Welcome And Fall Check-In

Lex 0:09

Hey bookish baddies, welcome to Black Girls Lit.

Tasha 0:15

We're fine women, fine literature, and fine libations collide.

Steph 0:22

Step into the lit live. Black girls lit starts now. Black girls lit are so complex.

Tasha 0:28

Hey bookish baddies, bookish baddies. Welcome back to another episode of Black Girls Lit Podcast. Tasha here. I'm Lex.

Steph 0:38

I'm Star. And I'm Steph.

Tasha 0:39

All right, y'all. Happy fall, y'all.

Steph 0:41

Yay.

Tasha 0:42

Yay. Already? Favorite time of the year. I know. Only time of the year.

Steph 0:46

Favorite time. Beautiful, the leaves.

unknown 0:49

Okay.

Tasha 0:49

And with all that being said, yes, because summer was summering, I can't believe like the year's almost over again. Like, why do years be going by so quickly? Like, we're about to be, okay, you know it'd be September, then it'd be October. Now is now it's like it's Christmas, New Year's, and we're right back at it. Time flies when you're having fun.

Star 1:06

Or either we're out of time, like in the movie, and this is really the matrix, and it's a computer set. Well, how good is my character? Don't worry about it. We'll circle back. We'll circle back around to that. That was y'all stay focused. Stay focused.

Tasha 1:20

Oh my gosh. Okay, well, let's go ahead and kick off this episode with what are we drinking, Lex? Because I feel like we're gonna need it. It feels like

Sake Spotlight Taiku Red Flower

Tasha 1:30

stars in a mood. We're gonna need whatever's in these cups today.

Lex 1:36

All right, y'all. So today we are trying something that we have not done on BGL before. We're trying new things, expanding our palettes, expanding our horizons. So, before we sip on the cocktail, I want to tell you all a little bit about the liquor we are having today, as always. So, today we are having the Taiku Red Flower sake. And look at that bright red bottle. I love a red bottle. Anything red, really. If you know, you know. So a little gang gang. Insert eye roll here. If you know anything, you know your girl loves a little red. All right, so to tell you all about this sake, so it was brewed in Japan, which is the historic birthplace of sake. So this is a local, not local to us, but local to Japan. A local sake. Let's see, it is super premium pure rice sake. So y'all know only top shelf here. Y'all know that top shelf liquor only. But what that means when it says pure rice, it means that it contains zero added sugars or sulfates. She's healthy. Y'all know how we like the y'all.

Tasha 2:55

It's the health for me.

Lex 2:56

Yes. So Taiku polishes their premium rice down to 60% to strip away any heavy impurities, resulting in an incredibly smooth, crisp bodied sake like this one. On the nose, you'll get a soft floral aroma. You can smell her if you want. And on the palate, it opens up with gorgeous notes of pear and sweet lemon. It is absolutely elegant on its own. But it has a smooth fruit profile that makes it the perfect luxurious base for all of our wonderful cocktails that we'll be having today. So, as we get ready to dive into this book, let's dive into these drinks. Cheers. Cheers. I like it.

Steph 3:43

Yep.

Lex 3:44

Okay, I don't think I like sake. I said I don't.

Tasha 3:48

I don't think I like sake.

Steph 3:50

I do not with my with my sushi. I'm good. Yeah. Is that what sake tastes like?

Star 3:55

Like and there's hot and there's you can because you can taste the not for nothing, but you can kind of taste the rice. That's probably what you guys. It's like that after taste a little bit.

Lex 4:06

So it tastes, it does taste clean. It's I will say that. I just don't it kind of reminds me of the aftertaste that you get with coconut water when it's warm. That's what it reminds me of. Really? I really like that.

Steph 4:19

Yeah, they have isn't it like they have hot and then they have cold? I don't prefer cold, so that's why it's not chilled. I prefer it room temperature, and then I do like the hot sake when they serve it.

Tasha 4:30

So I've only ever had the hot one, like when I go to out for sushi, and I did not care for it then. And I thought this was gonna be different. But look at you trying to care.

Star 4:39

And that's I mean, you know, it's fine. Everything's not for everybody. This is true. But we're trying new things.

Lex 4:43

We are trying new things, and y'all we know y'all probably won't see sake again.

Star 4:49

But we tried it. We tried it. And I will say something else too that I learned about this one is that they have an exclusive. So, like if you're a Benny Hana fan and hibachi, they do have an exclusive little bottle and situation. This is one of the premium sakes that Benny Hana features.

