The Spicy Librarian Podcast

Dark romance and romantasy podcast The Spicy Librarian is back — and this week Dee and Katie are being dropped into their favourite books, whether they like it or not. Would you rather learn magic or warfare? Lead armies or strategies? Forced proximity or enemies to lovers? They don't have to agree. They do have to justify.

This week on The Spicy Librarian Podcast, we are asking the questions that actually matter. Katie and Dee are being dropped headfirst into the worlds of their favourite dark romance and romantasy books — and they have to choose.

High-stakes wars or slow-burn romance? Intense physical challenges or forbidden magic systems? Lead the army or mastermind the strategy from the shadows? Face your enemies-to-lovers moment or suffer through forced proximity until someone breaks first?

Every answer has to be justified. Every disagreement has to be defended. And there are a lot of disagreements.

This is the episode for every reader who has ever finished a book and immediately thought — I know exactly what I would do in that situation. You probably wouldn't. Neither would we. But we had a very good time pretending.

Books Mentioned- 

Games God’s Play- Abigail Owens (Romantasy, Greeks Mythology)

Fourth Wing- Rebecca Yarros (Romantasy, Enemies to Lovers)

A Court of Mist and Fury - S. J Maas (Romantasy)

A Court of Silver Flame- S. J. Maas (Romantasy, Enemies to Lovers)

A House of Earth and Blood- S. J. Maas (Urban Romantasy) 

Kingdom of Ash- S J Maas ( Fantasy) 

Quicksilver/ Brimstone- Callie Hart (Romantasy, Enemies to Lovers)

Auction- Sadie Kincaid (Dark Romance)

Lights Out- Navessa Allen (Dark Romance)

Under Yours Scars- Ariel Anderson (Dark Romance, Indie)

Haunting Adeline- H D Carlton (Dark Romance)

A Touch of Darkness- Scarlet St. Clair (Romantasy, Greek Retelling) 

Nightshade/ Daybreak- Autumn Woods (Dark Academia) 

Starside- Alex Aster (Romantasy) 

Dire Bound- Sable Sorenson (Romantasy) 

Heated Rivalry- Rachel Reid (Sports Romance, Queer)

Powerless - Elsie Silver (Sports Romance)

The Dorians- Nick Cutter (Horror)

Incidents Around The House- Josh Malerman (Horror)

Little Stranger- Leigh Rivers (Dark Romance, Taboo)

White Rose Painted Red- Elena Lawson (Dark Romance, Why Choose, Indie) 

Daggermouth- H M Wolfe (Dystopian Romance) 

To Cage A Wild Bird- Brooke Fast (Dystopian Romance)

 

Timestamps- 

00:00 Intro and meeting Yob the Bear

5:09 - Would You Rather

32:39- Continued Chaos

38:39- Katie’s Driving History

40:05- Back to Would You Rather

1:07- Goodbye and See you Next week xo

 

If you loved this episode follow the podcast so you never miss a drop, leave us a review — it genuinely means the world — and head to our website or Instagram to send in your own would you rather questions for a future episode. We'll see you next Thursday. 🖤

Dark romance and romantasy podcast The Spicy Librarian is back with the August reading roundup — summer is over, the ber months are here, and we read an unreasonable amount of books. We're debriefing our summer reads, defending our choices, and getting very hyped for the MaasVerse deep dive coming in September ahead of a vey exciting release…

Summer is drawing to a close, holidays have been had, and we are ready to welcome the ber months with open arms and a very long reading list.

This week on The Spicy Librarian Podcast we are debriefing everything we read over August, looking ahead to our MaasVerse deep dive, and already getting hyped for all things autumnal.

Katie opens with a passionate defence of Nightshade & Daybreak by Autumn Woods — a dark academia slow burn that divided the room and we are still not over it. Then we get into the full August roundup covering dark romance, contemporary, thriller, romantasy and everything in between — from Grave Matter by Karina Halle and Body Count by Codie Crowley to Twisted Hate by Ana Huang, Dominion by Jean Kwok, and Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman.

Then we turn our attention to September — a deep dive into the MaasVerse is coming, and we cannot wait.

We're also discussing the August book club picks across dark romance, romantasy and contemporary, and dropping the September book club lineup, so stay tuned!

