Romance Recs

Pregnancy Trope

• Jordan, Devonnie, Christina • Season 2 • Episode 22

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Devonnie leads Jordan and Christina through an episode featuring her favorite romance trope: pregnancy. The pregnancy trope is where one of the main characters is pregnant at some point during the book. This hotly debated trope is often divisive in the romance book community. Whether you love or hate this trope we encourage you to give it a chance. From part dragon babies, omegaverse births, surprise pregnancy in a throuple, to sweet contemporary love stories there are a wide range of books discussed this week. You won't want to miss the conversations that come from these recs. 

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Intro and Quotes

Christina

Welcome to Romance Recs. We're three romance obsessed besties sharing book recs broken down by genres and tropes so you can be sure you're getting exactly what you want out of your next read. I'm Christina and I am currently listening to, I just started listening to the Ritual by Chantel Tessier,

Jordan

nice. I'm Jordan and I am currently listening to Bewitched by Laura. Thea.

Devonnie

Hey guys, dev here and I am currently listening to Miss v's. Hot Girl Summer. I'm really excited that by a h Cunningham.

Christina

Yay. So buckle up for some bookish banter.

Jordan

There we go. There we go. There we

Devonnie

that's, I was like, wait, I freaked. I was like, am I supposed to say the buckle up? No,

Jordan

don't take that from Christina. Don't

Devonnie

I know. Never. Never. Oh

Christina

Hey

Devonnie

Hi guys. Yeah. Oh, my favorite. I'm so happy about that. I wish y'all could see the looks that they're giving me. Yeah. Especially Jordan when she's okay, let's just get through this episode. But I'm very excited that we are diving into pregnancy trope. Round of applause. Yay. Yay.

Christina

Done. Done. Done.

Jordan

oh. It's so fun.

Devonnie

It's so crazy because we've all been pregnant. We are moms.

Jordan

We are, we have all grown things in our uterus. And you know what's also crazy though? We are also three C-section moms.

Devonnie

Yeah. That's

Jordan

gotten that wonderful experience.

Devonnie

So wonderful.

Jordan

shout out to all you moms who've powered through that c-section because,

Devonnie

It's crazy.

Jordan

all moms in general.

Devonnie

Yeah. But yeah, I'm super excited about pregnancy trope because it really is like one of my favorite tropes and I have no idea why. Well, I do have an idea why. I think it's when like the man, yeah. When the man just goes so psychotic and like super, like protective and I don't know all the like, pregnancy things that they bring up. I'm always shocked. Wait, did that happen? Oh, it's a 20 week appointment. This, oh, when you're this, that I love like just reading about it and reflecting on none of the things I remember from my pregnancy. But yeah, it just makes me feel a little giddy.

Jordan

it's pri like primal, right? That

Devonnie

Oh yeah.

Jordan

when the man goes, that's the ultimate, primal man,

Devonnie

Right.

Jordan

get away from my pregnant web. Oh

Devonnie

yeah,

Christina

I think reading these books, I found out I'm more into the breeding kink than the pregnancy itself. That's what I realized.

Devonnie

I almost choked on my hot coffee. I mean, my hot tea, you are not wrong because that when not every pregnancy tr book has that, but the ones that do good God, I mean wow.

Jordan

Okay. Yeah. So, you know, different strokes for different folks and, you know, we're all different. So before we get too far into that I did choose a quote related to our topic today. So my quote is, from unexpected delivery by Jillian West, labor is brutal. Why hasn't nature come up with a more convenient way of delivering babies by now? Where the fuck is the evolution where you need it?

Christina

Ooh. Good point.

Devonnie

Yeah. I love that. Very on brand. Very cute. I also have, yeah, true. I have a quote from one of the books that I'm gonna be recing. And I don't know, again, this is all about the, like the man, just like knowing that connection or whatever. But in this book, which is ready or not by Kara Ba, he is not the Daddy anyway, he blinks down at me a slow expression, filled with a depth that only decades of knowing someone can give you this. Here is a man who knows me and I feel known. So sweet and sappy, which that entire book is honestly, truly, I can't wait to talk about it. But yeah, that was just like a moment for me.

Christina

I also picked a quote from a book I'm recommending today, and it also has to do with birth. So Jordan, you and I, same season. Okay. This is from Hoarded by the Dragon, by Lillian Lark and Oh, yeah. Oh yeah. He

Jordan

definitely about the.

Christina

Hey you. It's is pregnancy, right? Okay. Anyhow, the dragon says, in all the wars and bloodshed I've seen in My life. nothing is as primal and vicious as birth. And I was like, you know That's right.

Devonnie

Yeah. I actually do love that quote. That's really nice. Coming from a dragon. Yeah, it's crazy. That's why

Christina

didn't say it had to be human pregnancy.

Devonnie

True. Yeah. I'm excited. Okay. Jordan's just get this episode over

Jordan

No. Okay. And I, okay, here's the thing. Before we really get into it. Yeah. Okay. So I have, it's'cause I have my own trauma from I. Birth. Okay. I have my own trauma. Honestly, my whole pregnancy was a fucking nightmare. Like I was sick every day. Every single day. These people that are like, just wait until you get into the second trimester. Oh, wait till you feel so horny. Wait till you feel this. Wait till you feel that. I felt nothing but nauseous in pain, and I ended up with preeclampsia and then eclampsia, my organ stopped working. Like you just, it was, look, I love my child and I'm so glad I have her, and I'm also very thankful for modern medicine because we would not be here without it. So I just, to me, this just comes with a lot of feels and I understand this is also a very hotly debated trope. Like people love it or they hate it,

Devonnie

Yeah.

Christina

no medium.

Devonnie

there's no medium with pregnancy trope.

Jordan

I think I found the medium, I think I found, but I'll talk about that with my Recs. I'm not gonna, but I won't kick us off because I'm not a good representation for that.

Christina

I think the pregnancy lover should do it.

Jordan

Yeah.