Lex 5:06

So you know, I may try it again with a like a food pairing because I like sushi. Maybe I'll do that and see if I like it.

Steph 5:13

Because some of the sushi places we have do not have a full bar. So wine, beer, or sake. Okay. Good to know.

Lex 5:20

All right. Well, Steph, while you're educating us on sake, educate us about this book and the author.

Book Setup Dark Lord Dating Guide

Steph 5:27

So we read the book, The Dark Lord's Guide to Dating and Other War Crimes by Tiffany Hunt. This is a darkly comedic romanticy follows the unlikely relationship between Casimir Blackrose, a feared Dark Lord with ambitions of conquest, and Lady Arabella, a strong-willed, noble woman who refuses to be controlled. Casimir kidnaps Arabella because he believes marrying someone from her powerful heroic bloodline will help him achieve his goals. He expects a submissive bride who will quietly accept her fate. Instead, Arabella immediately challenges him, demanding respect, freedom, and honesty. Having already endured years of imprisonment and manipulation by her father, she refuses to become anyone's possession. Forced into an uneasy marriage, the pair strike a bargain and begin navigating life together in Casimir's fortress. When circumstances require Casimir to actually court the woman he kidnapped, he carefully crafted villain persona that begins to crumble. His awkward attempts at romance lead to magical disasters, embarrassing misunderstandings, and plenty of chaos. As they spend more time together, both Casimir and Arabella discover hidden sides of each other. What begins as a marriage of convenience gradually develops into genuine affection, forcing them to confront their fears, ambitions, and the possibility of real love.

Tasha 6:59

Sounds like such a sweet story. So with that being said, let's see what we thought

Ratings And Spicy Romantasy Debate

Tasha 7:04

about it. Got on the rating system. We have cheers, sif, babysit, or send it back. Um, I'm gonna kick it off with a surprisingly cheers! Yes, okay, I'm gonna tell you this thing. It was so cute. I love a good rom-com. Like I'm here for it, and that's what it was to me. I actually was a little bit mad because there's a second book, and I was like, oh, let me go ahead and immediately read the second one, but it's not out yet. It's come out, it's just for a few months. It's not out for a little bit. Actually, I think probably by the time this episode drops, it's probably gonna be out. So it was not out at the time I was reading this, but by the time the episode drops, it's gonna be out. So when we do the live, maybe I will have already read it because giving TV am looking forward to it. I said it was it was very cute. Like I said, it was just like a little rom com. I love like the little push and pull, little, oh, will they, won't they? Um, oh my gosh, you're Kenry, you're so silly. You know, like, oh, you're so big and tough and rough. It was just like all of that. It was it was cute. Perhaps what did she read? I don't know. I don't know if it was the fantasy part. Okay, this is the thing. I don't really read it as like a fantasy. I read it like a little rom-com.

Lex 8:16

It's definitely a fantasy. Well, there was definitely Harway Land. All right, girls, magical people doing magical things.

Star 8:24

All right, girl. What did you think about the book? I'm thinking I read the wrong book. Sorry, thank God. Go ahead.

Lex 8:34

Okay, I I'm going to give it, I'm gonna do a Steph and I'm gonna do a 3.5, a cheer sit, sit cheers, whatever. Y'all know, fantasy girly. Anything fantasy, nine times out of ten, I'm going to love. This book was extremely long though. But the push and pull, like you were saying, very cute. It's a very spicy book. So we're gonna, I'm gonna take stay cute lightly, because there's nothing, there's it's mostly sexy, not like, oh, like it's oh, okay. Okay, Cashmere, okay. But yeah, it was just a little long, a little drawn out. It took a minute to actually get to the plot of the book to figure out what exactly they were trying to do. But overall, I enjoyed it and I will be reading the second one. So cheers set, sip cheers. All right, star. What you got?

Steph 9:27

Did you read the right book?

Star 9:28

I don't know. Because based on it, it don't matter, it's going back. I don't know what book they read. The book that I read is getting sent back all the way back. Y'all know how to go. Don't pass go, don't collect $200. Don't, I'm not gonna say don't get the book, but you know, get the book, read the book. You know what I'm saying? There's always they loved it. I don't even know if I read the right book.

Lex 9:49

Why didn't you like it?

Star 9:50

Whatever book I read. I didn't get to the sex part. Maybe that was maybe that was the problem. Which is crazy because I sent it back clearly before the sex started. Didn't get there. The rom-com part, the ooh, will he, won't he, will they, won't they? Didn't get to that part either. So I don't know. I don't know.

