like counseling theorists which are not the same so that's why I'm not really saying anything I almost said yolum like we're about to go full Adler on this [ __ ] uh so Piper is like being drawn to the candle and like she's like starting to whisp into the candle but is talking
with them as this is happening and she says cursed pen Hollow cursed for what was taken and like looks at Reese and she's like it was never yours [ __ ] like you took it and he's like is this about me doesn't feel like it's about me I didn't do anything yes but then she's like what was wrong must be writed what was taken must be relinquished and then the flame goes out yeah and so they're like well let's take the candle to the Something Wicked store room for some safekeeping until we can
get it back to the witchery department and like at as they're getting back to the store room they're just like laughing about like the students lack of game and uh she's like you know thanks for never trying to feel me up in a haunted house when we were 19 and he's like it would have been worth it but then he goes he's like I was mad about you and then he pauses and he's like maybe that shouldn't be past tense he's like I am mad about you I'm still mad about you and is like still very into
you uh I've never stopped and so then they start kissing and it's very sweet and then uh he said say if you'll allow me to make you come tonight I consider myself the most fortunate of men which is such a formal request to finger blast someone I was going to say that is so British like oh my God I'm like so British well I was trying to say okay Mr Darcy but I couldn't think of Darcy so I almost just said okay Mr Weasley so I almost hooked up with a a UK like
exchange student or whatever and it was almost because we were about to get it and he said will you allow me to lie with you and I went nope deed out [Laughter] you're like when it was happening organically I was just rolling with it but now that we've actually stopped and put a question why did you say it like [Music] that so the next day on campus viven meets Amanda to hand her the candle then Ash's walking to her office she like sees Amanda walking off and she's like
huh that's not the way to the witchery Department maybe she knows a show cut I'm not in that department and just like moves on with her day uh but then a little bit later Dr arbit KN knocks on her door and is like we need to talk and like that's where that chapter Fades to Black next scene next chapter reys uh Rees is thinking about how into Vivian he is uh and then she knocks on the on his door and is like clearly upset and so she tells him that she's like yeah apparently Amanda isn't a
professor she's a con artist oh my God all right t- Ms YN tamson t m Sy YN tamson yes tamson okay uh wellknown con artist for like dealing in magical artifacts oh no so they're like cool we just put this very powerful Ghost spirit in this candle and handed it to a con artist nailed it yeah uh but it's also super funny because this is like I one of the first times that uh Vivian has been to his house and apparently the family house there is this like creepy ass Gothic mansion like
she go of course it is yeah like she like goes into the bedroom and she's like is this Dracula's bedroom like of course you have a [ __ ] canopy bed oh not a canopy right and so they're just like very endearing things seem to be escalating and at one point she like looks at him and she's like I've run out of ways to say this is a bad idea and he's like we've made a lot of mistakes but like I don't think this is one of them and she's like are you going to kiss me he's like I'm going to do a lot
more than kiss you if you let me that's cute maybe I'll lie with you may I lie with you and that's the that's the deal breaker I don't know why but as soon as he said it I was like I think I'm going to go oh listen we've all had those moments that you're like this this is a deal breaker and it's just like an instant flip well it was like I just got pulled out of the moment and was like never mind like yes you have a great accent and that is not enough to carry this so
I'm going to go you're like actually would you could I just hand you a book would you mind reading to me instead that feels like a great way to spend the night yes 1,000% um so he takes her to the bedroom which they describe as a creepy Sex Dungeon oh my God like he's making jokes about it and she's like why didn't you ever bring me back to your house and she he was like this place like when we were you wanted me to bring you to the creepy Sex Dungeon cool um they bone yeah
excellent I'd say it's like they're solidifying [ __ ] right and so uh next chapter we're now a week in the future they've had a great week they've been [ __ ] everywhere and uh it is now right before the Fall Fest Vivian is supposed to be helping Gwyn run a booth uh but they are a little bit late because they were [ __ ] you get it yeah yeah which is also funny because like like he's like no one will care if we're late she's like Gwyn will care if we're late and
then she gets sidetracked then they're an hour late and gwyn's like where the [ __ ] were you yeah yeah we were we're getting ready to be here with you right uh so at the festival Reese has apparently never had a Tarot read before and so gwyn's like let me like do a pull for you and so she's like okay this and then they show uh the emperor on the final card and they're like well that's not like the emperor is not bad they're like no just like a little like for boing and like
you know like Authority and rules and stru and Reese is like my father they're like yeah like your father he's like no my father and like points over when should he like [ __ ] my dad is here so now they are all talking with Dad and his dad's like why the [ __ ] didn't you tell me you were cursed he's like I tried to tell you I was cursed you told me I was being ridiculous you told me that's just how humans [Laughter] travel which uh when we recently went to