Ready or Not by Cara Bastone

Devonnie

Okay. Well, you ain't gonna tell me. So I am gonna start with, Ooh, I have so many choices. I'm gonna start with the sweet one since I just talked about this in my quote. Ready or not by Kara Beone. It follows Eve and Shep. Eve is kind of like trying to figure her life out. Doesn't really have an idea of what she's doing, but like you, she's just a girl trying to figure her life out in the city of Brooklyn. Okay. She lives pretty close to her best friend, Willa. Who is Shep's sister and they have this really great bond, but it's like as soon as Eve tells Willa that she's pregnant, which by the way was like a one night stand, like Eve decides to let her hair down and ends up pregnant. Could you imagine living by the rules, doing everything perfect, and then you decide I'm going to go have some fun and you literally get pregnant. Well, that's what happens to her. Yeah. So, she tells Willa and it's not super receptive. So she's pregnant. Her best friend is like ghosting, not ghosting her, but just not what she, not the support system she needed. While she has no one else in her corner, like Willa is her person. So Shep steps up the baby daddy eventually finds out about this baby. She doesn't keep it from him. He's like supportive, but also he's, he gives weird vibes. I'm not gonna go too much into him anyway. So yeah, really the nine months, we follow Eve's pregnancy for nine months and it just follows her going through the ups and downs of pregnancy, like the cute little fun facts and stuff, but also navigating life and this new life she's about to bring into her. Like super chaotic, super dysfunctional at this point, you know, doesn't have a baby daddy, but you have this man who's it's very much, it's always been you for Shep. So Yeah, it's like always been her. He's, and then like they dive into that, which is really beautiful. It's like really cute friends to lovers as well. Yeah, very much.

Jordan

in a couple episode or

Devonnie

You might. Yes. I might be bringing this right back up, so, and I do think it's one of those books where you read it and you might cry after you, like during it or after. Yeah. It's really one of those hits you in the field, makes your chest hurt, makes you uncomfortable kind of books. But it was so sweet. Oh my gosh. Ka And Kara has a way with writing her characters too, that is so well thought out. So I definitely recommend, I'm pretty sure I gave this four or five stars on Good Reads. You know, if you're into the Star thing, I rated it pretty highly, so Yeah. Ready or not, Kara Bato.

Christina

Woo. Okay,

Jordan

not. Here I

Christina

I'll go. next Jordan. And thank you for the music.

Jordan

yeah.

Christina

Okay. My first recommendation is actually an A oh three Fanfic. This one is, yay. This one is called The Mechanic by Dayton Bay. The story's a fanfic about who else? Ray and Kylo Ren. Those are my favorites.

Devonnie

Dead.

Christina

it's always

Jordan

No way.

Christina

what?

Devonnie

Shocking. babe.

Christina

Ray this takes place in the uk. Ray is a mechanic in London. She's poor, but she works hard. She's, you know, gritty, working through her stuff, doing what she can. She happens to fix a car for a very nice older woman who invites her to her hotel for a car show that evening. And Ray owns like two dresses, so she puts on her nicer of the two dresses and'cause, you know, she's just poor working hard, but she's I'm gonna go out on the town and get the free alcohol and snacks at this hotel, you know, and so she's just sitting there waiting by the door where the people come through with the tray so she can grab the munchies and fill up her bag and stuff. She's just living her best life. And anyhow, she meets the woman who she picks the car for. She doesn't know it yet, but this lady is like higher ups in the mafia, right? And so she's here are some of my associates. And one of'em is tall, dark, and handsome, brooding ky.

Devonnie

That is so funny.

Christina

I know. And so they just drink and hang out all night and then one thing leads to another and Kayla invites Ray up to his hotel room and she's fuck it, I'm just a girl. I might as well enjoy my night off. Right.

Devonnie

See. See you see how it happens. We just wanna be a girl and next thing you know, we're pregnant. Crazy

Christina

Damn, damnit.

Jordan

I'm just a girl.

Devonnie

slippery slope there.

Jordan

So

Christina

Literally.

Devonnie

Jail. Jail for you both.

Jordan

There's gonna be a lot of jail time tonight, I'm just saying.

Devonnie

Yeah. Yeah. I see it.

Christina

so Ray and Callen have this amazing night and she doesn't think anything of it. She like literally even charges the room for breakfast in the morning and she doesn't care and she leaves and she gets back and she's just doing her mechanic stuff and then she thinks she has a bout of the flu, as we all might do.

Jordan

Yeah.

Christina

And any who she finds out it's not the flu. But I did find out a lot about the NHS handling pregnancy in this book. And I'm like, what is wrong with us? Because they're just like, here's all this stuff and it's free and here's your care and yada. And I'm like any who?

Devonnie

Yeah.

Christina

But

Devonnie

Right.

Jordan

Sad again.

Devonnie

Love that.

Christina

So Ray wants to go tell Kylo, but she's really like nervous, scared. Finally she works up the courage to go tell him, but he doesn't believe her at first, like he thinks she's after the money.'cause he, she found out he's high in the mafia, you know, and is after money. She literally has no knowledge about this. So any who she decides, he's not gonna believe me, whatever. I'm just gonna go spend my measly like 20 pounds I have for my poor ass job to go get some food. So she's like literally just buying canned food. It's all she can afford. And. Kylo Ren finds her there and is realizes that she's not in it for the money. She really just needs help for her and the baby. And so he starts to take care of her and invites him, her to live for the pregnancy in his home. And he's in this big mansion and she's just living this wonderful life, pregnant. And I just love this Fanfic. It's 38 chapters. It has one of my favorite scenes of all time. I read this Fanfic three years ago and this scene still pops up in my head from time to time. Oh, it's the perfect book. It's perfect.

Devonnie

I love

Jordan

I love when scenes stay with you like

Devonnie

Yeah. Yeah.

Jordan

that makes it, it's so special. You know it then.

Devonnie

Yeah.

Christina

yeah. He has to kill someone who looks at her. So I

Jordan

Aw.

Devonnie

Ooh, we love that. That is so sweet. That's so sweet.

Christina

we see her with her baby as the baby gets older, a few years older and stuff. So it's just great. It travels through them and you would just see their relationship grow. So I love that about them.

Devonnie

Oh,

Jordan

And I love that, that you're giving us the A oh three

Devonnie

right?

Christina

Know there's some amazing stuff on there.

Jordan

Yeah,

Christina

Give it a shot.

Jordan

this sounds stays with you for three years.