Lex 10:11

You read the wrong book.

Star 10:13

Maybe I read the wrong book. We'll compare notes as we go through the conversation, but again, whatever book I read, I'm sending it back.

Steph 10:20

So for me, I'm just gonna go ahead and give it a sip. It was long. If it was gonna be that length, I think it could have been wrapped up in one book. And it was a sip because it took me a couple of times to get back into the book. Like I'll read a couple of chapters, ooh, ooh, ooh, no, and then I'll tap out and then I have to get back into it. But it was good. It was a good book. It's a great read, writing, all of the good stuff. It was just a lot. And for it to be a part two, TBR, Cliff Notes, y'all let me know how how last. I'll let you know. I'll let you know.

Lex 10:55

Because I'll be reading shit.

Steph 10:56

Yeah. But it was a lot, it was a lot of sex in the book. I'm a fan. When did it other people 50% 51% 51% girl? It started at 50%. And it was a whole last 50. And it was like a whole 10, 20% of it every day. Tension was there from the beginning, though.

Tasha 11:15

Yeah.

Steph 11:15

I mean, there was always tension there, but yeah.

Tasha 11:18

Sexual tension was there from like jump. Yeah.

Steph 11:21

Yeah. It'll make some people blush. I was cool with it. Give me more, you know. That's how I am. I embrace it. Sexuality.

Lex 11:27

Slight work in my book, which is crazy because they was doing some stuff.

Steph 11:31

It was slight work for some of the stuff that I've read. Yes. Yeah. Yes. Who's getting us into the first discussion? That is me. Kick it out, man.

Lex 11:40

That is me. I'm getting distracted thinking of all the sex. All the sex. See what happens? You see what happens? All the things and the objects and the beings. It's yeah.

Steph 11:48

Lex with the Arabella in the book with all the with all the cheap blushing and the pearl clutching.

Lex 11:56

But I do love smud. Let's not. Anyways, the drink. Okay.

Steph 12:00

So rabbit hole.

Cocktail One And Kidnapped Demands

Lex 12:06

The black velvet sake teeny. So this has obviously our sake of the month with vodka chopin, which we loved. We loved in season one. So hopefully y'all love this cocktail. And then with some pomegranate juice and triple sex. I do love good martini. With that, cheers, ladies.

unknown 12:29

Cheers.

Lex 12:30

Sipping on our black velvet.

unknown 12:32

Yay.

Lex 12:34

I do that's good. I think I just don't like sake because it was not my fave.

Star 12:39

I can't even take. Honestly, all I taste is the pomegranate juice, really.

Lex 12:42

So be a little more heavy with the pomegranate.

Star 12:44

Maybe I like it. It's good. It's good. It's good. It tastes like a it's given Cosmo. Yes. For real. Yeah. Yeah.

Lex 12:53

Okay, getting into our discussion. So, keeping that headstrong vibe in mind. If you suddenly found yourself abducted by the realm's most notorious dark lord on a random Tuesday, what is the very first petty demand you would make of your captor?

Steph 13:15

Petty? Oh, gonna be petty.

Tasha 13:18

Kind of petty. Because she did make some demands of him. She was like, I'm not just gonna be around here willingly. Let me let me ask some things. What's huh? I'm about to be petty. I think again, I just would have been like, my demands would have been a little bit more on the freaky side. I was I was attracted to Casmere from the beginning. So maybe my I might have been a little bit different than Arabella. But I guess um might definitely would have had him go after my daddy because her daddy was a hot mess. So for sure, that would have been the first thing, like, okay, look, we can work some things out, but let me tell you this couple people I need you to handle. I need to take him out right now.

Steph 13:54

Pops is number one right now. She ain't even petty with it. Okay. She a gangster boo.

Lex 14:02

Oh, that's that's unreasonable. No, I think that's fine. I think that's fine. If it was Casimir, I probably would stick to the ones that Arabella had. So not to give too much away, but like she obviously was like, you're not forcing yourself on me. We're not doing that. And then Arabella had some powers that she was not able to mature while she was with her father. So she also demanded that he teach her how to use the powers and things like that. So I probably would have done that. I would have had told him to leave me alone with those shadows, though, because I didn't like that. That's weird. Don't touch me actually with those. Play with those shadows by yourself. By yourself. But yeah, I probably would have definitely done what was most beneficial to me since I'm you took me for a reason, so let's sweeten the deal for sure.