Japan CEO green was on our flight shut the [ __ ] up in Delta 1 why did you not tell me that I am right now you I've seen you before this are you a big CEO girly I didn't know I feel like that's a thing I would tell people that you're a CEO girly no that I saw CEO on a plane I didn't cuz he was in Delta 1 oh okay I I did see like people in our group took selfies with him at one of thep I got you I got you but apparently they also had their own separate entrance and exit
from the plane huh like in [ __ ] there were like two vestibules to the plane huh yeah they had their own special exit so he didn't have to walk amongst the yeah yeah that's why I didn't see him because I'm a peasant understood uh so when his dad is like have you even really what have you been doing for these last like for the last like week and a half since you've been here here and he's like not just [ __ ] other F other things he's like we've been trying to like reverse the
side effects of the curse uh and Simon asks viven and gwy and aunti Lane he's like do you all have any like ancestors that are buried locally that you could like draw from their magic and their power um and they're like yes I don't a e l WYD lww nope you're just let me suffer on that one okay like a Aid a I wholeheartedly apologize to everyone who's like these dumb asses this is the most obvious thing please teach us how to pronounce this I guess I could also have Googled
this before we recorded all of our Welsh listeners are like y'all can go [ __ ] yourselves I think I'm like 60% Welsh of course you are this is not great um but they're like yes Grandma a is that Granny a gran gran just gonna yeah granny a actually came over at the same time as like Griffin P pen Hollow and like when he founded the town and she's buried there uh and then Simon is like all right well like I'm going back you guys need to fix this and he's like I'll leave you to sell your
crystals and chat skis and Vivian's like hey like we we do sell crystals and we do sell chachis and we still manage to curse your whole [ __ ] family so maybe lay off you think good for her yeah they're like little little bit of a badass yeah yeah like very sweet softspoken Professor but can like turn it on when she needs to I don't think she swore at him I swore at him for understood I get it also uh I know this is a podcast so most people are listening from a podcast
platform but for those of you lucky enough to be watching on YouTube right now my cat Craig my 10 year-old six pound hairless cat has joined us but my favorite part is he likes to tuck his head in like under and then Fred does that too and then sleep and it's the funniest he looks like a little so cute a little raw chicken it he does he looks like like a little raw chicken there's something about when a cat does that that you're just like I what is extra endearing about this I don't know but
it's so cute but it is um okay so the next morning reys wakes Vivian up and is like hey I can't really use my magic but I called my brother and he can use his magic so I had him run a tracking spell on tamson she is just like a town over how convenient let's go get that candle back so they go to the next town over and get into the lobby of the Airbnb and Reese's whole plan starts and ends with him like Charming the front desk lady into telling them the room number men
are the worst right like right as he's like starting to like be like well hey there how's your morning tamson comes into the lobby and it's like thank God you guys are here come upstairs with me and they're like wait what what that shouldn't have happened right that felt different yes so then when they get up into the room Tams and is like y'all need to help me and they're like what and she so she shows them the candle it is like radiating dark energy in a way
that they're like it's not supposed to do that she's like yeah I've sold a lot of these over the years and it's not supposed to do that and she's like and I can't travel with it I can't sell it and she's like so I was trying to figure out what to do and y'all just showed up like some [ __ ] witch Angels so thanks yeah [ __ ] fix it yeah and so Vivian's like I guess we could do you the favor of taking this candle off your hands and uh ree is like yes at Great personal cost to our own
well-being as you can see the candle's dangerous so you're welcome and when they leave they're like that could could have gone better if we planned it right so they get the candle back to Something Wicked and Vivan lights it and Piper appears and Piper is like I recognize you and she's like yes from the library uh I'm the one that cursed the pen Hollows you might recognize me you may remember me well and Piper's like hold up like it wasn't you then she's like
well not just you like I know the magic surrounding the pen Hollows and like it's not only yours and so then Piper goes on to say there's other magic running in the blood of the Town mag magic that was stolen by the pen Hollows hidden Grandma a deserves her revenge oh damn cuz griffi stole her magic to start the town oh damn yes thank you Keenan Thompson was what is that I don't know I was here for it though I don't know I gave you two odams it felt I felt good about it I felt good
about receiving the odam so thank you um so we do learn within this conversation that Piper had been trying to summon uh Grandma A's magic and uh what had been trying to summon her and like Piper's magic wasn't enough and so it was trying to summon Vivian's ancestry line that killed Piper um but then they're like because viven was blood when viven cursed Reese and it summoned her it was like enough to like break through that barrier so it is a blood curse that like gave more power H
