Hi friends.

Welcome to novel hours bookish gossip session.

We're talking pop culture and all the things I'm Victoria from Biblio lifestyle.

I'm Laura and I'm Francesca from Under the Covers.

So we are three friends.

We go live every Thursday.

You can also catch us this Thursday at 12 noon Eastern time for our

regular live show, but we're doing that every other Monday gossip sesh

where we're just going to catch up on everything new in the bookish community.

In pop culture and just, in general at large, we want this to be a

light, fun, frothy conversation, but we might get into it a little bit.

So if you have opinions, we'd love to hear from you.

Please share them in the comments.

If you're watching live, if you're watching the replay, we'd

love to hear from you as well.

So replay crew, share your opinions in the comments as well.

And also, if you have a topic you want us to cover, we would

love to hear from you too.

Okay.

So let's get into things.

We're going to start with something light and frothy until, everyone

comes on in one big news headline this week is the fact that bookshop.

org is now selling eBooks.

So just in case you're not familiar, bookshop.

org is an online marketplace.

They sell books and essentially every time you make a purchase, a percentage

of that goes towards supporting indie bookstores now in the bookstores can

open their own store storefronts.

So they can get their affiliate revenue and then content creators like us can

also create an affiliate profile and also get affiliate revenue from them.

So this is their latest announcement eBooks.

And I have some thoughts.

I'm just going to share it real quick.

I honestly don't know where this is going.

I hope it works out.

As a content creator, let's just say bookshop.

org doesn't really work for me.

Okay.

Most of y'all click on Amazon links instead of bookshop links.

I shared bookshop exclusive links for two and a half years.

Then I started sharing Amazon links and I was like, Oh, This

is what I was missing out on.

Look, I know we love all indie bookstores and we want them to survive, but I just

don't know if the online support is there.

That's maybe me being a pessimist or a cynic, but Francesca, what

do you think about bookshop.

org selling eBooks?

So same as what you just said.

I really hope that this takes off because I would like to see some.

Diversity in the sense of how authors can make money.

I think that right now book sales in general are dominated by Amazon.

So if you're not on Amazon, you're not making money basically.

So, and that is the bulk of the income for most authors.

So I think that's also a difficult place for readers to be able to support

the authors that they want to support.

But if the bulk of their money is coming through Amazon,

it kind of like forces them.

to be exclusive with Amazon for some of them, especially when it comes to

stuff like Kindle Unlimited, which a lot of the books that maybe Laura

and I read more are Kindle Unlimited books for the majority of it.

So I would love to see a different platform that can start rivaling that.

And I really hope that this is the one.

I do like bookshop.

org as a company.

I think that, same like you, I was sharing the bookshop.

org links and nobody was clicking on them, same with Libro.

fm. They do also support indie bookstores for an alternative to Audible.

And you guys are not clicking on those links.

So I would love to see people support programs that also

support in the bookstores more.

So I really want this to do well.

But yeah, I don't know.

Yeah, about how it's going to go.

What about you, Laura?

So I got some FAQs about this rollout.

So it works in an app.

It's not, does not work on your Kindle because obviously Amazon

doesn't let you work non Amazon products on your Kindle eRing.

E Ink, Paperwhite, or whatever it is.

So if you want to have an E Ink and want to read those ebooks, I would suggest

using Books which is an alternative.

Kindle Paperwhite, that you can use other apps so that's an alternative.

In terms of indies Amazon, actually, if you have any indies that are

in Kindle Unlimited, they're not going to be an ebook, and they're

not going to be in Bookshop.

org.

They're using IngramSparks and Direct to publish so they're looking for

a pathway for indies to publish.

So hopefully that, but Ingrid sparks has its own issues.

So it's not the most.

author centric or supportive.

So it should be interesting for Indies.

There are some deals, some sales and deals similar to what the Kindle sales are.

So they're competitive, like publisher said those sales prices.

So we, you can get some good deals.

So it is, hopefully it's an alternative.

I think it's for mainly for traditional published books, which

is what's a bookshop has been for.

So it's a big five, maybe some small presses.

But if you're looking for indie authors, at least in the area where

I focus on, which is thrillers and Romance you're not gonna find those

books and that's why I stopped using it because I wasn't able to find books

That my readers were looking for.

Yeah I actually have a question also in terms of an alternative I've always seen

Kobo as a possible alternative, but, and they also have their own e reader.

So like you could get the Kobo e reader and you could get on the Kobo platform

and buy the eBooks through there.

They also have a subscription service.

So I find it interesting that something that's already very robust and well

put together hasn't really taken off.

So I don't know if an alternative, going for like a bookshop that org now, which is

really, like you said, it's not going to have the variety, at least for the Indies.

I don't know how that's going to play out, which is why I think that Amazon continues

to have the monopoly that it does.

Yeah, like Google has resources because they're owned by Rakuten.

So they're, it's owned by a big corporation.

If you buy ebooks at Walmart, They're actually Kobo ebooks.