Steph 14:54

To piggyback with Lex. I mean, a lot of the things that he did, she did. Arabella was a strong-willed girl. She likes she was a strong-willed young lady. So a lot of the stuff that she did, I think I would have done that as well. The petty probably part would be in the bedroom where I would say, like, you can't be in the bed. Like, oh, you want to come to bed naked? Oh, come to bed naked. You can sleep on the couch too. I'm over here. This mine. So I think I would be a little bit more petty with his surroundings, making it my own because you took me away.

Lex 15:25

That's smart.

Tasha 15:26

Well, I mean, also would maybe would have had him do a little something. Like the little um, the little girl that was into him a little bit, and she was at the wedding and she was kind of like side-eyeing Arabella. I'd like, no, um, go ahead. Do a little something on her. Like, she's getting on my nerves. I don't like her.

Steph 15:40

Marana, Marana.

Tasha 15:41

I don't even know what her name was. I'm like, but yeah.

Star 15:45

He had a lot of little side pieces, actually. I probably would have demanded like the full-on royal treatment. All the perks and benefits, like you said, or somebody said, You can't kidnap me and take me out of my environment and think you're just going to, like, it's just gonna be whatever you want it to be. You know what I'm saying? So that's probably what I would have been. But who knows?

Lex 16:06

I hated it, so but now if I got kidnapped in real life, you're gonna have to either take me back or just take me out of here because I won't be. I don't wanna be. Yeah. I won't be. I don't want to be kidnapped in real life.

Tasha 16:18

I won't be. Please understand I am not gonna be a willing participant.

Steph 16:23

This is all fantasy. Right? They in the clouds, they lightning, and y'all are just floating in the clouds, like no, just yeah, rescuing people from towers and stuff like that.

Tasha 16:34

So it's all cute and fun, but no, real life, no, especially if my life was okay.

Lex 16:39

Her life was not great. So he kind of helped her out by rescuing her, but I like my life. Don't don't kidnap me.

Star 16:46

Don't kidnap me in real life.

Tasha 16:48

All right, then, ladies. Okay, well, let's go ahead. Let's move on to the second.

Shadow Play And Bad Boy Myth

Tasha 16:54

The second cocktail in question, I brought today a shadow play. No, Fatima Rodney with his little shadow, he will play.

Steph 17:03

Y'all know about the shadows.

Tasha 17:05

So the shadow play is made with, of course, the tycoon mixed with amaretto and orange juice. Let me know what you think. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. It's a little sweet. It is sweet.

Star 17:19

But I think we might get a little water now. I like that too, too. That amaretto in here. Yeah. I was hoping that they deserve it. The almer juice is orange juice. This amaretto. I like the amaretto in here, it's really good. I like that.

Lex 17:33

Okay, but thank you, ladies.

Star 17:35

Good job, Tasha.

Tasha 17:36

Good job, girl. You hate it? The shadow. No, actually, it was good. Let's see, it was a little sweeter than what I like. You know, I really like sweet drinks. And we have like the amaretto and the orange juice.

Steph 17:44

And the sake's already sweet.

Tasha 17:46

Yeah, you know, so it's like a little sweet for me, but it doesn't taste bad. I could I could do like one of them, but you know, I'm just trying to watch my sugar.

unknown 17:52

Yeah.

Tasha 17:53

Okay, so my question, so clearly, again, I was into the villain. He was in for me. Okay, so my question is considering Casimir's dark lord image and Arabella's attraction to him, which she undeniably had from the beginning. Do you think, as the songs go, okay, do good girls really like bad boys? Is that a thing? You know what I'm saying? Like, was that is that what, you know, I mean, we're all college educated, independent women, so all that, all the stuff. All the do we like a bad boy? What what did Wale, what the little song say? Um college girls. Oh, college girls I want to thug. You know what I mean? Is that do we do we really like bad boys?

Steph 18:28

For two minutes, girl. For two minutes. No, like I try I've been there, tried it. It's no, like at a younger age, it was like, no, it's not really worth it personally. But I feel Arabella, she was kidnapped. But then after she got to know him, is he really a villain? Like he's a villain, but there's a reason behind some of the things that he did. It's not like he was just like, oh, you're getting on my nerves. You're I'm gonna kill you or put you in the prison. Like there are things that warranted his villain side to come out. But no, no. He was definitely a villain.