Devonnie

Right,

Those Three Little Words by Meghan Quinn

Jordan

Yeah, must. Okay. I'm gonna start with my first, I think, believe this was my first pregnancy trope run in, if you will. I mentioned it briefly in our Sports Romance episode, I believe. It's book two in the Vancouver Agitator series by Meghan Quinn. It's called Those Three Little Words and I actually enjoyed it knowing the tropes going in. I didn't think I would, but I did. So this one follows one of the players, Eli Hornsby. He is a horn dog. He is one of the players of the

Devonnie

not Hornsby, the horn dog like Megan.

Jordan

That's me. No, I called him the horn dog. But his best friend is on the team whose name is Pacey. Okay. And Pace's. Sister's name is Penny. There's lots of peas in this book. Just hang on. Penny's the only one we need to know. So they happen to be out at the same time, run into each other at this bar. And I believe it was, it's one of their birthdays or something like that. I don't remember the occasion, but he was alone. She was the friend and her friend left and they ended up just talking and then drinking and then they end up, they fall into bed together. Right. It's a one night stand.'cause she's she knows how he is. She knows him. This is her brother's best friend. He is a famous player. Right. Hockey player, on and off feelings. And she just needs to get off for a night. Okay. And she knew he could do it, he could deliver.

Devonnie

right.

Jordan

And nine months later she delivered. So, but the funny thing is she decides to inform him. She sits both him and her brother down at the same time and is

Devonnie

Brave.

Jordan

all right, just gonna get this all out in the open. I'm pregnant. And it's Eli's. As you were. And then she like leaves the office like, and like

Christina

bomb and left.

Jordan

But Eli's of, well of course I'm gonna be there for her. So they're still not together, right? But there's something wrong with some kind apartments or whatever. They end up living together and it's a one bed situation, forced proximity.'cause there's only one bedroom. It's this whole thing. And so of course he's taking care of her through all these, pregnancy symptoms and all the cravings and like somewhere in the midst of all that, they catch some feelings, right? And it's just the way they do that and tease each other because Penny is an extremely sassy character and she's a spitfire. He is, I mean, he is a smooth talker Playboy, who's now trying to like be a daddy and be a baby daddy at home. And it's, he's just you're crying. What's, I don't know what's wrong, what do I do? I, but he's like trying so hard, like he's a puppy and it is just, it was so good and it was so funny. This is Meghan Quinn at her best, so this is just really funny and really cute the way they get together. And it's really hot too'cause

Devonnie

I

Jordan

gets in that, so she gets to the point where she's try smelling his clothes while he is gone.'cause she's just so hordy and

Devonnie

Yeah. Yeah.

Jordan

Oh my God.

Baby Moon of Bust by Ava Hunter

Devonnie

I love that. I love that. Okay. I feel like my next rec is, will be funny. Well, okay. There's a lot to unpack. The next one I have is Baby Moon or Bust, and it's by Ava Hunter. And like this book wasn't the gr I have such mixed feelings about it because I didn't think it was the greatest book, but I really laughed and had fun watching the pregnancy part of this happen. But let me set the scene. Okay. First of all, my first point of contention with Ava Hunter, Ava, why is her name Tessie True Love?

Christina

Oh, I remember this.

Devonnie

main Yes. Do you remember how I was pissed off that her first name was her last name was True Love Tessy. True love. That pissed me off from the beginning. But then the male main character's name is Solomon Wilder. Solomon in this day and age, Wilder. And guess where he lives? Solomon Wilder lives in Alaska. The salmon references the wild. It is just too much to bear. And like I really did bear it. I really did because I enjoyed it. I got a little giggle, got a little laugh. Tessie is a mess. I mean, the way she tells her life story, her dog left her daddy went out to get cigarettes and never came back. Her mama

Christina

this a country song?

Devonnie

Tessie's Life is actually a country song, but she's like a super famous, popular interior designer. You know, she's about, she's that girl in the interior designer world. She ends up, they both end up somewhere in the us. At the same time. And Tessie. Oh, Tessie's also kind of like a raging bitch. That's what she's, everyone knows her as that, but honestly it's her trauma. She leads with her trauma. You just don't know it's trauma. You think it's her personality anyway, they end up maybe, yeah they end up, you know, getting drunk, drinking whiskey. Next thing you know, they've had schmucks and she gets pregnant. It's a one night stand situation. They

Christina

It's every single time it's a one night stand

Jordan

people talk about drinking and driving, but like drinking

Devonnie

We really got, yeah,

Christina

drinking and fucking

Jordan

Just drinking

Devonnie

are born that way. Like we are feeding the population when we drink. Please drink responsibly anyway. They have this, right, they have a one night stand. She goes back to her LA life. What?

Jordan

Well, drunker you are. The more likely you're legit anyways.

Devonnie

I hate it here. I hate it here.

Jordan

No, you don't. You love it here.

Christina

Def. You were off on a tangent. and Jordan had her hand up for a full three minutes and you

Jordan

I know. And she refused to look at the screen. She was looking out and I was like, I have a really good comment. I

Devonnie

sorry. What did you wanna say? I'm taking questions.

Jordan

moment has kind of passed. But you were talking about their names and I was just saying it feels like the call is coming from inside the house on this one because you keep reading books with names like this and I feel like at some point it's not the authors, it's you choosing them. So maybe you claim to hate them and cringe, but maybe you live for this drama and I feel like you're asking for it at this point.

Devonnie

I feel like this is very cir chicken egg conversation. What came first? Because

Jordan

I don't run into that.

Devonnie

did it, the authors didn't write that. This is also a trope you don't read as much. If the authors didn't write this, I wouldn't have a

Jordan

it's not about the trope. Honey is, you have found it in other tropes.

Devonnie

It's very chicken, very egg. I don't know. I don't know who's right. I don't know who's wrong? It's giving chicken and egg. Okay. Somebody came first, and it wasn't me. It was Tessie, or actually it was Solomon.

Jordan

We should always come first.

Devonnie

Let me tell y'all about Tessie. The people want to know. Okay,

Jordan

Love. Be good, love. Good.