That's what you get from Walmart.

So there is actually it's a big course, a bookshop is kind of

like the little corporation that's trying to just, buy the Goliath.

But yeah, it's so hard.

Kobo is well known in Canada.

That's how you get your library books from Canada.

There's actually internationally, there's a multiple place.

And hopefully it's a better alternative for the unlimited plus.

I know a lot of authors who have been kicked out of Kindle

limited are moving to Kobo Plus.

It does give you, you pay for free.

It's cheaper than Kindle limited.

At the same time, you get unlimited books you can borrow.

Right.

Yeah.

Well, needless to say, eBooks.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

If you're watching live, we'd love to hear from you.

Replay crew.

We'd love to hear from you as well.

I just feel that some of these companies need to consolidate against amazon

because everyone independently doing their own thing You know it creates

fractions and what we need is something big to really if you want to take on

amazon You need something big also.

I forgot to mention at the top bookshop.

org Is the brainchild and it's from the american booksellers association so, you

know just to give you an understanding of who is behind all the things All right.

So next up we want to talk about Rebecca Yaros and Onyx Storm.

So on Vulture, there was this article, the rise of Rebecca

Yaros, mother of dragon smut.

Now I know people have some thoughts about the language, smut and it being used.

People also have opinions on Rebecca Yaros herself.

People have opinions on the books and the series.

Regardless of all those opinions.

I feel there's one thing that's extremely undeniable Her books sell they are flying

off the shelves like nobody's business publishers can't print them fast enough

it doesn't matter special edition regular.

It's just people are buying the books.

They're loving the books and somehow they connect with it.

I would love to hear from you guys watching if you're watching live

You're watching the replay too.

Are you reading?

This series?

How do you feel about Rebecca Yarrow's, you what are your thoughts but also fran

you and I have been talking and there's like a history Behind word usage and

how they're marketing things right now and you know It to me, it's a little

concerning, but I'm also wondering why, like, why lead with this foot?

what do you think?

So the first thing I'm going to say is that actually I'm personal.

I haven't read the books and I personally haven't read Rebecca Yarrow's.

However, I have I have actually worked with Rebecca Yarrow's in, years

before, like she's not a new author.

So I am super happy to see that her hard work throughout the years Has really paid

off in seeing her have something that's really successful right now So like from

someone that's been in the book community for a while, and I have seen her, Chug

along at her career like this is not an instant success kind of author So I can

really appreciate and I give her all the props and it just it really makes

you happy when you see somebody That's worked really hard Get somewhere and

have something finally has the result.

That being said the word smut I know that the book talk community has

taken the word smut and has turned the kind of the sex positivity of it all.

But the problem that I see with it from someone that's been around for a really

long time and has seen The dissing on the genre itself of romance as a whole,

people have fought really hard to get recognition and get kind of see the

genre seriously for what it is that is not just about the sex scenes, whether

they have a lot of sex scenes or not.

And there is a whole subgenre of romance that is fully like it's

packed with the sex scenes, you can go for erotica or erotic romance and

that's, that's where you go for that.

But to just generalize a whole genre that may just have I have no idea how

many sex scenes are in these books, but I don't think it's a lot because

that's not how Rebecca Yarrows writes.

So to see especially such a large publication reducing a book that probably

is It has a lot of world building and all of this other stuff, like they

would never reduce a book by, I don't know, like a Game of Thrones types

book and reduce it to the sex scenes.

But they do that with romance by just throw, throwing that word in there.

So I think it takes away from the merits of the author and what they're writing

and the work that they're putting into it by just calling it dragon smut.

So I also want to just kind of throw in a little thing in here, like

the publishers are doing it too.

And for me, like they're using it to market the book part of me saying

it's because they want to kind of get the tick tock community on the

book community on board, but it's not just, the readers who are doing it.

Clearly mass media is doing it.

It's in the headline.

Publishing is doing it.

Marketing professionals are doing it.

So I don't know.

It has me curious.

What do you think, Laura?

I think this is just I think it's hard because this series is being

an entry level of what Sade Massey used to do for fantasy and romanticy.

This is a new series that getting new readers into.

This pipeline of reading books and it's reading the guilty pressures.

It's like it's accepting that you're reading something that

doesn't sound like literary fiction.

And it's just it's a, they call it guilty pressure months, moderate

run Renaissance and stuff like that.

Just to tell them, baby, this is mainly female readers who are reading it.

So it's misogyny and patriarchy happening in these places.

I did read Fourth Wing.

It was fine.

I did not decide not to continue with the rest of the series.

I have friends who are rereading it multiple times and finding comfort in

the graphic audio and finding comfort in the audios and getting Onyx Torrents.

And so it's really fun to see this level of good stuff happening to the same level

that we had with Harry Potter back in the day, or Twilight, it's just the same idea.

It's just going to that place of midnight releases, and having parties, and

having conversations, and having a place to have connection with one another.