Tasha 19:03

He was definitely a baby. He may have been showed her a little tender side and stuff, but um, no, he was definitely a villain. I wasn't scared of him.

Steph 19:14

I didn't get any of that.

Lex 19:17

His staff was scared of him.

Steph 19:20

His staff was scared, but like I think with her, she disarmed him in a way where it was always there. She was the one that just brought it out of him.

Tasha 19:29

Well, see, this is the this be the problem. That's the thing. So we all we do want a bad boy, and we always think we could change them. So that's it. But she didn't, but he changed her as well, though. I never wanted a bad boy. Really?

Star 19:39

No, girl, no. That's scary. I like her to be a little bit like no. You've been blushing the whole damn episode so far.

Steph 19:48

But here's the thing I like the little rough around the edges. But the bad boy was giving her playback. When the bad boy don't want to give you playback and he's playing with other play, but I don't know. I don't want the bad boy.

Lex 19:58

That's what I was gonna say. Like, it depends on what we mean by bad. Right. I think I don't think Casimir was a bad boy. He was powerful. And do I like a powerful man?

Star 20:10

Yes. Not power or sex.

Lex 20:12

Yes. That's what I was attracted to is yeah, the the power, the mysteriousness, but like he's really not for real. Like, yes, he's very powerful and wants like basically, weren't they just fighting for like the power of the world? Basically, he is a lot of magic, all the magic, all the magic in the world. So like he dressed up. He was a billy, he was a bad but he was super powerful though, by himself. Like, and that's what made him the dark lord was his power. If he didn't have his power, then he'd just be an like an honorary guy. But he was just like, you're in his childhood.

Steph 20:48

Girl, I'm taking you. Let's go. Make his childhood.

Lex 20:50

But did he? Because then he was like, I gotta woo her and I gotta make sure.

Steph 20:54

So like he had to he had to woo her for a reason because he wanted to get something. But then he actually fell for her.

Lex 21:02

Getting them pants.

Steph 21:03

Some goods. But like he he was trying to he was trying to woo her. But there was a to get what he wanted.

Lex 21:10

That's true.

Steph 21:10

So there was still selfishness from it. But then when he realized as he was continuing to woo her, there was things about her that he felt for. But he's never actually felt that way before. So for him, it's just it's new just as much as it for her. So for him, he was just like, I'm wooing her. And then there are things that he's realizing about her that he finds endearing and attractive. And so they both felt for each other.

Lex 21:36

It was honest to a degree. Once it was required of him, like I think I like that he was like, Whoa. Like when they were really about to go in there, he said, Hold on, I need to tell you some things first. And if you still want to, we can. So, like, there's a respect part of it too.

Steph 21:54

And that grew over time with them having multiple conversations.

Tasha 21:58

I still think that Tasha won a bad boy, y'all. I do. Again, I it I'm not trying to be like, I don't want I do not want like an asshole. The power thing is good, but you know, sometimes, you know, when you know sometimes Alvin, sometimes like he gets like a little snap. I'm like, oh, all right, Mrs. Holter, my bad. You know, let me sit my ass down.

Star 22:18

Wait a minute, because I'm so confused still. Because remember when we were talking about the episode from the beginning, Tasha has been like, no, he he was he was really like really Dark Lord. He was really a villain. And me and Stuff are like, but is he really though? He's I he is he really a villain villain, or is he just like 50-50? Tasha is really into this whole villain character.

Steph 22:45

I'm gonna let you have your side of the version. Good girls do not like bad boys. Is that what we're saying? They don't. I'm gonna go with no, no. It's nice to have for fun.

Lex 22:55

Okay, they shouldn't, but come on now. Or how about you can like bad boys as long as they're not bad to you.

Star 23:02

Yes.

Steph 23:03

That and that that's Nah, because if you're bad to others, then I can't.

Star 23:06

Or how about this? If you like bad boys, maybe you're not such a good fucking.

Lex 23:12

Well, yeah, I guess she did end up writing for him. That's a thing too.

Star 23:16

And so she, I guess inevitably was a villain at the end, too. People be out here, then representatives will be out here sometimes representing. So I'm just but I think her villainhood was warranted.

Lex 23:28

She went through some shit.

Steph 23:29

She did. She did.

Lex 23:30

I would be, I would want to. Even by your own father.

Steph 23:33

Your own father did things to you that is just diabolical, to where it was just like, I mean, and that for her to still come out with the how she was as a person says a lot.

Tasha 23:42

So okay. All right, y'all. Maybe it's just I'm only gonna speak for myself. Casimir.