Timestamps

06:08 — Nightshade & Daybreak: Katie's Defence
11:26 — Welcome to the Ber Months
16:29 — August Reading Roundup
35:12 — September TBR & The MaasVerse Deep Dive
47:24 — August Book Club: The Voice, Dominion & How to Kidnap a Fake Date
50:32 — September Book Club: A Bargain So Bloody, Friends with Monsters & Just Another Dead Boy

 

Books Discussed:

Nightshade & Daybreak — Autumn Woods (dark academia, slow burn)
Grave Matter — Karina Halle (dark romance, paranormal)
Us Dark Few & Us Deadly Few — Alexis Patton (dark romance)
Twisted Hate — Ana Huang (enemies to lovers, contemporary romance)
To Cage a Wild Bird — Brooke Fast (dystopian, romantasy)
Dominion — Jean Kwok (romantasy)
Just Another Dead Boy — Kelly McCaughrain (contemporary)
The Only One Left — Riley Sager (thriller)
How to Kidnap a Fake Date — Effie Campbell (dark romance, fake dating)
Broken Country — Clare Leslie Hall (literary fiction)
The Ghost Writer — Julie Clark (thriller)
The Chain — Adrian McKinty (thriller)
Thirst Trap — Gráinne O'Hare (contemporary romance, queer)
So I Met This Guy — Alexandra Potter (contemporary romance)
The Lure of Wolves and Whispers — Amanda Connolly (romantasy)
Slip Stream — Madge Maril (sports, contemporary)
First Flight Final Fall — C.W. Farnsworth (contemporary romance, sports romance)
Body Count — Codie Crowley (horror, queer)
Here Lies a Vengeful Bitch — Codie Crowley (horror)
Friends with Monsters — Albany Walker (dark romance)
Tide — Carian Cole (dark romance)
Daddy Issues — Kate Goldbeck (contemporary romance)
You Girls Play Nice — K.D. Aldyn (thriller)
Dungeon Crawler Carl 1, 2 & 3 — Matt Dinniman (fantasy, LitRPG)
Yesteryear — Caro Claire Burke (literary fiction)
Around the World in 80 Dates — Jasmine Burke (contemporary)
The Voice — Maggie Ray Jones (contemporary romance)

August Book Club:
The Voice — Maggie Ray Jones (contemporary romance)
Dominion — Jean Kwok (romantasy)
How to Kidnap a Fake Date — Effie Campbell (dark romance, comedy)

September Book Club:
A Bargain So Bloody — Vasilisa Drake (dark romantasy)
Friends with Monsters — Albany Walker (dark romance, paranormal)
Just Another Dead Boy — Kelly McCaughrain (contemporary)

 

If you loved this episode follow the podcast so you never miss a drop, leave us a review — it genuinely means the world — and head to our website or Instagram for more details on everything we have coming up including the MaasVerse deep dive. We'll see you next Thursday. 🖤

Dark romance and romantasy podcast, The Spicy Librarian is back — and this week we are confessing our deepest, darkest reading secrets, exposing the community, and serving as judge, jury and executioner on your most controversial bookish takes. Court is in session.

We have things to confess. You have things to confess. And somebody has to hold us all accountable — so this week on The Spicy Librarian Podcast we are doing exactly that.

In the confessional, we get into our own deep dark reading secrets. The books we pretended to love, the ones we secretly hated, the ones we read in one sitting and told nobody about. The bookish habits we own, the ones we're ashamed of and the ones we just can't quit.

We're covering Spark of the Everflame by Penn Cole, Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, The Never List by Jade Presley, Black Rose by Jade Presley and Elena Lawson, Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, and Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman and some of what comes out of this confessional are wild and shocking. Even to us.

Then the community goes on trial and *we* go on trial. You submitted your most controversial bookish confessions and Katie and Dee are ruling as judge, jury and executioner on every single one. 

No one is safe. We are not sorry.

 

Timestamps

1:29 - Confession Opens

26:57 - We offer you our confessions 

36:52 - Questions from the community

Books Mentioned

Spark of the Everflame — Penn Cole (romantasy, slow burn)
Fourth Wing — Rebecca Yarros (romantasy, enemies to lovers)
The Never List — Jade Presley (dark romance)

Black Heart Painted Gold — Elena Lawson (dark romance, indie, why chose)
Song of Achilles — Madeline Miller (historical fiction, MM romance, greek retelling)
Noughts and Crosses — Malorie Blackman (YA, dystopian)
Daggermouth — H.D. Wolfe (dark romance)
ACOTAR — Sarah J. Maas (romantasy, fae romance)

If you loved this episode follow the podcast so you never miss a drop, leave us a review — it genuinely means the world — and head to our website or Instagram to submit your own confessions for a future episode. We'll see you next Thursday. 🖤

Dark romance, romantasy and everything in between. The Spicy Librarian Podcast is back with a post-holiday reading debrief nobody asked for and every book adaptation we are all having big feelings about. Dee and Katie read an unreasonable amount of books. We are not sorry.