So, it's the series that's happening, but you know, it's

recycled drama over and over again.

I agree with definitely recycled, but let us know if you're watching

live again, let us know your thoughts on the Rebecca Yaros of it all.

The books the way they're marketing the books and just

everything revolving the series.

Before I move on to the next topic, I do want to shout out Aaron F. Aaron mentions.

I do love my Kobo and also followed up with totally agree about consolidation.

I'm not an unlimited person.

But I do see a lot on Kobo's similar program.

So yeah, I'm of the same view.

Listen, it's all Holly and Jolly to have an idea and want to do something

and, use the existing platform.

But I think it's also worthy to reach out and kind of collaborate with

other businesses because one business isn't going to take down Amazon.

It's gotten too big, too over too long.

I mean, Amazon's been around like a hot minute.

Something new isn't going to take down a company who's been in existence.

Hold on.

Let me do the math It would be like getting up close to 30 years.

No Like they really were the ones That drove the ebook industry

and where the birth of self publishing for indie authors.

So it's hard to compete.

So really, if anything is going to compete, it has to be a group effort.

It has to be like a one thing.

And you got to think of how are people going to be reading it?

Like it's got to be something where it's easy, there's a device and

everything connects and everything works.

So, yeah, there's a lot of logistics and yeah, I see if there was one competitor,

it has Walmart money, another big corporation, it has Rakuten money, it has

and it's known internationally, so it's basically getting the American market,

and I think that's the hardest part is getting the American market to buy into

this, change the way you do things, yeah, and you also have to make it easy.

So, if you're just joining us, welcome, this is all bookish lunchtime chats.

Welcome to novel hour.

This is all gossip session.

We go live every other Monday just to talk about all things in the

bookish community, news, gossip, pop culture, and all the things.

Again, if you're just joining us, we're talking about bookshop.

org now selling eBooks, catch the replay.

If you're just joining us, but we talked about that.

We also talked about Rebecca Yarrow's and just how her books are really

taking the publishing world by storm readers by storm and just the

response, both from a media perspective using the word smart and publishers

and marketing and all the above.

So we're going to get into some book to screen adaptations.

This is something that I personally saw and it's the announcement of the cast.

For tony adiemi's children of blood and bone.

These are just some of the folks.

Okay on the cast now i'm blanking on their names, but we have like idris elba

what's my girl's name who just did wicked?

Viola davis, you know to me just some amazing people.

I'm really excited for the cast.

However people had opinions About the main character not looking like how the

main characters described in the book.

I'm not going to prolong this too long.

I'm just going to say I'm just glad to see a whole bunch of black

people being cast for the film.

She also mentioned that she's also going to get even more

Nigerian folks involved as well.

So I think it's really exciting.

And I think as a person who has been a bookish purist for a long time.

I'm recently getting into adaptations.

One of the things with watching adaptations is recognizing that what

is in the book won't necessarily match up with what we see on screen.

So if the storyline is also kind of changing, I think we also need to be a bit

open minded about the actors and actresses and just folks playing these roles.

I was really bothered the fact that she wasn't the right skin tone.

Like she's in the right shade of black.

People ain't saying she's not black, but they're just saying

she's not the right shade.

And that really bothered me.

I know it's something within the black community, we have to work

through ourselves, not discounting everybody else having an opinion.

But needless to say I'm happy with the cast.

I am okay.

And I'd love to hear y'all's opinions on it as well.

If you're excited for it, if you've read the book and the series or

if you're going to get into it before the production is made.

Yeah, i'd love to hear from you guys.

But did you all see this online?

I know this was a me thing.

You saw it online laura.

Yeah, I saw it online and i'm You know, everyone's gonna have an opinion Just I

have an opinion about Little Mermaids.

Oh, that's a good one!

I love Little Mermaid.

Yes!

Everyone has an opinion about casting, and especially in this political undertone

where people are coming out of the woodwork, coming out fully themselves.

People are wild.

People are wild.

But I think in general, also, people that are readers have very strong

opinions about book adaptations and what characters to read.

Are supposed to look like in their mind anyway So like you're dealing

with both of those things in one which is really difficult Yeah,

it's really I never read the book.

So I have No, I get it and look fun fact y'all I love rebecca I believe all

roads lead back to rebecca by daphne du maurier I have Never watched an

adaptation and I was actually chatting to someone in the comments on social

and i'm like You I'm challenging myself.

One, I want to reread it again.

Yes, I'm that person.

But I also want to actually watch the adaptation.

I know in my brain, I am what's the word?

I am, I have the characters in my head too, which is why I've been fearful.

It's going back to me being, a once upon a time purist.

And I didn't want to ruin that because Rebecca has been in my head for years.

Okay, it's coming up on a 30 year relationship we've been so I don't

want to ruin it so I understand that but I also understand the

reactions also want to shout out erin.

for chatting with us in the comments Erin says so excited about Adi Yemi's movie.

I am too.

I am so excited.