Steph 23:49

No, you like what you like. Casimir was hot. Casimir was giving it to Tasha. He was cute.

Lex 23:57

He was hot.

Star 23:58

In my mind, he was. I think he was hot. I'm gonna read this version. This the this your version of the book, I'll read your version of the book. Because maybe I had the wrong version. He was hot.

Tasha 24:06

He was very confident.

Star 24:07

He was cute.

Tasha 24:08

He was cute. You alright? I mean, he's not my, you know. I don't even know if they described him. Just in but in my mind, he was well, they said he had dark features, at least, right?

Star 24:18

Like dark hair.

Steph 24:19

Yeah, dark hair. Dark dark.

Star 24:20

I'm gonna tell you where it probably went wrong for me. Like when I think about Dark Lord, the only Dark Lord I visualize is Valdemark.

Lex 24:29

Well, yeah, go ahead and get that. Because he was not.

Star 24:31

So let me just say let me just put it out there. It was not I think that's where it went wrong for me. This might do better for me as a movie or, you know, like a series. It may do better for me. I mean Dark Lord, I think, and I get sexy, attractive villains, but Dark Lord, I can only visualize the only Dark Lord that I know is Lord Voldemort.

Steph 24:55

And I mean, it kind of gives me like Wednesday. Like, it's not like it's not like they're bad people. They just their jokes are not funny to me. I'm not gonna put piranhas in a pool of water, you know what I'm saying? For to come bite people, but they have dark humor.

Lex 25:14

Yeah.

Steph 25:14

And so after I read the book, and then you know, I was like, you know what? It gives me a version of Wednesday with you know the potions and the and he literally configures darkness, like he controls shadow.

Lex 25:26

Correct. So he's like literally over darkness, a dark lord. So I love Wednesday. Yeah, give the book another try, or at least make it to the set.

Steph 25:39

50%, girl, 50%. Like chapter, 50%. I don't know what chapter, but 50% into the book. All right, let's get into the third discussion.

Black Rose Bouquet And Dating War Crimes

Steph 25:51

The third cocktail is called the Black Rose Bouquet, and it is our sake with a little peach pear nectar. I want to say peach for whatever because I do love peach, but it's pear nectar with some Saint Germain ediflower liquor, and then just a little splash of lime juice. It's a sweet high floor combination of sake, pear nectar, and Saint Germain. It completely embodies the hilarious fumbles and magical chaos that happens when a powerful villain actually tries to plan a romantic evening at the Black Rose Fortress.

Lex 26:28

So those dang black roses.

Steph 26:31

Oh my goodness. He was horrible with that. He was trying his best.

Lex 26:37

Now, this one I do like. It reminds me of a lici martini almost. It does the pear.

Star 26:43

I think it's the pear.

Tasha 26:44

It helps. Maybe it's like just I really like this actually.

Star 26:48

Maybe it's the elder flower flower. It's both.

Tasha 26:50

Okay.

Star 26:50

Yes. This was this is my favorite. It's the pear and the the um Saint Germain for sure.

Lex 26:55

Oh, that's very floral.

Steph 26:57

It's very refreshing. Light. Okay. I would do it. Yeah, I would do that again. I would do it.

Star 27:03

Okay, yeah.

Steph 27:04

I'll put it in my rotation.

Tasha 27:06

Sounds like the favorite of the whoop whoop. I think Steph gets like the favorite drink a lot. Stephanie? Steph is like a little resonant mixedology.

Steph 27:16

Google is my friend. But no, I just, you know, put some like I think sometimes you just don't want too much sweet. When I start seeing about five juices in a cocktail, I'd be like, I gotta step back from it because it's that's too much. Too much going on. Okay. So for this discussion on the topic of romantic missteps, what do you think is the ultimate dating war crime committed in this book? And do you think a grand romantic jester can ever truly make up for the magical dinner disaster?

Lex 27:50

Do you want to tell the people a little bit about what the dinner disaster was? He tried to give her like a little, like a love potion.

Steph 27:57

Aphrodisia.

Tasha 27:58

Yes, the aphrodisiac. Yeah. I don't know. And then, but he didn't know that she was allergic to it. Like, and so it made it just makes her go to sleep.

Steph 28:06

Yeah, it's the opposite. So it's supposed to make her more sensual and frisky. Yeah, and it made her sleepy.

Tasha 28:15

And so she admitted, so she knew that he had put something in her drink, and so then that was a whole thing. So he roofied her?