Devonnie

one night stand, they go back to their respective parts of the universe, Alaska and la they go back to their respect and parts of the universe. And wouldn't, you know, Solomon is out at, in Alaska just watching TV and sees Tessie on the TV with a round ass belly. He said, wait a minute, this is the girl I have not been able to find. So anyway, Tessie has planned a babymoon to get her, you know, ready for pregnancy. Solomon ends up crashing it and basically they give themselves three days to figure out if they want to parent together. A lot happens in those three days, obviously, they end up falling in love. And there's definitely a lot of, oh, am I gonna move to Alaska? Are you gonna move to la? Very different vibes. They find a happy medium. But yeah, I, okay. The reason

Christina

Wait, what's the happy medium between California? Between California and Alaska?

Jordan

uh

Devonnie

She moves to Alaska.

Christina

That's her giving it up.

Jordan

Isn't she more, isn't she more

Devonnie

She has no family. Her daddy left. Is she more successful?

Jordan

like there's a lot, a big call for her career up there. And she is very well known

Devonnie

She's so no. So yes and no. Her career is taking off, but everyone in the fricking business thinks she's a raging bitch. And also she's really good at her job, but she works in the most toxic environment. Like her boss is so toxic. She took the babymoon and he let her go on the babymoon, gave her the time off, and then immediately as soon she got on the Babymoon the next day he's I need you back. We have this client, da. Did not even give her the space. It's so toxic, but it's like she's fearful or something. She doesn't think she can do it herself. So I feel like the move to Alaska, she honestly needed, because again, her dog died, her daddy died. Her mama died. Like it's a lot of loss in her life. She needed that family environment. And Solomon has I. 13 siblings or something. I don't know. He is one of those big families. So, and then she moved, basically had her practice and would come back to LA whenever she wanted. Was that a spoiler? Maybe bleep that You know, the reason I suggested this actually is because I think it's a really quick read. And if you are in like a slump, you want something funny. And I'm not going to say nonsensical'cause this author isn't a nonsensical writer, but I will say it's just, it's not gonna leave you in tears. You know what I'm saying? It's not ready or not, you're not gonna be like, oh my God, the discovery, you're gonna be cracking up. So I think it's a nice palate cleanser for pregnancy trope.

Christina

Nice.

Devonnie

Yeah. That's all I got.

Jordan

Thank you. That

Devonnie

You're welcome.

Christina

Okay. Nine Month Contract by Amy Dawes. I'm gonna go ahead and start with, I also didn't love this book, but I did like it was really funny, so I did really like that if it, I just didn't love all the pieces of it. But it's okay. This book's about a woman named Trita who wants to be a surrogate. She tries to sign up with a reputable surrogate agency but she's denied due to her weight. But she just happens to run into a young woman outside who's trying to find her uncle a surrogate. His name is Wyatt and he doesn't want. Anything more in life. But to be a dad since his dad died, he wants to be a dad and experience that, but he doesn't like relationships. So he doesn't want a wife. He just wants a baby. So he wants it. No strings attached from a surrogate, right? The surrogacy does. Company doesn't really like that'cause he doesn't have a life partner and they're really hesitant for that. So they don't wanna sign him up for one anywho. So now Trita and Wyatt can work together.

Devonnie

together.

Christina

So, Trista moves on to his farm. He has this self-sustaining farm company in Boulder, Colorado and she moves onto his farm to work and live above. His barn in an apartment he built. However, it like just throws Wyatt's life into craziness because she brings all these animals and he hates animals. And then also she's really like super curvy and gets pregnant right away and puts off his aura of he's possessive, of that's my baby, and yada, yada. He's like going feral over this woman. He wants to have her and starts thinking maybe I do want a relationship, but she does not want a relationship and she doesn't want a baby. She's only doing a surrogacy, literally for money. That's all she wants. She wants to start up her own rescue for animals'cause she's big into animals and he's not there like the most opposite people that could live on this planet.

Devonnie

Yeah, I agree.

Christina

And Wyatt just starts to follow this woman around trying to keep her out of what he suspects to be danger for her working with animals and anything she does, he's worried her male counterparts wanna fuck her. All this like he just, he's so possessive of this woman and she's WTF'cause she has no family and doesn't know what. Any kind of real connections in life are she only like connects with animals. So, it's just really funny seeing Wyatt chase her around like a little puppy chasing after his tail. It's funny. But as the series progresses or as the book progresses, we kinda see Trita and Wyatt just decided to be fuck friends and fuck through her pregnancy, to get through her cravings and his cravings. It's just funny. We see so much comedy. We see her really fall in love with Wyatt's family. They're so grateful for her and what she's doing. And she's never had anyone give her gifts. She's always been super self-sustainable, so she's like really hesitant at first to accept anything. It takes her a long time to warm up, but it's really got the found family tropes. I just really loved that. I loved the comedy because Trista is gonna tell you what's on her mind every time, even if you don't wanna hear it.

Devonnie

Yeah.

Christina

And Wyatt is just he's only led by

Devonnie

a mountain

Christina

yeah, He's only led by his id. He just wants to get his dick wet and that's it all the time.

Devonnie

No, I would not say that about him, but I, okay. I disagree. I also read nine month contract. Well listened to it.'cause Teddy Hamilton, I mean babe. And also Erin Mallon. Erin Mal, I can't remember the female narrator's last name, but I think her first name is Erin. They've worked together a lot, so their chemistry's like really cute. But Wyatt, I think, I don't think he was led by his thing. I think once he realized that, oh, I'm really attracted to her, that was his game plan. He was like zeroed in, like we could really help each other. I think he came to the realizations that he also liked her a lot faster than she did. But yeah, like I thought it was funny. I thought it was funny. The narrators make the jokes because it's also duet, so they chime in. Right. And that makes things a lot. Yeah, I think that makes things a lot funnier. So I feel like if you're gonna read it, listen to it instead. But yeah, I liked it. I liked it. It wasn't my favorite, but I did enjoy it. But I will say, which actually will take me into my next rec after you Jordan. The reason I like this book is because I've read a lot of Amy DA's. Books, and this book is a spinoff of a series of hers that I've read. So there were characters that I knew about in this book already, and it was really nice to see them or hear about them again. But yeah,

Christina

that's great. I hadn't read any other, anything else by this author. But I do know that I think each of his brothers gets a

Devonnie

gets a Yeah. Yes.

Christina

Because they all

Devonnie

oldest brother, right? Yeah. On the, his oldest brother has a book in the, his is the, like one of the last books in the previous series, and that's why the Fletcher Brothers get their own series.