It's going to be a good old time.

It really is.

And everyone's going to have an opinion.

Okay.

They're going to have an opinion.

Erin also had a question, so I want us to address it.

I think this is probably Laura's wheelhouse and Fran.

I would love to know your favorite sources for finding out about good indie books

without relying upon Amazon's marketing.

So there's a couple of places I would suggest looking at influencers book

talk is a good place to look for, but just look out for what they're

recommending beyond the big titles.

So there's a lot of it, like they'll say the twisted series, or they'll

say the stuff, but they'll be like books, like similar and a lot of

times they'll share those influencers.

Influencers do help with that, with the marketing.

Facebook, it's surprisingly if you joined a Facebook or space in your

favorite niche, And if they were a trope, they're actually plenty of Facebookers,

and you can ask for recommendations.

If you're like Chibi, if you're like Mafia, I've discovered like little

known authors, like baby authors friends, like connect with people that

actually have a similar reading taste.

Whether it's online, on communities, like you can say, see Goodreads,

you can find, Storygraph.

I don't think Storygraph has Goodreads, but Goodreads places like Instagram,

Booktop, and follow those people, or just start to get recommendations,

start to compete for those.

Like those, like that content, and you'll get more content from that person.

Yeah.

And actually, I'm going to add a place that I really love is Reddit.

I was just going to say that!

Reddit has great recommendations, and a lot of those are indie books as well.

And you're going to really get feedback as well.

So, you can either post your questions or just browse.

Just go on whatever Reddit board, it's whatever you're looking for.

Or just search on Google for something that you're looking for.

And at Reddit at the end, you're going to find lots of books.

Plus, I mean, minor plug, but you can subscribe to our newsletters.

We're always recommending

indie books.

Laura and Francesca recommend the most indie books.

I really don't as much.

So I can't even say subscribe to me, but subscribe to what to read next.

Sign up for sub stack and also the under the covers community.

They do share a lot.

I was just going to chime in and say, read it.

Laura introduced me to Facebook groups.

So now I'm starting to search like Facebook groups and stuff like that.

And you do find people going down the rabbit hole.

So, yeah, lots of, I hardly ever rely on Amazon marketing though.

Like it's so rare for me to pick up a book.

I have to be like just in the right mood and it just catches me like off guard.

And I'm like, Oh yeah, that sounds good.

Otherwise, I would never pick up something just because I see it like this is

what you would like next on Amazon.

So, yeah, for sure.

All right, guys, we have lots of topics.

We want to run down with you all.

If you're just joining us, we covered bookshop.

org now selling ebooks.

We talked about Rebecca Yaros, Onyx Storm and her whole series.

We just wrapped up Tony Adeyemi children of blood and bone and now

we're really going into the drama Okay, Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni.

I feel like This is the what's the guy's name again?

Something Depp and Amber Heard.

I kind of feel Johnny Depp.

Johnny Depp Thank you.

I kind of feel like This is all consuming, kind of like that.

And we haven't even hit the courthouse yet.

Every minute there's something else being dropped from voice notes,

text messages and all the things.

I mean, I'm of the view.

I'm really trying to reserve my judgment until one, we get more information

and we get closer to the time.

But if you're watching live, I'd love to hear from you.

Like, how are you just feeling on the surface right now again?

Okay, we're listening we're watching we're not really judging but what are

some of the feelings bubbling up on the surface If you're watching live,

we'd love to hear from you replay crew.

We'd love to hear from you as well We also want to throw in colleen hoover

as well because this is also colleen hoover's adaptation And needless

to say in the wake of things first colleen hoover was like all gung ho.

And look, by the way, we want we are team believe women because men are trash.

Okay.

Let's be very clear about that.

But now Colleen Hoover is nowhere to be found on social media.

Some folks are speculating.

Is she retiring?

Is she just going to disappear?

What is going on?

But one thing we know she's not on socials, the retirement

question that is up in the air.

So we'd love to know your thoughts, but let's start with Justin and Blake.

I'm going to tell you all we're in for a long ride.

First of all, I think the court case is next year.

What March or something or May?

I don't remember one of those months.

It's an M so it's March or May.

So we have all the 2025 to get through with these people before

we even get to a courthouse.

So it's going to be a while now, if you're into astrology, I wanted

to pull up the birth charts, but this morning life has been lifing.

Blake is a Virgo and Blake has a lot of Virgo in her chart.

And I know I've kind of been hinting at this or last week when we were

promo ing come to the gossip session today, if you know anything about a

Virgo, but more importantly, a Virgo who has so many Virgo in their chart,

she's going to stick with this.

She's going to ride it to the end.

And my conspiracy theory is her husband was butthurt And he's

the driving force behind this.

I don't think she's a hundred percent behind this.

That's my conspiracy theory.

Alleged.

You don't know for a fact.

That's my conspiracy theory.

But what I do know about a Virgo is she's never letting this go.

She's going to ride this into the train.