Lex 28:24

Yeah, yeah. That was before or after the sex?

Tasha 28:28

Before.

Steph 28:28

Before. This was before she found out.

Tasha 28:31

It was before he wooed her.

Steph 28:32

Yeah, he was he was wooing her, but he tried to help.

Star 28:36

Yeah. So he wooed her and then there was sex. Not he drugged her and then there was sex.

Steph 28:40

Yeah. No, so he wooed her. He tried, he tried with the aphrodisiac, and then several maybe weeks later, I mean, because it was like a running joke between the two of them. She was like, Oh, do you want to put some of that more stuff into it for that aphrodisiac so I could just pass out? Like she was making fun of him and he was embarrassed by it. She forgave him. She did forgive him.

Tasha 29:00

She knew that he was that he was um sorry about it. He explained itself. Oh, okay. So he wasn't being a creep.

Lex 29:06

No, I don't think he was trying to like take advantage of her.

Star 29:09

He was just trying to like get her loosen her up a little bit. Yeah. He was trying to get her in her sexy mood.

Tasha 29:14

She said, I'm going to sleep. When your man buy you that one extra drink, but go ahead, get you another one. Get another margarita. Go ahead. It's like that. You know, you'd be like, one margarita. And somebody tells you three margaritas. That's what he was just trying to three margaritas her. And it didn't work out. She quite quite littered. Which sometimes that happens.

Steph 29:31

Sometimes after the third margarita, it surely can.

Star 29:34

Take too long to get to the destination.

Steph 29:38

But he did try to, he did try to make up for it by getting her a dragon as a pet. Yes.

Lex 29:45

Nyx.

Steph 29:46

Nyx. And it was cute. She loved Nyx. Super cute. It was cute, but it was like a dragon, like a dragon.

Lex 29:54

But she loved it.

Steph 29:55

She lived. And there was a connection. There was a connection.

Tasha 29:57

It's an equivalent of like a little puppy. I mean, sure.

Steph 30:01

Sure. Sure.

Tasha 30:03

Okay, bring it to the city. The question is, can you forgive them when they do something? No. Like that's not the question. I thought that was a question.

Steph 30:11

No. No, it was what ultimate dating dating war crime committed.

Lex 30:16

In this book. Yes.

Steph 30:17

But then I thought the follow-up was what was Do you think the grand romantic jester can truly make up for the magical dinner disaster?

Tasha 30:25

Isn't that why I just said it?

Steph 30:26

Yeah.

Tasha 30:26

Thank you.

Steph 30:27

Um spicy, Tasha. Tasha's talking, y'all.

Tasha 30:33

I don't think he had any like other missteps. I mean, that was he fumbled that one for sure, and he was apologetic,

Lies Power And Patriarchy

Tasha 30:40

but I feel like I don't really see where he really did anything. But don't ask me because I mean I love him. So I'm like, he was perfect. He lied. So the thing is he Steph said he's a liar.

Star 30:50

Tasha said he was the perfect villain. He wasn't honest about his information.

Steph 30:55

There was always a mission. There was always, there is always a mission in regards to what his plans were. And granted, he kidnapped her. It was his plan. It's not like she had to be in the know of it, but she wanted to be in the know. So the thing is, you guys are building a relationship, and all she asked from you is just to be truthful. Like she basically wanted a partner. Like over time, like in the beginning, it was just like she didn't want to go back home, but she didn't want to stay there either. But if I'm going to stay here, I want at least a little bit of freedom. And so over time, they got to know each other. And then he realized, okay, she's not, she's a great person. So he started telling her more information, but he still kept things away. And so the thing is, if you were more honest with her, she could be, she just wanted to be in the note to help versus you just telling her what to do. Once again, patriarchy. So it was just like, you know, for for her, it was like, just let me know what you need. Even what they needed to activate the heirloom, you know, it was like, why didn't you just go ahead and tell me that to get us there? Not saying she would have done it to get them to activate the heirloom. But it would have been nice to know. But it would have been nice to know. And so I think with Casimir, but he didn't know. Like you didn't have, I mean, all of they both didn't have great upbringings. They didn't have role models. It's it's a fantasy. Once again, you're in the clouds in a castle.

Tasha 32:21

I'm in the middle of nowhere. Um, so it's so you wanted more open, honest communication.

Steph 32:25

Yeah, but the thing is, I understand you're not gonna get it on the first day. You know, he kidnapped her. I don't expect him to divulge everything to her the first day. So yeah.