Christina

Got it. Okay. Yeah, I was really curious about the older brother when I found out that his new wife was a lot younger and was the nanny. I was like, oh, I

Devonnie

was, yeah, that was good. And her name is Cozy. Yeah. You got that book actually. Is that the one I'm about to

Jordan

Oh weird. Another weird name,

Devonnie

I actually think Cozies name is real cute. I have no problems with Cozy. Her name is Cozy. She a Thickie and she's cozy.

Christina

I will love that.

Devonnie

I don't know what you're talking about?

Jordan

Okay. so

Christina

Alright, Jordan, you're up.

Jordan

I swear this is a different rec than my last one. It is another hockey romance and it's part of a series, but this one

Christina

These guys know how to get to the goal.

Jordan

I mean

Devonnie

Wow.

Jordan

So anyways, this is book three of the Jacksonville Rays by Emily Wrath called Pucking Suite. ed Emily before. I love her just great. I love her stuff. This one might be my favorite from the series. I still have to read the fourth one. I've read the first three. This one follows Poppy St. James, and she is the director of public relations for the Jacksonville Rays, which are the NHLs newest team. So she's coming in first PR director of this organization. She's gotta wrangle all these new guys, right? She is helping build this community. And she's trying to make this city

Christina

boss bitch.

Jordan

yeah, she, they call her PR Barbie, like all the players call her PR Barbie and they're all terrified of her. And she's this short thing running around in heels, but she gets the job fucking done. Everyone's scared of her, everyone, love her. And we see her get the job done in the first two books in the series. This book shows what Poppy's been doing behind the scenes, or should I say

Devonnie

I say

Jordan

who? Because, and they've been sneaking around, not just with the team, bad boy Lucas Novikov, but also with his best friend Colton Morrow.

Christina

OMG.

Jordan

choose M-M-F-O-K. And so like in the other books we know they're best friends'cause they've played together previously in their lives, right? So Colton and Lucas knew each other and they're good friends. We see in the previous book that they lived together for a little while. But we didn't see why and or we kind of knew why one of them gets hurt. So they thought it was just to help out

Christina

like a history. We'll call them roommate situation.

Jordan

right. But also in the kind of the end of the last book, we see them get upset and not talk. And no one on the team knows why. And in this one you see the behind the scenes and you see why, what's happening. Well basically, so, so pop back to Poppy. She knew Colton from working with him in the previous team that they worked with, right. I think it was in DC or something. And he has always had a thing for her, right? And he just secretly pines, so they've always been good friends. Right. So they've made to contain a good friendship. Prof, also professional in the workplace. There's never been any crossover, but he has just had to shove down deep his feelings for her.

Christina

Love it when it goes deep.

Jordan

yeah, so deep in this book. And Poppy actually has her own history with her own family that they go uncover throughout. And it's a really big thing. If you know anything about Emily's books is there's always, I don't know, just so many layers of personal lives that she weaves together really well, that feels really realistic in a sense. But yeah, this is a pregnancy trope episode, so she keeps it hidden because she is head of pr, right?

Christina

Ooh.

Jordan

And when she finds out she's pregnant and she fucked both of them separately for the first time in the same week,

Christina

What a PR scandal.

Jordan

And she doesn't know whose it is.

Devonnie

That's crazy.

Jordan

get fun,

Devonnie

You know what I really love though? I mean Okay, so

Jordan

but you see the relationship and then she finds out a few months like she finds out a little later, like she realizes she's pregnant. So you see their relationship grow and there's a good chunk of the book before you get the, to the pregnancy part.

Devonnie

All three of them.

Christina

A polyamorous relationship?

Jordan

So Yes, it is. And then when they find out it's it's chill. Yeah. It's, yeah. At first she's bouncing because she's just I mean, she has this history with Colton and she just has this raw magnetism with Lucas. But she's not willing to commit and they're her players, so she couldn't with either of them. And they're best friends and it just is this big thing. But then they come together. Yeah. So they end up having to talk it out, right. And they work out what they want and they, the way they approach her, I will not tell you how they approach her, but they approach her together. They're like, look, we're gonna do this. We're gonna do this together. Neither one of us has ever been with another woman, with another guy, but you're my best friend. Why not? Why can't we make this work? I know you better than anyone else. So they approach her together and they like corner her in this very, and it's just oh, sorry I hit my mic, but

Devonnie

Don't you giggling to kick your feet? Yes.

Jordan

it was so good. Oh God. So this was probably my favorite one that I've read. But the pregnancy trope. Surprise.

Devonnie

love that. I know,

Jordan

Double the surprise. We don't know who.

Devonnie

Right, I love that

Christina

a Mama Mia situation.

Jordan

Yeah, you do find out eventually because

Devonnie

Whose it is?

Jordan

when they're born. Yes. Well, because one of them is black, so he grew up black playing ice hockey in Canada and like that has its own part of the story and so, but yeah, it's so good. So they're like, well, we'll find out eventually.

One Moment Please by Amy Daws

Devonnie

right? So we're gonna go two ways here. Okay. My next rec is actually gonna be the, an Amy Dos book, and it's from the series that I was telling you about. It's, I think the series is called, wait for Me, but this is called, this book is one moment, please. They're all like. Weird names take a line, take a num. I don't know. But this one is one moment please. And this is the third or fourth book in this series. It follows Lindsay, and I think Josh is the doctor, but she calls him Dr. Dick. So honestly, all I can think about is that his name is Dr. Dick. And not Dr. Dick for the appendage. Dr. Dick, because he's an asshole. Okay? He is an asshole. Asshole. In a previous book, you see how they ended up having a one night stand, I think in the book right before it, or they basically, there's a celebration, they end up having a one night stand, she leaves, then something happens to her like a, a hinge date or some kind of blind date gone wrong. She ends up in the fricking er.

Christina

Ooh.