And Justin Baldoni has a lot of Capricorn in his chart.

Okay.

And I know a Capricorn, I'm a Capricorn, and he is not going to let this one go.

He is going to turn over every stone because.

He wants to prove his innocence.

I think I've granted Francesco.

You're my other astrology friend.

What are you feeling about this whole thing?

I mean, on the astrology, 100 percent what you just said, I think both of

this both of the sides are going to take this to the end, which I love.

I mean, we want to know all the details.

So please do take it to the end.

Okay.

So I may be, I don't know if you guys read the book, but I may be the

only one here that read the book.

I don't know, okay.

So I was actually excited when I heard that this was going to be

made into a movie because I actually appreciated the book for what it

was, which was a story that reflected the side of domestic violence,

the victims of domestic violence.

And I thought that it could have been such an empowering moment to bring light to the

subject, to bring healing to the subject.

And also.

It could have been a great opportunity for maybe a woman that is in that

situation, see the movie and maybe it would give her the strength to

seek help and all of these things.

So coming from the perspective of the premiere of the movie and what

happened and how The movie was marketed.

It left such a bad taste in my mouth that I have not watched the movie.

I probably will not watch the movie.

So that's the first thing where that I was really disappointed with this whole thing.

And the more things come out with this lawsuit, it really shows you

that we could have had that we could have had the real depth to what the

book and what the story was about.

Had this not gone into this Hollywood.

disaster situation.

So that's disappointing because the essence of why the book was written and

why the movie should have been made and the purpose of it was diluted and lost.

So that was Not good.

And then the other thing is there's been a lot of, I was fully like, okay, so

when she first filed her lawsuit, okay, fully behind her, blah, blah, blah.

That was me.

But you know, the more things are coming out, I'm like, and like you said, this is

really not looking good either for Ryan Reynolds, because there's even things

coming out about his Deadpool movies.

That I am just like, wow.

So this is how, this is a pattern of behavior.

And I don't know.

I think that this is just going to completely crash their careers.

Oh, and that's another thing with the Virgo.

They are going to crash and burn.

They're going to take, listen, we are going to watch Blake self destruct.

I'm so sorry.

I don't want to self destruct.

I'm telling you, she's going to take it, but I do think he's

also a driving force behind it.

I also want to say, yeah, when she filed her lawsuit, a hundred percent team,

Blake, I'm starting to question, which is why I'm saying, you know what, let me

just wait until I get more information.

I do also want to say, cause I was explaining it to my husband.

He's what is going on?

Cause he's really not glued in.

And when I was explaining the dynamic, he, the first thing he said, well, he

is her boss, I was like, yes, but then I inserted this dynamic, which I know is

something he can relate to with his job.

I'm sure some of y'all watching can relate to this too.

So you have a job, right?

And this is more common if you work with, private businesses and small businesses.

So you get this job and you're like this shop manager.

Okay.

And you know who the owner is.

Cause again, this is a little mom and pop business.

You know who the business owner is.

And then one day the business owner's son comes to work

for the business or daughter.

Let me use proper agendas.

The daughter comes to work for the business.

Now you're the manager and you're in charge of the daughter.

Now, technically on paper, you are the manager.

However, you are very full aware.

This is your boss's daughter.

Yeah.

So even though she is an employee, right.

And technically you're the manager, which means, the power imbalance, like

he's the boss, but because she's a daughter, that power imbalance is off.

Because of that relationship, I use that analogy to explain.

I was explaining to my husband that Blake Lively, yes, Justin Baldoni is

the boss and Blake Lively is employee.

Make no mistake about that.

However, she's like the boss's daughter because of all the connections she has.

Like being married to Ryan Reynolds is no joke.

And Taylor Swift being your best friend, also like you are pushing a weight here.

And I can't even imagine just all the other people.

And when I heard that voice note, which by the way was cringe, and I

actually should have played it for my husband and asked him like, how would

you feel if someone, well, I know he would be like, this is inappropriate.

I know that.

So yeah, I shouldn't even say that.

He would definitely say it's inappropriate.

But I also heard someone who sounded desperate, but like I said, I am gonna

wait before I pass judgment but clearly I'm judging right now cuz But then also

after the voice note he sent a long ass message to Ryan himself Yes And

then that also was a little bit like, you could tell that this is somebody

that really needed the big celebrities to stay on board and stay everything.

Like he was really trying to keep everything calm and fine.

And, make sure that everything goes well with the project.

So yeah, I, I definitely see a little bit of that desperation.

And then on the reply from Ryan was very much so.

Oh, you're so lucky that my wife is part of your project.

Like after you get a message from a guy that's telling you,

I really want to be your friend.

And then you're like, you're so lucky to have my wife working on your project.

That's what I'm saying.

It's look, I know for example, most of us probably have some experience in corporate

America or just, or corporate world.

Okay.

Or just some working experience.

We know power imbalances exist and we know.

which is why, again, men are trash, but The imbalances with men and how

they're given more and how they're unqualified for stuff But they

get more than women like trust me.

