A Re-Introduction

Welcome back to Romance Recs for season three! Devonnie and Jordan are here to re-introduce themselves and what to expect for season three. Full of romance book recommendations broken down by genre and tropes, deep dives, and even author interviews, this season is sure to be the best yet! So whether you've been here from the beginning or are just discovering the highly entertaining bookish banter that is Romance Recs, buckle up!

Transcript

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Introduction

Jordan 0:01

Welcome to Romance Res. We're romance obsessed besties, sharing book res, broken down by genres and tropes so you can be sure you're getting exactly what you want out of your next read. Hello, I'm Jordan. I am currently reading. The Perfect Unicorn by KJ Bradford, something Wicked by Fallon Ballard, and I'm listening to Ninth House by Lee Bargo.

Devonnie 0:31

Hello, my little lovelies. This is Dev, uh, Jordan. I didn't know you were reading so many books. I, too am reading so many books, including the perfect unicorn. Uh, so.

Jordan 0:41

Arcs,

Devonnie 0:42

Yeah. Arcs. I know they're arcs. Exactly. I am also listening to Taming Kain by Tessa Stone. I am like literally 15 minutes to the end of the Ever King by LJ Andrews. And then I just finished like yesterday Love Arranged by Lauren Asher and Five Star read. Love that so much. Can't wait to talk about that more on another episode, but. Yeah, we're, we got a lot of books to read. We're like right in the middle of it. Yeah,

Jordan 1:15

it's like we're avid readers or something.

Devonnie 1:18

I know. Oh my gosh. It's almost like we do a podcast about books where we share our recs.

Jordan 1:22

Welcome to season three, everybody.

Devonnie 1:24

Yay. Applause, applause.

Jordan 1:27

doing here today? Dev?

Devonnie 1:29

And you know, well we thought, we thought we would come on and just kinda remind you guys about why we're here, what we're doing, who we are. And why you should continue listening to us because we've got plenty of great things in store for you guys. We love sharing our book recs with you. We love talking about books and we love building this community. So that's what this episode. Introduction is gonna be about kind of just reintroducing ourselves, our goals for the pod and, who we are as readers. I know you guys are probably like, wait, there's like a voice missing. If you listen to our previous two seasons, you would know that we had a third book bestie with us, Christina, and for right now, Christina's stepping away from the podcast. She has some things going on, so we're just gonna handle it. Me and Jordan. And yeah, we're still gonna bring as many recs if Christina wants to tell us a re a book 'cause we're, we are still very active in our group chat, but if she wants to send some books, I'll be sure to like, mention what she's reading and loving. Uh, but yeah. You still got us?

Jordan 2:25

yeah, she hasn't gone far either. If she has the time because. Christina has a very large family. Christina has a lot of responsibility. A lot going on, so she's gonna pop in when she can, That's just where we're all at in life right now. But season three I think, is gonna look a little bit different. I mean, we're still here with the same kind of content, but it's gonna be

Devonnie 2:48

We're gonna switch it up a little bit. We're just gonna, yeah, and we'll tell you guys more. And also speaking of, we'll tell you guys more if you aren't already. Pause this right now, bestie. Pause it because you need to go follow our substack. What are you doing? Please follow and subscribe to our substack because here's the thing, Substack is gonna find out big news, any sneak peeks, any behind the scenes things they're gonna find out before anyone else. So we wanna make sure that you are getting your premium content head on over to substack. A newsletter's probably gonna go out once a month, twice a month if we're feeling spicy,

Jordan 3:22

If we have a lot of extra content.

Devonnie 3:25

Uh, but yeah, we wanna make sure you're up to date. So head to our Instagram. If you click on the link in our bio, it'll take you right there to subscribe to our substack. Okay.

Jordan 3:33

and there will be chances for you in the near future, that we're working on to subscribe in a different way. So pay for extra episodes, extra content when we do interviews, which. We've been doing some pretty big interviews

Devonnie 3:47

I know. Have y'all, have y'all been listening? Right?

Jordan 3:50

but if you want more, we're gonna do a little behind the scenes with authors moving forward and we're just so excited. But enough about that. Like

Devonnie 3:58

I know.

Jordan 3:59

as,

Who are your hosts?