Devonnie

else takes her in than Dr. Dick? So they now realize, oh, it's you, my one night stand, blah, blah, blah. And then he has to tell her you're pregnant. Did you know you were pregnant? And then she has to say, well, that's crazy. It's probably yours. It is the wildest thing. It the wildest thing. And then he has to decide, like he is very much treating this as like a, whatever you wanna do, I support you. But also I'm gonna be very standoffish. I'm gonna give you what you need. I'll be there for what you need. But no emotions, no feelings, no togetherness. And she just kind of wants to keep her baby. She doesn't wanna give up the baby, she doesn't wanna lose the baby. Like she wants to keep her baby. And that's the end of that. So that's her plan, right? Her own little person to love. But yeah, we see he moves her into his house, I think. And we see their relationship develop. He, I will say this, Amy Doss has a very specific way of writing. It's very like comedy driven in the way her female main characters are snappy and everything, but this book deals with some heavy, like you understand why Dr. Dick is the way he is, but it is so heartbreaking that it kinda sucks the air out of you once you find out what

Christina

Oh.

Devonnie

It's really, and that, I hate saying that because you might think, oh, I only wanna read a comedy. 95% of the book is a comedy, but that 5% that keeps you from understanding Dr. Dick. That's his trauma talking. And it was really intense, but I really enjoyed it. Again, Amy has this way of doing comedy with her books. They kind of all feel formulaic in a sense that, you know, how they're gonna be funny, but it's all still very different. Her characters are different and I love the way she weaves people in and out of her stories. You get glimpses of different characters from different spinoffs that she has. So yeah, she ends up pregnant. They have a baby as you do in a pregnancy trope. But yeah, funny with a little bit of trauma, just how we like it.

Christina

That's what every pregnancy seems to be.

Devonnie

Yeah. And Right. You know, going down this list, I don't have not one just good pregnancy trope to give you like everything.

Jordan

Like

Devonnie

Yeah.

Christina

It's all trauma.

Devonnie

I feel like ready or not might be the sweetest. Yeah, nothing. Everybody's got a little bit of trauma

Jordan

my first rec was probably the sweetest. Those three little words, like granted, it came from a one night stand. It was very like funny and sweet, but

Devonnie

Yeah. I would think Ready or not

Christina

Mine has trauma.

Devonnie

all of them. Oh God. What's your next rec?

Jordan

Wow.

Hoarded by the Dragon by Lillian Lark

Christina

here I go.

Jordan

with a trauma.

Christina

In the Monsters episode, I think I recommended Stalked by the Kraken. This is the Sequel, hoarded by the Dragon, by Lillian Lark. It's the same magical bathhouse series. I love

Jordan

I remember loving

Devonnie

Yeah, I remember. Yeah. Yeah.

Christina

This one's great too. We see those characters come up again in this book, so I love that. But this book hits, my favorite little mini trope, which is the breeding kink.

Devonnie

We

Christina

Love it.

Jordan

Trip. I.

Christina

It's a, it's something in this one, lemme tell you, because this is about Katerina who's like part witch, part Faye, she's a thief. She's trying to steal something from a dragon, right? Miss Dragon callous catches her, oh, you know, trying to steal something from his hoard. Never Good idea. Don't steal from a dragon. I don't know why she thought she could, but here you go. He's gonna turn her over to the authorities and she's you can't do that. But she senses that he's in heat, so she's like, how about I trade you a night for you to let me off the hook? And he's okay, done. We found out he has two dicks within 20 pages.

Jordan

Well, he's a dragon. Of course he does.

Devonnie

I beg your finest. Pardon?

Christina

Two and his first orgasm releases come that takes away all your pain. So you can take the second one, which has the knot, and I'm just dying reading this. I love it. I'm just eating this up. I'm like, yes, give me that and gimme that one too. I want'em both.

Jordan

it's been quite a few episodes since we've gotten a graphic detail coming and going and from Christina. It's been

Christina

one, is ribbed. I want that. It's ribbed. The second one has a knot. It's what every girl dreams of DP with magical cu. I mean, come on.

Devonnie

I would have to say I'm not one of the girls dreaming of it. I'm, I fear I'm not one of the girls dreaming of it.

Christina

Oh well I am. Okay. Any who? So,

Jordan

she's literally just a girl.

Christina

It's just a girl. She's just a thief and she's working for

Jordan

Oh, I was talking about you

Christina

Oh, me? Yes. I am like, I'm just a DP girl. Any who? So Caterina has this what

Devonnie

Right?

Christina

it is. Okay.

Devonnie

Oh man. Oh yeah. Tell us about Catarina.

Christina

Katerina, she's got this magic necklace that stops you from getting pregnant. All the witches wear it, right? She didn't know she had to charge it every single year to keep its magic in it.

Devonnie

You know

Christina

Girls off the birth control and she don't even know it.

Devonnie

you know that tends to happen in real life too. So like same Katharina.

Jordan

and

Devonnie

babe. Like

Jordan

are like the, those are like the girls who didn't listen to their doctors and they said, you need to take this at the same time every day.

Devonnie

every day

Jordan

It could be breakfast, it could be dinner, it could be like,

Christina

Whatever you

Devonnie

Also she's a bad witch. How do you forget to charge your gems? That's

Christina

Oh, here. That's the trauma She was born. and lived in the wi in the human world until she was a teenager.'cause her parents abandoned her. So she's

Jordan

Wow. Dev way to judge too soon

Devonnie

I know. My

Jordan

so insensitive.

Devonnie

So it's, I'm sorry, Keri. You're not a bad witch. You are a child of your circumstance. Sorry, girl. I would've forgotten too. My bad.

Christina

Any who? And Callo, he's a dragon.

Jordan

her. It's from the same person. It's.

Christina

Yeah. It's a lot. Literally. It's a lot to handle. Okay. Anyways, Callo. He doesn't think you can, as a dragon, get anybody other than a dragon pregnant. So he's not worried. Neither of them worried. So they're just fucking all night. He's breeding her. He's you know, pushing to come back in, holding it with his hand. You're gonna take this, I'm gonna fill

Jordan

Wow. Way to really spoil the whole plot.

Christina

I am

Jordan

Christie's

Christina

all within the first 25 pages. Okay? Any who? She goes home. It was a magical night. She's I'm ready to forget it. Bam. What is in her? A dragon wing, A little baby dragon. He's I don't fucking believe you. As one does. He's I can't get a witch pregnant. It's never happened. And there hasn't been a dragon born in a hundred years. Yeah, right. He's go find the real dad. And she's and she passes out and he's catching her and he's oh my God I can feel it. It's my baby. I'm dramatically recreating the scene.

Devonnie

I can feel

Jordan

I am riveted. I'm here. I am. I'm in it.