We planned an episode. We did not do that episode. What we did instead was sit down, debrief everything we read over the summer, and spiral into a very passionate conversation about the book adaptations that need to happen immediately and the ones that are already in the works.

Katie brings us dark romance, contemporary and romantasy reads including Grave Matter by Karina Halle, Nightshade & Daybreak by Autumn Woods, and Twisted Hate by Ana Huang — enemies to lovers, slow burn, and a slow creeping dread that we absolutely did not see coming.

Dee went everywhere — from dark romance to fantasy to literary fiction — covering Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman, Body Count by Codie Crowley, First Flight Final Fall by C.W. Farnsworth, and Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke among many others.

Then, we get into adaptations — Haunting Adeline and Hunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton, the MindFck Series* by S.T. Abby, Verity by Colleen Hoover, Boys of Tommen by Chloe Walsh and Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman. Which ones are happening, which ones need to happen, and which ones we would personally executive produce given half a chance.

Timestamps:

03:12 — Katie's Post Holiday Reading Debrief
13:40 — Dee's Post Holiday Reading DeeBrief
40:30 — Book Adaptations In The Works...

Books Discussed:

Katie's Reads:
Grave Matter — Karina Halle (dark romance, paranormal)
Nightshade & Daybreak — Autumn Woods (dark academia, slow burn)
RoofBoy — Jess Blatchley (contemporary)
The Mad Wife — Megan Church (dark fiction)
Twisted Hate — Ana Huang (enemies to lovers, contemporary romance)

Dee's Reads:
Dungeon Crawler Carl — Matt Dinniman (fantasy, LitRPG)
You Girls Play Nice — K.D. Aldyn
Tied — Carian Cole (dark romance)
To Cage a Wild Bird — Brooke Fast (romantasy)
First Flight Final Fall — C.W. Farnsworth (contemporary romance, sports romance)
A Bargain So Bloody — Vasilisa Drake (dark romance)
Slip Stream — Madge Maril (indie contemporary)
Body Count — Codie Crowley (dark romance)
The Lure of Wolves and Whispers — Amanda Connolly (romantasy)
The Ghost Writer — Julie Clark (thriller)
Us Dark Few & Us Deadly Few — Alexis Patten (dark romance)
So I Met This Guy — Alexandra Potter (contemporary romance)
Just Another Dead Boy — Kelly McCaughrain (contemporary)
Thirst Trap — Gráinne O'Hare (contemporary romance)
Yesteryear — Caro Claire Burke (literary fiction)
Around the World in 80 Dates — Jasmine Burke (contemporary)

Adaptations Discussed:
Haunting Adeline & Hunting Adeline — H.D. Carlton (dark romance)
MindF*ck Series — S.T. Abby (dark romance, psychological thriller)
Yesteryear — Caro Claire Burke (literary fiction)
Never Let Me Go — Kazuo Ishiguro (literary fiction)
Boys of Tommen — Chloe Walsh (contemporary romance)
Verity — Colleen Hoover (dark romance, thriller)
Incidents Around the House — Josh Malerman (horror)

If you loved this episode follow the podcast so you never miss a drop, leave us a review — it genuinely means the world — and head to our website or Instagram for more details on everything we have coming up. We'll see you next Thursday. 🖤

This week on The Spicy Librarian Podcast, Katie and Dee were forced to played bookish 20 questions. Post it notes on foreheads, sunglasses on, eyebrows firmly raised, and this is genuinely the closest we have ever come to a full falling out. You are welcome.

*If you want to play along, listen on audio, or for spoilers, head to the YouTube!* 

We want to be clear. We are fine. We are friends. But this episode tested us in ways we did not anticipate and we are still processing.

Bookish 20 questions. Where you wear the book on your head and ask yes or no questions until you figure it out, sounds innocent, sounds simple, sounds easy. It is not. Not when the books are Penpal by J.T. Geissinger, Credence by Penelope Douglas, The Wolf King by Lauren Palphreyman, Hooked by Emily McIntire, One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig, and No for an Answer by C.J. Riggs. Not with these two. Not today.

Three rounds. Multiple near misses. One almost-falling-out. Post it notes, sunglasses, and more raised eyebrows than we promised. This is the most chaotic episode we have made and we stand by every second of it.

 

Timestamps:

00:00 — Introduction & Rules
2:02 — Round One
17:50— Round Two

36:10— Round Three
43:54 — Catch Up & Debrief

 

If you loved this episode follow the podcast so you never miss a drop, leave us a review -- it genuinely means the world -- and head to our website or Instagram for more details on everything we have coming up. We'll see you next Thursday. 🖤