uh but the curse was that Griffin's Legacy and heirs would suffer and Salon is the the very next night and that's when the veil will be thinnest and Magic will be the most potent so they're like the curse will reach its peak and so they're like both the town and Reese are going to die at midnight tomorrow oh [ __ ] yes yeah casual not ideal no not not if you're Reese yeah not what you want to hear really no that's a that's a bitter pill to swallow yeah not what you're like okay we just
went through all this effort to summon this ghost was hoping she'd bring better news I'm going to die in 24 hours noted yeah not a lot of time to figure it out from there so reys and Vivian are like going back to his place and she's just like feeling the weight of all of this and he's making jokes and like making light and it's like yeah like well when I die like maybe like give me like a Vikings funeral and she's just like this isn't funny and he's like oh yeah like he's like you're right like
you've had a really long day like this has been like a very emotional day like not the time for quippy jokes she's like no don't say that like I don't find it funny because I'm tired it's not funny cuz I [ __ ] cursed you and if I don't solve it you're going to die tomorrow night and that is on me because I cursed you and none of this is funny yes so she's just like I I'm she like having a moment where she's like you don't really take anything seriously and I'm think I'm going to leave and go
back to my place for the night so the next morning reys wakes up alone and is like having a moment where he's like you know when I was 19 and like told her like apparently when he was 19 and was like yeah I have to go back to wheel to whales to deal with my betroth situation she like threw his jeans at his head and took off and he's like she like didn't let me explain didn't let me say anything and he's like she didn't really like trust me or like give me the
benefit of the doubt and he's like and she's also not doing that now which stings he's like because I love her and it she doesn't trust me yeah yeah um and so his younger brother he has two brothers the older one is back in whales the younger one I don't really know where he is I don't know if he knows where he is uh but he facetimes him and he's like you don't look too hot and so his brother like he's telling his brother all of the stuff that's been going on with viven and his brother's
like she's right like you don't take [ __ ] seriously and he's like what I take I take a lot of [ __ ] seriously like work her I'd take you seriously if it wasn't for your beard and he's like like M case in point Bud let's just pause I'm going to repeat your words back to you tell me what you hear in that yes excellent yes his brother didn't like Go full therapist but definitely made the point yeah his brother's like tell her you like like tell her you love her talk to her like
mhm communicate maybe show her you're taking this seriously yes so he goes to her aunt's house to try and talk to her or no maybe he goes to Something Wicked I don't know wherever he goes he gets her aunt and his her aunt is like hey Vivian's not here she's already gone back to her place to prepare for for the night I get you want to talk to her but like this is more magic than any of us have done and she needs to focus and she needs to prep and so like you'll need to
save whatever conversation you're trying to have with her until after right any Declarations of Love Can yes which 1,000% respect yeah she's like hey totally understand feel the room not the moment if you're still alive after all of this we can we can work from there so they all get to the cemetery that night and by all of them I just mean viven Gwyn Elaine and Reese okay and so uh the three women are all working to summon Grandma A's Spirit uh and then she uh possesses vivien's body
and is talking to reys and so he's saying like I he loves her and he deserves to be cursed and then she's like so like what if I like spared the town and took your life he's like take my life as long as like she's fine and then uh Gwenn is like Reese no and he's like oh finally not dick bad [Laughter] I have a name on the way out nailed it which I love he's like cool checkbox that one finally accomplished that's the last item on my bucket list apparently so ghost grandma is like I am within her
body I can tell like she loves you too she's asked me to spare both you and the town and because she is my blood I I will do that and let go of the fact that you know griffi drained all of my magic when we were supposed to combine them together so he could start the town and then he took full credit of it and told everyone I died of the influenza or small pox or some [ __ ] like that I don't know but yeah so like she's like okay I I will like retract my curse I don't know from
you in the town but then like a moment and she's like I'm not strong enough at this point and like it's too late like the curse is too strong sorry I tried you are cursed did you try grandma and then just like Vivian collapses to the ground and when she comes too she's like looking around and her aunt's like that was such impressive magic and she's like but it didn't work I can see it on your face like don't play G me don't tell me it was he still going to die uh but then she's thinking through
the that she's like wait our blood also like our bloodline and our magic also fueled this town so Gwen and Elaine and viven all go to the caves and then they all combined their magic and power to clear out the lay lines I guess okay yeah it works I don't know sure yeah that's like Town saved yes Town Check Yes and like reys was like waiting in the car so he like pops his head in at the end he's like so we're good the lines look like they're running purple again great work