I get it, but I feel like in this situation Ooh, this man sounded

desperate to make something happen But I want to know from laura real quick.

How do you feel about colleen hoover disappearing from social media?

That is what I want to hear my friend I saw her last pose.

I think I saw one of her last posts where she was like, I support Blake,

and goes all the way, and then people would start bringing receipts about

other issues that happened with Colleen Hoover, and she's it was misconstrued.

So I think she just took it as I'm taking a social media break, I don't want to deal

with haters, I don't want to deal with the people, because Colleen Howard was a

darling for a long time for many people.

But then as always, the internet turns and she's, there's a lot of haters.

There's a lot of people who do not agree with her books and her writing

and her life and what she does.

And yes, she has done a lot of good.

She has done a lot of good for the community and like with,

book financer being as like a nonprofit and her community indie

and all this sort of things.

But it seems like she has closed down all her businesses.

All her books, all her social media, and she's just writing off the sunset

with her billions of dollars that she has earned in royalties and, book

deals and movie deals because she got a verity coming up sometime soon.

So he's, she's writing off the sunset and maybe that's I would do it too.

I'm just letting y'all know.

Okay.

Again, we're talking trash.

That's what this is for, but make no mistake.

If I ever see that kind of money, you will never see me again.

Yeah, I'll be like one hour.

I don't need to work a day in my life.

I can just choose how I want to spend my time and I can choose to

not have to deal with customers and handful and opinions on the internet.

If everyone's a sideline coach or I have an opinion on the

whole thing, so I'm going.

So yeah.

I totally don't blame her.

Take your millions and just go and enjoy them.

And that's it.

Don't deal with, don't deal with the bullshit.

I would totally do that.

I would do that.

Listen, the internet is a rough place out there, folks.

It's a rough place out there.

But let us know your thoughts about the Colleen Hoover of it all,

the Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni.

Listen, if you want to blame Ryan Reynolds, jump on that bandwagon.

Yeah.

I feel like that one will never fail.

If you don't want to take a side right now, because it's early, like with

Blake and Justin, trust me, I get it.

Reynolds is a very appropriate punching bag.

But let us know your thoughts on the Colleen Hoover of it all.

Also, do you think she's going to retire?

Is this it for her?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments, replay crew.

We'd love to hear from you as well.

Okay.

Next up.

The one thing I know we had a whole bunch of other stuff we wanted to talk

about, but we're going to have to roll something over to the next gossip session.

But the one thing I really wanted to talk about is the is the Grammys.

I really want to talk about the grammys.

I think it's what the 75th 76.

I don't know grammys was last night So if you're watching live it was last

night sunday february 2nd And I was very interested in it just because

the jamaican in me Was very excited for the reggae category of course they

never announced that, on stage night of kind of vibes, but you know, you just

troll the internet until that happens.

I also saw Kai Sinat was streaming from the red carpet.

So that was very interesting as well.

And I saw Kai with quite a few of the Jamaicans kind of, hyping them up

and it was just good for me to see.

So that was my primary interest in it.

Then I was like, Oh, I can watch it.

So I can come talk to y'all about it today.

So I did, so I'm going to give you a highlights of the Grammys

just in case you didn't watch it.

And you didn't have an opportunity to keep up or troll social media with it.

So I have some images, so let me just pull them up here.

Okay.

So the first one.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Let's, should we stop?

Okay.

You tell me, should we start with the good news or the bad news?

We can end on a good note.

End on a good note, so let's start with the losers.

Okay, the biggest losers, I don't want to call them a loser.

Alright, let me start with this.

This is crazy.

Okay, the people who got snobbed.

So they're not the losers, but they got snobbed.

Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish got snobbed.

So they aren't losers, okay?

They're doing their thing out here in these streets.

But unfortunately, they got snobbed at the Grammys.

Lots of nominations, zero, zero wins.

Now, the truth is the biggest loser at the Grammys, like the biggest

loser, and I did not pull his image because we're not giving him space.

It's Drake.

So if there are any Drake fans out there, listen, I love you

as people, but not so much.

Okay.

I have feelings about Drake from the beginning, but the biggest loser.

At this year's grammy, so if you want talking points for your next outing

with your friends was drake And let me tell you why drake was the biggest

loser because Kendrick lamar got five.

Is it four or five grammys?

For the diss track that he did against drake, they're not like us or not like

us I think is the official title, but i'm always saying they're not like

us Listen, he won song of the year.

He won record of the year.

He won something to do with the video He won best rap song.

He won something else.

And just to give you all some background, Drake is suing the label.

So the fact that, and I love a good song, I'm just saying I'm from

that culture, it's always good when you have feuds, I think musically.

Okay.

We don't endorse violence and this one just really got

people on the internet going.

So the beat is very catchy.

The production was great and the Grammys clearly loved it.

So the biggest loser, so the biggest loser is Drake and the winner to

prove it all is Kendrick Lamar.