Christina

She wakes up and she's I don't want you, you don't believe me. So whole thing. He moves her into his mansion.'cause he's a dragon with a hor and it's all gold everywhere. He's gonna take care of her. She wants to love him because she's oh, I can have this family. He's no, I got trauma. I got a dead mate and a dead baby. It ain't happening Woman. This is a trauma dump. I'm telling you. Any who we see their relationship grow. He learns to trust her so much stuff happens. They go to the magical bathhouse and have amazing sex DP again. He really loves butt plugs with her. So I'll just leave it there. But it's pregnancy for sure. She got pregnant. It's great.

Devonnie

Wait, so does when the baby comes out, is the baby half human half witch? What's going on with the baby when

Christina

Yeah. the baby can take on both forms. Yeah. So the baby turns into the dragon form when dad's holding her and wants to eat meat and then turns into the faith form and wants to nurse on her. It's so sweet.

Devonnie

That's actually so cute. I actually love that so much.

Christina

I

Devonnie

Damn, that birth though, that birth was traumatizing,

Jordan

Well, I feel like it would, because it was in the mother then it would probably came out looking halfway and didn't turn into the dragon until

Devonnie

till

Christina

have babies through eggs, and this is the first time a dragon's ever been born from a live person because they didn't think this was ever possible. So it's definitely like no one knows what to expect. So it's just, we're just learning along with them,

Devonnie

not her starting history, like making history. Yeah. That's crazy. I love that for her.

Unexpected Delivery by Jillian West

Jordan

I thought I was kind of going off script with my next one being

Christina

I'm sorry.

Jordan

but I guess it's pretty tame.

Devonnie

I I love that. I don't think I've read a omega verse pregnancy trope.

Jordan

now this is interesting. This is a little bit different than what we've, the situations we've talked about. I know I thought of you, this is called Unexpected Delivery by Jillian West. This was the

Christina

I love Jillian West.

Jordan

So it starts with Arbor, who is 38 weeks pregnant. She is fleeing her volatile ex, well, he's only ex because she's fleeing him. So her boyfriend, they were together and you know, like abusive relationships or emotional, physical, any kind like. You don't go into it thinking that's what it is. She had just lost her dad. She's, you know, she didn't really have much and so her ex kind of just had money and he gave her some security, but it kind of, he slowly put her into this place where she didn't have any money, ability to get out and then she found herself pregnant and she's I don't even know how I wasn't having heats like,'cause she's an Omega. Okay. Just to be clear Arbor is the Omega. And in this world, omegas are actually pretty rare. It's not like one of those where they're all like, even, and Alphas always fine in Omega and Alphas are always in a pack. Like it's just kind of a little bit more scattered. She just waits this whole pregnancy. She waits for her chance to get out.'cause she's I am not going to put my baby in this situation. Right. She had this moment where she's if he's gonna do this to me, I do not trust him not to do this to our child. She flees, she's 38 weeks. She was trying to save any bit she could by giving her money to a friend so that he couldn't find it. And her friend gave her this like beater car that she had. And so she drove from Arizona across all the way to Maine at 38 weeks pregnant. To stay in like a family cabin that her friend had out in the middle of nowhere in Maine. It was like outside of a small town. And she ends up there, this place. I don't think her friend didn't realize how run down it was. It wasn't being maintained. So she's in this shit situation. She has next to nothing and she is ready to give birth.

Devonnie

Yeah.

Jordan

when she goes into town to get her car looked at, she meets this mechanic who is a very handsome alpha, but she is not like looking at that. Right. She is not like, she notices that he is really attractive and he smells good, but that's as far as it goes for her. But then you see from his POV, like he can't stop thinking about her. And the whole time he's wondering like, where is her alpha, why, where is this alpha? Where is her pack? This very pregnant woman who needs her car fixed, this car shouldn't even be running. Right. And she doesn't have money to fix it. And he ends up taking on this as pro bono, even though he can't really afford to. And he is getting his friend buddies to help. And he's just pissed the whole time, right. Thinking about this poor Omega. And, he's like I'm not her alpha. I can't ask her these things. Anyways, snowstorm hits and of course, as she's going into labor.

Devonnie

she, ugh,

Christina

Ooh.

Jordan

She goes into labor early and she's by herself. She's do I stay out here by myself or do I try to go? So she tried to get outta there before it got too bad, right? And go to the hospital and her car slid and she ended up in a ditch, right? Going into labor. And they have him. And so this mechanic and his two pack mates who are twins, so the pack is this guy twins who are very different. They're identical, but they are very different and they're not the type of twins that are super close. So it's a really interesting different dynamic. But they stop, see this car in the ditch, and Morris. Recognizes the car and so they get out, they get her. One of the twins actually was a medic in the army. So he's got, he knows how to deliver a baby. He has this training they can't get because of the roads, they can't necessarily get to the hospital. Everything is closed. They take her back to their house where he delivers the baby and all three of them work together to deliver her

Christina

Aw.

Devonnie

Oh,

Jordan

I know, and this is the beginning of the book. I'm like going into it now that I'm telling. It's so interesting. But they all feel this pull to her like this and so they had called 9 1 1, right? Finally, when the medics get there to bring her to the hospital, the baby is already born. But he feel this connection now to the baby too, and her like. More. It just, it was such a moment and for all three of them, and you see it from their different perspectives and like the things that they're feeling and the way they wanna support and the things, it is just so sweet. But then she doesn't wanna give the hospital her real name. There's all this stuff. She doesn't have insurance. They really, she doesn't have insurance and they don't know her full story yet, but they can tell something bad happened.'cause they can see faded bruises and things. And so one of them is claims her baby as his and says, we're her pack and gives them the stuff. So insurance fraud. But they're all, they're trying, like instantly trying to take care of her, right? And so they insist on her coming home with them afterwards and take care of her. And it's just like this evolution of. Of opening up to each other and caring for her, not just her, but also for the baby that they already feel responsible for. Yeah. So, and you know, like it was so different of a pregnancy trope. And the whole time also part of the, they're like having to tell themselves like, okay, you need to calm down. She doesn't need this from you. Even though you wanna see her, go through all the stages of pregnancy, not just the end, like they're already like, you know, but it's just so sweet and helping her unravel her trauma and getting her to open up and in a very respectful way, a non-threatening way. And they just try to be that safe place for her.