ladies so now he's like okay I'm no longer cursed I can confess my love to viven they're like driving back and she tells them to pull over and there's a field where she's like oh like that's where summer solstice took place like where we first met when we were 19 and then they [ __ ] in the car and he's like I haven't done this in a long time but then right as uh right as he's like this is my moment to declare my love for her and he's like viven she like nuzzles her her head in
his neck and is like I'm really going to miss you and he's like oh this was our goodbye [ __ ] whoops misread that yes and so when get back to her place she like invites him in and he's like I am leaving tomorrow and she's like wait what and he's like yeah sorry like got to go back to Wales so they just like say goodbye um so now it's a couple of months ahead because it's when they said the winter semester is starting which I would count winter semester as spring semester that
starts in January yeah was my thought with it uh and Vivan has picked up a couple courses that she's going to be teaching in the magic Department as well and I guess like recent her a book for Christmas that was um about like the history of whales which is what she did her master's thesis on actually on like griffi pen Hollow or someone along the line and he's like oh my family line say you did your Master's thesis on okay so he sent her a book but it was just like
for your office sign Reese like no I miss you no any of that stuff so she's going over to the magic side of things and the magic side of the college and as she's walking down the faculty Hall she's like seeing all of the placards with all of their names and is like whatever arth not and then se's one that says like r pen Hollow and she's like and she like opens the door and Rees is sitting there and he's like yeah apparently when your ancestors founded the school and the town it's pretty easy
to get them to agree to let you teach a course or two so he said nepotism he like in the Name of Love though nepotism in the Name of Love because he's she's like what about your travel business he's like I can run that from here so he decided to pick up and move to Graves Glenn Georgia to be with the love of his life uh but also my I really liked how he communicated it because he said I realized that uprooting my life and moving to Georgia for a woman might fall into the Reckless
and ill-thought out category but the thing is I'm very much in love with that woman that woman is you just to be clear a that's oddly endearing right that's so nice there's no epilog that's just like the last chapter of the book and that's the end that's a cute story right H and I do feel like we managed to capture some of the charm in it yeah but I will say there was a lot that uh could not be included just for the sake of time but yeah if you are looking for just like a
cozy fall read like this is one like obviously like there's some some sex in it but like even at that I'm like I would recommend this one to my parents yeah like compared to some other [ __ ] that we have reviewed that I might not but like this one like yeah very fun cozy fall read okay what's our rating system though um plastic skull yeah plastic SK skulls skeleton heads I guess sket candles but like plastic skulls is is the money I feel Ury Ur candles Ury I
don't know if you're saying that right uy candle oh yeah you're actually saying that right wait candle was the difference there I was like are you saying a name is that like a Greek god or something I mean it sounds right God it's it's a Greek word yeah I feel like it's a mythology I'm going to have to Google that [ __ ] yeah we had some learning to do before we started recording this episode and that's on me so plastic skulls it is so out of how many um you know most of the book takes place
in October let's go out of 10 okay um I would say out of 10 I would probably give it like an eight oh damn okay yeah I I think there were like some things and like some sections that I reread that I was like eh they were fine but I think like overall it really is a fun endearing cozy read yes uh like I'd say like depending on what I'm basing it on I feel like I could like go like 7.5 to 8.5 depending because if you're going for like the cute banter and like funny things i' say
like 8.5 I do think there were some things like that were written a little clunky for my preferences and that's why I'd probably say like 7.5 so I think on good reads it has like a 3.5 uh with like hundreds of thousands of reviews at this point right um but yeah so I feel like in that like 3.5 to like four territory if it's out of five so I'm like yeah that tracks is like that's like roughly what I put it at on our 10 rating scale as well like a 7.58 yeah I mean it feels nice
especially if there are more in the series I will probably read it I'm going to add it to my list for sure yes uh cuz I know that like there are plenty of books that we read and review and we're like so glad you reviewed that one or like yeah oh like I'll add it to my list but like it's like a niche list that we are working on and I feel like this one is just like a very accessible fun like the the biggest issue I see my parents taking with it is probably the
magic feel like uh Harry Potter is kind of the limit there we cannot stand a witch woo that gets a little dangerous you know I know it does I know it does so all right um eight out of 10 plastic skulls let us know how many plastic skulls you would rate it don't forget to like And subscribe um and rate and review on any platform that you listen to your podcast uh we're so honored and glad that you wanted to spend this time listening to ours so thank you and we
can't wait to do it again thanks guys bye smut [ __ ] bye smut puppies well that's it for this week's smut [ __ ] we hope it was good for you cuz it sure was great for us if you're digging what we're doing it would mean a lot if you'd take a minute to rate and review the show wherever you're listening right now maybe tell that sexy someone to Linda s we love you we appreciate you and we'll see you next week stay spy [Music]