And if y'all are watching on YouTube wherever you're streaming this right now.

If you can see the picture just come back and look at the screen.

Kendrick Lamar is wearing all denim.

And the, they call all denim outfits a Canadian tuxedo.

So for me, that, even the outfit is a diss.

Okay?

Even the outfit is a diss.

Did you all know about the Drake and Kendrick thing?

Because I know the Grammys thing is my talking segment.

I can't wait for Drake to sue all 14, 000 members of the Royal Academy.

And just say, Diffamation!

You did it all!

I love it.

I love it.

You can't wait.

Also another one is Yes, you can take it to court.

And you don't even need to look at his astrology.

Good point.

I did not do that, but that's a good call.

And I know he's feeling some type of way because Everyone.

And I mean, everyone in the Grammys was singing, even Beyonce.

Everyone's that it was funny.

So, okay.

So that's the negative, but the positive, cause Kendrick deserved that.

It really was a really great song.

It was good.

It was good.

Even though it's a distract real good.

Okay.

On a lighter note, more positive.

Chapel Roan.

gave us an amazing performance.

What's the song called?

Pink Pony Club.

Brilliant.

I mean, when I saw that pink pony on the stage, I was just

like, okay, sis, come through.

Love Chapel Rowan.

That was amazing.

Sabrina Carpenter kind of gave us pinup girl kind of vibe.

Sabrina Carpenter also had a great new tie, a great night at the Grammys.

I forgot to mention Chapel Rowan.

Let me just put her back up there.

Got best new artists.

I forgot to mention that.

And then Sabrina Carpenter got I think it was best pop album.

Yes.

And best solo performance.

So yeah.

Best pop album.

And their solo performance for her espresso song.

'cause you know you hear that everywhere, but who I was really

also happy from and fun fact.

Ladies, this next person is from Tampa, Florida is Doci.

Yes, DOCI came through.

Okay.

She's a rapper from Tampa and honestly I think she's one

of them very promising MCs.

And she is one.

She's the third.

Third female.

To win best rap album.

What I loved about it, and I'm even getting chills is that the

award was presented by Cardi B.

The only other woman to have won it within this recent couple of years.

So Cardi B, which by the way, Cardi B is such a presence.

I mean, she came out, I love

Cardi B. Okay.

I ride for Cardi B. I love seeing her come up.

And her winning that award, I think prior to that who won it again?

Lauren Hill.

Yes.

So Lauren Hill was the first woman to read to win.

And now these two women are singles.

So she won as a singles artist, which is amazing.

So, kudos to Dochi and to find out Dochi from Tampa, Florida.

Hello.

That was also great.

Also worthy to mention Beyonce.

Finally.

After how many years now?

15, 16. How many years?

Beyonce, finally.

20. She's been around for since 1999.

Which month was it?

2003 when she released her single Crazy in Love because I remember I graduated.

I love her Crazy in Love album.

Okay.

And she has some Jamaicans on it too.

So here we go.

It's 20 something.

It's been 22 years as a solo artist, 25 years since Destiny's Child.

I did not realize the gravity.

Oh my gosh,

I didn't even realize it was that deep, but I love that Crazy In Love album.

Again, she had them Jamaicans on there too.

It was that bop, it was that time.

Anyways, Beyonce finally won album of the year for Cowboy Carter.

Now, it's kind of like a bittersweet moment because I know a lot of people

are saying, one, did it have to take a country album to get there?

What about all her other pop songs, this songs, R and B everything, whatever.

But anyways, look, she want it.

We're going to take it.

And so that's a big thing.

Beyonce finally won album of the year.

I'm going to end on a fun notes.

And the funnest thing for me was seeing Charlie XCX.

Y'all need to Google, do yourself a favor.

Google Charlie XCX Grammy.

2025 performance.

Sis had a whole rave on the stage.

It was, I was getting a little British Invasion vibes at the Grammy Awards.

I was looking for it.

But in this one, she just went all out.

I'm gonna say Charli XCX went full brats.

Cause everybody I felt kind of was brought to attention with her with

the whole brats summer and whatever.

This performance, I mean, I've seen some things, but this one was wild.

So if you're looking for a wild kind of, take you out of, your

comfort zone and space and whatever Google Charlie at six performance.

I think those are some of the highlights and I'm just going to put back up

there real quick to close us out.

Kendrick Lamar winning all these Grammys for the diss track and him

wearing all denim Canadian tuxedo.

Okay, take that in people.

Take that in.

I'm telling you, Drake was the biggest loser at the Grammys.

100 percent sorry, Drake.

I don't know how he's going to handle that now.

Oh, he's not handling that well.

I mean, how would you feel the song that was really dissing you

and saying all kinds of stuff.

I mean, the song was wild.

If you all don't know the song, go Google the lyrics.

Okay.

It is, some allegations are up in there, all kinds of things.

Oof, he called him some names.

Okay.