Jordan 4:00

as readers? Why should you trust us? What kind of book recs are you gonna get from us Dev? Who are you? Who are you as a

Devonnie 4:06

Um, who, okay, so here's the thing. Bestie. You want a contemporary romance. You're looking for small town. You want a yearning man, like a man who will yearn. That's what I'm gonna give you. That's what I'm gonna bring to the table. Do I do love some romantic comedies as well? Uh, but my like creme de la creme is probably gonna be a, a contemporary small town romance. That's just where I thrive, where I feel like the men do the most yearning. I know we do get them in the fantasy world. And don't get me wrong, I love me a romantic. Toss me in there, babe. Toss some magic, some wings, whatever you gotta do. Yeah. Oh my god. Luther, my man. Uh, but yeah, I still love romantics, but for me, that's what you're, if you're looking for those kind of vibes, and if you've listened to us previously, I think you kind of get my drift. You kind of see the books that I like to read, but for sure, contemporary, girly, small town romance, um, billionaire, because please don't be broke, I beg. Like, I have to, I have to deal with the struggle in real life. Don't bring it into my books. Please. Good Lord, have money. Billionaire me. Okay. All right. I have, I am not meant to suffer. I don't, I did not come to life. Come into this life to labor. You know what I mean? So I wanna read my girls being loved down, love me. An indie author at that. That's the vibe, babe. You, you pick it up when I'm putting down that is the vibe. Okay.

Jordan 5:30

I have it. I have it. I got it. Thank you. I do love that.

Devonnie 5:34

I gotta let them know. Please don't 'cause why books being broke. That's crazy. The women could be broke though. The women could be

Jordan 5:41

Well, the women can do no wrong. So I mean,

Devonnie 5:43

yeah. However they come to me is fine. But the man, I'm sorry sir. You better cope with a little money. We not gonna be broke together in the books. No, thank you.

Jordan 5:52

Mm-hmm. And with me, uh, I'm a little bit different. I like my men, I'd say generally darker. Uh, I like, their moral compass a little more questioning when it comes to my men, I just need them obsessed. Okay. I am where I thrive, I need a bully. Romance. Ideally set in a fantasy world. At an academy. At a university. Give me of age, give of age, please. If they're not, I just change all of the ages. Don't get me started, but I need a bully romance. Okay. If it's why choose even better if it has amazing narrators, like get, I don't know why I actually went hand on throat with that, but like, we're gonna, I'm gonna,

Devonnie 6:41

she did.

Jordan 6:42

I subconsciously, man. Okay. That's where I, that's where I live my best life. Okay. But the one thing, my book, all of my books have to have is a strong FMC. I am so much more focused on my FMCs actually. Like I love the men, but where I really obsess is the women, and I just need them to have a strong backbone. I don't care where they're from. I don't care what they're doing, as long as they have that strong backbone and they expect those men to grovel if they need to.

Devonnie 7:17

Mm-hmm.

Jordan 7:18

I love good grovel. Okay. I love romantic. I do contemporary. Sometimes I do. I have found that the men really need to be assholes if they're contemporary, like the golden retriever type. I, I, I have that in real life. I don't need more like you do you, you know? I

Devonnie 7:39

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We did a little

Jordan 7:42

I need an asshole.

Devonnie 7:43

Yeah. That's crazy.

Jordan 7:45

I mean, yeah.

Devonnie 7:47

That's a gist. That's our reading style. And I feel like we've fluctuated too since we started the podcast to now like our styles have changed. The things we're reading have changed our expectations from our stories and our narrators if we're listening, have changed. So yeah. But I think the, the key staples of like what we expect from the men me yearning, you bully. And groveling, you know, um, the, the female main characters are the same. I, one thing about me, I will dnf a book real fast if she starts pissing me off. If she starts pissing me off. Her inner monologue is too self-deprecating. 'cause I'm a self-deprecating, girly, like, we love to poke fun. But baby, if that's your natural belief, that is your state of being. I'm a DNF. I will DNF. And I don't know about you guys who are listening, but I don't have a problem. DN Fing a book

Jordan 8:32

Mm-hmm.

Devonnie 8:34

with no remorse. 'cause life is so short and there are so many books. The TBR is in hell, perpetually in hell. Okay. I have so many books to

Jordan 8:42

And we're here to put yours in hell if it's not already in the best way possible, because that's where all the fun happens.

Devonnie 8:50

We love going to hell.