Devonnie

I love that. I also love pregnancy tr books where the the pregnancy happens early, like the delivery happens early, so you get to see the relationship with the baby, with whoever it is, whether it's the dad or like people who step up. I think that's one of my favorites too.

Jordan

And it's hard.

Devonnie

I love

Jordan

for me, it's hard to read. I don't like reading these books when she has a new baby or a young kid and you don't see any time with the kid or the baby and they're doing all these things. And I'm like, no, mom, especially new mom is gonna leave that much. And you see that in this book. You see her struggle like in the postpartum the first time she has to leave her baby even just for an hour. Right. Because there, we all remember that moment. Mine was to go to the grocery store, like that struggle, that whole situation. So

Devonnie

yeah.

Christina

read other Omega verse by Jillian West and she writes it really well. I really love

Jordan

Yeah.

Devonnie's Bonus Recs

Devonnie

Oh, nice. I'll have to Recent Julian West, I have a million other pregnancy trope books. I'm not gonna tell you. I mean my top, my, I will say, I'll plug this one because y'all already know My top like God to your pregnancy trope book will have to be out on a limb by head of bottom young. That is my ride or die pregnancy trope, Kara's, ready or not, was good and made me cry out on a limb. Had me sobbing, like sobbing tears, but also laughing really hard. Lots of trauma in that one as well.'cause yeah, we apparently don't read Just happy little pregnancies over here. What the hell? So yeah, that's like my favorite. And then. Another one that also, oh surprise, has a lot of trauma, is reckless by Elsie Silver, which is a part of her Chestnut Spring series. So freaking good. The female main character is kind of a bitch, or everyone positions her as being a bitch because of her like background with, in the first book with her sister. Yeah, so you kind of know her as this, like evil doctor bitch or something. But then she lets her hair down with a little young bull rider and ends up pregnant. He goes on tour and then basically when baby girl is almost one, essentially realizes, wait a minute. She looks like me. And that's really, that's the situation. She did not tell him about the baby. She, I think it was part of not wanting to end his career, but also he was young and also there were a lot of things and she, this was her baby. She wanted to, she has trauma. She wanted to raise the baby. I think how she went about it was like terrible.'cause she didn't tell him at all. She didn't give him a chance. And I feel like always give the chance, if they disappoint you, fine, but give the chance.'cause he ended up missing, he ends up missing the entire pregnancy and months of his daughter's life, which like when he finds out that it's his daughter, it's heartbreaking to read that part. So yeah. Again, trauma. But that was also a good pregnancy book. Another one quick mention, awake at dawn by Emily Reese. It's book two in her series. It follows a girl who gets pregnant by her fricking boss, like Gemma, please. She gets pregnant by her boss and then her brother's best friend needs somebody to babysit his dog. That's how these two get together. Okay. The boss wants nothing to do with her. The brother's best friend needs somebody to watch his dog. She moves in because also her apartment living situation's a mess. And yeah, he becomes like psychotic when it comes to take like golden retriever and Doberman Energy over her pregnancy and being pregnant. Like he is very much hands on as if he's the dad. He's reading books, he's taking notes.

Christina

Aw,

Devonnie

Yeah, it's actually

Christina

love that.

Devonnie

and really tender. Yeah. It's

Jordan

of though being pregnant was seeing

Closing

Devonnie

Oh yes. That's the best. I'm telling you, when they like step up and they're like the baby's the size of a taco. Should you be bending that low? Like just weird information, like what are you doing? So yeah, at that I do really love, I enjoy pregnancy trope. Yeah, I don't know. I get why people hate it. I'm not gonna say, oh, no one should hate it. I get why people hate it.'cause it can be rough and also not that good. Some of it is written very poorly, but yeah, I think the recs I gave y'all are good places to start. I

Jordan

But that's any trope. I just wanna say I, I get, so I guess I wanna say I don't, I necessarily feel the same as you. I don't understand why people. Hate'cause I, you know, have my own feelings towards a lot of them. But I still recognize that there are good books in it. And you can say that's not for you. You don't have to say it should not be in romance. Like those people who are that outspoken about it, just don't read it. It's not for you. It off and just chill. Take an edible and just zone out for a bit.

Devonnie

Yeah. Because I don't know if you notice, but the world gets populated by pregnancy trope. You are friends because of pregnancy trope. You are alive because of pregnancy trope. Be so for real. It's in real life. It's in the books.

Jordan

I think it's'cause it's women going through life and even as women, we hate

Devonnie

And people hate women. Is that, yeah.

Jordan

A lot of women hate women too.

Devonnie

So many women hate women, which also y'all touch grass. For real.

Jordan

or reflect on that and think why you're feeling this way because.

Devonnie

Yeah. Most, yeah. Most of the people reading and saying, speaking out are women reading romance and saying it doesn't belong. I, like you said, there are so many genres of books out there. There are so many tropes like. Some of them have really bad books in them. Absolutely. But there are also some beautiful gems like out on a Limp by Hannah Bonum Young that you can really like, enjoy and love. So just find what works for you. Find the version of pregnancy trope like for you Jordan Omega verse and you know, and a throuple situation or you know, They were a cute little throuple. You know, find the,

Jordan

Find your dragon

Devonnie

Yeah, find your dragon with the double penetration and your A oh three KY Lauren series. Like there, are options. Just find something that works for you. That's my, let me

Christina

That's why we're here.

Devonnie

box. Right? That is why we're here to show you that there are so many different versions of pregnancy trope, and you might like one of these that we just told you. And if you do, go comment on the flyer for this episode and tell us what your favorite pregnancy trope book is. We'd love to hear it and also see if we've read it.

Jordan

So thanks for listening

Christina

Dev probably has.

Jordan

about pregnancy troope. If you're looking for more romance Recs, be sure to follow us on Instagram, TikTok and Threads at Romance Recs Pod. You can find our favorite book Recs from our episodes, as well as behind the scene content and event information. If you're in the Pacific Northwest, again, that's at Romance Recs Pod, so be sure to give us a follow and we'll be back in two weeks with another episode.

Devonnie

Bye

Christina

bye. Thanks.

Devonnie

get pregnant tonight.

Jordan

it up.

Christina

Don't be silly. Wrap your.