The colonizer one took me out there.

I'm not gonna lie.

When he called him that, I was like, wow, savage.

And then the Grammys, are clearly saying this is iconic and gave him

all these Grammys and Everyone in the Grammy audience vibing even

your girl Beyonce say yeah, Drake.

Someone needs to check on Drake If you're a Drake fan or a friend

of Drake check in on Drake.

He cannot be doing he cannot be doing good today oh, yeah,

so that's it for the Grammys.

Let me know in the comments.

How do you feel your thoughts on Grammys?

Did you watch the Grammys?

Did you know any of these highlights?

Let us know your feelings.

Look if you're team drake, okay, read me It's okay.

It's okay.

Drake fans y'all can Come out come out.

Don't feel like you have to agree with me.

Definitely not but yeah, so those are the grammy highlights outside of that.

I just want to invite you all to join us this thursday At novel hour we

are going live this thursday at 12 noon Okay, so if you're subscribed

you'll get the notification bell.

We will be sharing.

What do you call this thing?

Books for valentine's day romance stories for valentine's day epic

romance stories If you're not in the valentine's mood, that is fine.

Next week.

We're going to be sharing best friendship stories So if you've been watching us

for some time, we used to go live later now We're going live every thursday 12

noon eastern time You We really hope to see you there and we have some great

recommendations to share with you we also have some other stuff coming up as well.

If you subscribe to my sub stack bibliolifestyle.

substack.

com this week i'm sharing my february cozy guide.

I'm sharing some romance books i'm sharing some galentine's day ideas.

You're going to get some pairings playlists pairing snack pairings

Vibe check discussion questions for some really fun romance books.

Also, if you want to read, something for black history month and you want

to focus on an author, a black author, the list will also have you covered so

you can get your black history month reading done, but also something light

and fun and frothy and just joy filled.

That's what you'll get.

So the February cozy guide is going live on Thursday, but tomorrow,

Tuesday, I'm going to be sharing my own personal journey on how

my reading tastes have evolved.

And I'm also going to give you a PDF checklist a worksheet where if you're

interested in trying new genres, it can help you work through that.

Fran, what do you have coming up on, under the covers?

So actually this week we're announcing our winter market square event, which

is the seasonal event for Romansopoly.

The event itself is going to be happening at the end of the month,

it starts February 24th, but you'll actually be getting the prompts.

For the event.

So you can start setting your TBRs and all of that this week.

And I'm also going to have over on Substack recommendations

for the prompts that are for the Winter Market Square event.

So all of that is going to be on YouTube, you'll find the announcement.

So you'll be able to see what the prompts are and all of the

details on how to participate.

And also on Substack, you'll get all of the printables for it, or

the guidebook Cards and all of that as well as recommendations.

So all of that is coming this week.

Amazing.

What's up with you, Laura?

What's new?

Something with a murder kind of mood, so I've been doing thrillers, so there

will be anticipation of new thrillers.

I just released a list of thrillers available in Coopla, as well as some in

Illuminaid, so you can get them for free if you aren't in any of the memberships.

So, more thriller mystery content this week, but they will get back

to you once next week, so we're gonna, we're gonna mash that.

Yes, we love a good mashup.

Yes, we do.

We do.

So lots of exciting content from all of us.

Again, if you subscribe to one sub stack, you'll you'll find us all as well.

And if you're just joining us, you missed the gossip session, you're going to

have to be a part of the replay group.

We talked about bookshop.

org selling eBooks, Rebecca Yaros, Onyx Storm, and just all her books

and the online reaction Tony Adeyemi's children of blood and bone cast.

Of course the Blake Lively and the Justin Baldoni and Colleen Hoover.

I mean, is she gone or what?

I will always take an opportunity to share Kendrick Lamar.

Okay We did all those grammys for that diss track.

Okay, Chapel Rowne Dochi Sabrina Carpenter, Beyonce,

finally winning for an album.

And of course, Charlie XCX again, I'm telling you, I never

seen a performer wild wild.

But if you love us and you want to hear more from us, be sure to join

us on Thursday, we're going to be talking about epic romance stories

for Valentine's next week, we are going to be doing Friendship stories.

So thank you all for watching.

Tell a friend to tell a friend so they can come join us live and chat with us.

Also special shout out to Erin F. Okay.

We appreciate you.

Thanks for watching and leaving comments.

Oh, you love a checklist.

Listen.

Yes, you're gonna get a checklist It's gonna be a good time

special shout out To Erin F.

So don't be scared.

See she is sharing in the comments We don't bite and I love this

one Beyonce wins the world

Universe okay.

We are just living in it We are just living in it and she

finally won that album y'all she finally won that album All right.

Next time we'll talk tv because we're gonna do that.

No erin.

You don't talk too much.

You're fine

We like a chatty friend we like a chatty friend but yeah, we're gonna hop off now

and we hope to see you all next time.

See you Thursday.

Bye You

Mhm.

Mhm.