Lex 32:35

And I think I also like the element, I think, because with books like this, with this type of storyline, like the Stockholm syndrome type storyline, it can get a little like, oh, this is weird. But I did like, I never felt like throughout any of this book that he was forcing her to do anything. Like, I truly believed if she was like, nah, fuck all that, he would have said, Oh, we gotta figure something else out then, because she's not going for this. But I also really liked the element of giving her the power of knowing when somebody was lying. I thought that was really cool to give that power to the woman lead of the book. So like she could not be led astray, even if he tried. She was like, nah, you're I don't know what you're lying about, but no, but you're lying. So no. And so I really I enjoyed that part too. And I think that tripped him up. Once he figured out she could do that, he was like, Oh man, like, I guess I gotta be honest now about what's going on.

Steph 33:36

And he was honest to a degree where he only gave a little bit because he wasn't ready to tell everything. Because just because you know that I'm lying or know that I could give you more information doesn't mean I have to give you more information.

Tasha 33:48

So don't expect me to just But don't you feel some of that he was holding back information, you know, in the in the um ideal that he was protecting her. Like, you know, he was like Like with her dad and stuff. Yeah, you know, he was like, hey, you know, there was different times where he clearly was doing that, you know, a thing where men be trying to protect you, they're only gonna tell you so much and this and that.

Steph 34:08

So No, tell me about my daddy girl.

Tasha 34:10

Protecting her from what?

Steph 34:12

Because of what her father did. She didn't know fully what her was.

Tasha 34:16

He didn't want her, she didn't want he didn't want her to know like how bad her dad was. He didn't want her to know like actually some of the risk that they were under, like, you know, the people gonna be coming for her and stuff, and all these different things. It was that sort of protective thing, you know, and he gave her just like on a need-to-know basis, which, yeah, that's probably what she needed to know a lot. And he he could have been completely open and honest.

Lex 34:38

Her dad was just using her as a pawn basically her whole life. That's why he was keeping her locked up like Rapunzel. Yes, yes, didn't want her to use her powers, didn't help her mature her powers at all.

Steph 34:51

She was just trying to and then he was patriarchy, oh, highest bidder for my child because he and he was making deals with different kings to get something more for himself versus his priority, which should have been his daughter. And her mother died at a very young age. Yeah, so that that was never and we don't really know the Dark Lord's Casimir story. We know there's some things about his mom and how his mom treated him, but we don't know, like I nothing was mentioned about the daddy. I swear the daddy is the shadow king, but nothing was mentioned about the daddy, only about the mom. So even his upbringing was very dark. Where with her, she at least had her mom until she was eight with compassion. But then after her mom was gone, her dad was just ruthless. And he knew that she had powers, but she was never able to explore her powers to the fullest extent. So he would keep her in a tower and these magical ruins in the house to diminish her power.

Tasha 35:52

But yeah, it's like you see, yeah. And that was, I think though, a lot of things, a lot of questions are gonna be answered in the second book. That's why I really can't wait to read the second book.

Steph 36:04

But again, um I might, I might, but let's see how many pages it is, girl. Tiffany. It's probably things. Tiffany, if it's over 500, I don't know, but we'll see.

Tasha 36:13

Oh, goodness gracious.

Star 36:15

All right, ladies, is well that sounds interesting.

Steph 36:20

I'm just saying it was, I mean, I'll read it. Yeah, no, girl, it was 500 but it was 500 bread.

Star 36:26

Yeah, nah. Nah.

Lit Challenge And Next Read

Star 36:30

Well, before we close, you know the vibe. We always save space for something to sip with, to sit with, sip on, or carry into your week. A lit challenge to move you, a top for thought to ground you, or a memorable quote from the book that lingers like a good sip. For this episode, the lit challenge is to channel your inner Arabella in a world full of villains and chaotic expectations. Stop playing nice to keep the peace. Demand exactly what you want out of your life this month, and don't back down. Even if you have to look a metaphoric dark lord right in the eye to get it. Point blank in the period. All right. That's it for this episode of Black Girls Live Podcast, where fine women, fine literature, and fine libations always meet. To the words that found you, the poor that held you, and the version of you that showed up to listen. Remember to share us on your favorite social media platforms or make room for someone else at the table. We will be back next month with The Intercepts, a terrifying top tier clinical horror novel by TJ Payne. So that's what's next. So join us. Until then, read boldly and say slowly. Cheers.