Jordan 8:51

Hmm. Take me there. Oh, demons. That's another

Devonnie 8:54

Yeah, that's what I'm saying. A nice demon romance. And I mean, we got some books coming out in a

Jordan 8:59

Demon romance.

Devonnie 8:59

am.

Jordan 9:01

Just nice. Ooh,

Devonnie 9:06

I actually, yeah, I don't think I've read a nice demon row. I feel like all the demons have been assholes with the books I've read. None of them like a golden retriever demon. Oh, I take that back. Remember when I was doing like the cozy fantasy ones, all of the demons were nice. They were cutesy.

Jordan 9:23

Basically just stick with us. We've got something for everyone. And that's another thing that we say all the time. There is a book for every reader, and there's a reader for every book. If we personally did not like it, if we did, left it, we won't mention it on here. If we. If there was something wrong or problematic with it, we're just not gonna mention it on here. We're not going to, we try to do our due diligence. We're gonna. Make the decisions that we make for ourselves as, as readers, and we hope that you can do your own too, right? That's your own choice. Um, but just there's gonna be something for you and we're always gonna say why you might like something

Devonnie 10:02

Yes.

Jordan 10:03

you can decide for yourself.

Devonnie 10:04

Mm-hmm. Exactly. True words have never been spoken. Um,

Quotes

Devonnie 10:10

I feel like at this point in the show, at this point in the programming, we need to pick a quote that like defines us as a reader expectation vibe, like what we're looking for. When you crack a spine,

Jordan 10:24

Hmm. I love

Devonnie 10:26

are you expecting? I don't, I, that was like so hypothetical. I just wish you would stop that crime in jail. Like, why are you cracking the spines in your book? Do not crack the spine in front of me. Jordan. Jordan. Do not crack this book spine in front of me. Why are you evil?

Jordan 10:41

of my favorite books ever. Five

Devonnie 10:44

yeah, yeah, yeah. Five

Jordan 10:45

Douglas. Um, I haven't read this physical copy 'cause I'm gonna like give it away or something, but like, I'm still gonna

Devonnie 10:52

Oh,

Jordan 10:53

so

Devonnie 10:54

y'all could have seen that. That was just so gross. Oh, don't fold it back like that. What is wrong with you?

Jordan 11:01

then you can just read it like this.

Devonnie 11:03

I'm calling the cops.

Jordan 11:05

Okay. Go. No, actually no. I don't want the cops here.

Devonnie 11:10

Yeah.

Jordan 11:10

I was like, go for it. No, no,

Devonnie 11:12

No.

Jordan 11:13

Call me the fire

Devonnie 11:14

Different uniform. Yeah, different uniform. Okay. I have one and if you've listened to the podcast before, you will have heard this, but honestly, I'm 10 toes down for this male character, but also for this author. Um. I love her down. I fear, um, no I don't fear. I will loudly proclaim it from the rooftops. I am obsessed with the one, the only pen. Cole,

Jordan 11:41

Woo.

Devonnie 11:42

interviewed Pen Cole in the past, so if you wanna listen to that episode, go on back to season two. Um, yeah, we got a chance to hang out. Talk to her.

Jordan 11:50

did, but she also go, if you haven't listened, go listen. Because she gave us an exclusive quote from Burn that I actually haven't seen anywhere else. So sorry,

Devonnie 11:59

Yes. Yes, that's, that's very true. Um, so yeah, if you love Pink Cole as much as we do, then please go listen to that episode if you wanna hear more. But this, um, quote specifically is something Luther tells dim in heat. And yes, it's a Luther quote. It's very much him. It tracks, it's the story. It's perfect. But this is my expectation for every MMC that I read. Like this is the vibe that I need you to bring to the table. You ready? Here we go. Desire. He gave a dark throaty laugh. Desire is a pathetic word for what I feel for you. I require you, I am sustained by you. You are the flame that fuels my fire. Don't you dare question that, not for a second. You see what I'm saying? You see what I'm saying? You see what I'm saying? Because that could be applied to contemporary, to fantasy. It doesn't matter if, if this is burn the world energy. This is touch her and die. This could literally be one horse. You know what I'm saying? It's, it's anything and everything. It's applicable to any situation. And that's just, that's the expectation I have for my mmcs. So Penn, thank you so much for writing the love of my life. Like, I'm so obsessed with him. I can't wait to read Bird. Um, but yeah, I think that sums me up as like a reader, what I'm looking for in my man.

Jordan 13:21

Yeah, that's fair. Fair. I will give everyone only one guess. If you have listened to just about any episode here, I will give you one guess as to who wrote the book that I chose. Go ahead.

Devonnie 13:36

Well,

Jordan 13:36

you haven't said it yet, you Oh yeah. Go for it. Yeah.

Devonnie 13:39

um, I think it's gonna be, um, oh my gosh, I'm just gonna take a stab in the dark. Uh, Caroline Peckham and Susan Valenti.

Jordan 13:47

Yes. Okay. And it's for my favorite book in the Zodiac Academy series. Um, cursed Fates. You guys, I'm obsessed with Caroline Peckham and Suzanne Valenti We have not interviewed them, but if you have, I would really like to. Okay. That is, that is my white horse. That is my, anyways, this.

Devonnie 14:10

let us know so we can like make all of Jordan's dreams come true. Please. I am begging you. She loves them.

Jordan 14:15

Yes, I do. I do. I just wanna thank them for enriching my life. Anyways, I digress. This quote is also by my favorite mailman character. It, I'm not gonna tell you who it is because if you haven't read Zodiac Academy, I don't wanna give anything away because some of the loved interests are a mystery I know it doesn't change anything that it can't change anything he growled, but I'm going to prove it to you. I'm going to do everything I can to make it up to you for the rest of my life, if that's what it takes. I'll never forgive myself for bringing this curse on us, and I'm never going to stop loving you either.

Devonnie 14:56

Hmm.

Jordan 14:58

This is the beginning of groveling. Okay.

Devonnie 15:01

Did I read that one? I read that one,

Jordan 15:03

You read it?

Devonnie 15:05

yeah. Yeah, yeah. I think I, I could picture exactly where that happens. Oh, yeah. That's actually a really good quote that that's very much in line with the vibe, yearn, grovel,

Jordan 15:15

You're, yeah.

Devonnie 15:16

rest of your life doing it.

Jordan 15:18

You were so obsessed, but you knew you couldn't have her, so you destroyed her world. Because if you can't have her, no one's going to and you're just, you know,

Devonnie 15:25

Right?

Jordan 15:26

It's just perfect.

Devonnie 15:27

Mm-hmm.

Jordan 15:27

So that's who

Devonnie 15:28

And look at that. You guys already got. Maybe one quote, but those quotes are attached to series. Do you, do you understand what we just did for you? We just gave you multiple books to go read. If you have not read either Zodiac Academy or the Kindreds Curse Saga by Pen Cole, you. What are you waiting for? Now is your time. This right here is your moment. Yeah, this is your sign. Pick it up. Look, tell us what you think. We love talking about these books, so Yeah. We'll never shy away from a conversation to talk about either of these books.

Closing

Jordan 16:00

And also this season we're gonna try to cut things shorter. We're gonna try to keep this to approximately your drive to work. Assuming you're driving to work. My drive to work is walking into the kitchen. So, so that,

Devonnie 16:13

Screaming. I'm screaming.

Jordan 16:16

Anyways, uh, dev, where can they find us? How can they support us? What can they look forward to?

Devonnie 16:22

Of course you can follow us on social media, on Instagram. We are romance recs pod. We are also on TikTok under the same name, though we're not. I mean, we post some there, um, some things there. But for the bulk of our content and stuff, it's gonna be on Instagram. And then from there, there's actually a link in a bio that'll take you to wherever else we are. You can catch the podcast wherever you listen to podcasts. So Apple Music, Spotify. We're gonna be there babes. I promise. Just search our name. Yeah. Oh yeah. And then, um, of course, like I said, remember to sign up for that Substack. You're not gonna wanna miss the information we have in there, all the sneak peeks. So just get ahead of it. Go sign up right now. As soon as you finish this episode, just go sign up so you already know you're signed up. Okay? You get a cute little welcome email and yeah.

Jordan 17:08

We'll just have a great time and thanks follow us along for season three.

Devonnie 17:13

yeah. We'll let you know when that first episode drops. Why don't you take a guess as to what it's gonna be? And let us know in the comments on Instagram. Thank you.

Jordan 17:22

Bye.

Devonnie 17:23

Bye.