"I can't pre-game before this. Things get too crazy."

"You can, and you should!"

This week, we read My Roommate is a Vampire by Jenna Levine

Sierra joins me on this episode to discuss:

• A threesome involving Marvel’s infinity gauntlet
• Why the ending really put a damper on the whole novel
• All things relating to vampires — including fruit powers

Open your book and press play on a podcast episode that was fueled by wine and romance novels…which always leads to good decisions.

Mentioned in Pairings:

• DRINK: Vampire Wine, Vampire Mimosa
• TV SHOW - What We Do in the Shadows, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
• BOOK - The Ex Hex, Deal with the Elf King
• MOVIE - Twilight, Vamps, Dark Shadows

Quick Summary:

Cassie Greenberg loves being an artist, but it’s a tough way to make a living. On the brink of eviction, she’s desperate when she finds a too-good-to-be-true apartment in a beautiful Chicago neighborhood. Of course, her new roommate Frederick J. Fitzwilliam is far from normal. He sleeps all day, is out at night on business, and talks like he walked out of a regency romance novel. He also leaves Cassie heart-melting notes around the apartment, cares about her art, and asks about her day. And he doesn’t look half bad shirtless. But when Cassie finds bags of blood in the fridge that definitely weren’t there earlier, Frederick has to come clean. . .Cassie’s sexy new roommate is a vampire.

Once you're done listening, hop onto our Instagram and TikTok @rwreadspodcast to give us your thoughts on the discussion and the book. We look forward to hearing from you!

Disclaimer

At Red Wine Reads, we want to engage in the stories of people from all kinds of backgrounds and experiences. The value of books lies in the power of storytelling and sharing a range of perspectives. We don't want to just read what we know, we want to read stories that open our worldview. And in turn, that means getting into challenging, rewarding conversations. But we are not experts in any field — literature, race relations, politics, etc .— and we know that our reviews of these books come from a place of privilege. We encourage our community of readers to add to these conversations with their own thoughts, critiques, and questions. We want to open up a safe place for people. That being said, we also realize that getting into race, sexuality, gender, and other difficult topics can be triggering. We aim to include content warnings whenever they are applicable but we are not perfect. So as we continue to do our best, know you have the room to tell us when we can do better and even, if you want to, share resources with us. Let's learn, grow, and have fun together.

This week, we read Magic Hour by Kristin Hannah

Abby joins me on this episode to discuss:

• Why Kristin Hannah will continue to be a favorite, but maybe one who we stick to the newer material
• If we were faced with the same situation as Julia, how would we respond?
• Is a hot doctor always necessary for an interesting plot? The answer is in this episode.

Open your book and press play on a podcast episode that will have you reaching into your desk for that bottle of whiskey you’ve been saving for a moment like this.

Mentioned in the Pairings section of the podcast:

• DRINK: Desk Whiskey
• TV SHOW - True Detective: Night Country, Shrinking, The Wilds
• BOOK - Where the Crawdads Sing, Speak, Alice in Wonderland, Nightingale
• MOVIE - Tarzan, Good Will Hunting

Quick Summary: Dr. Julia Cates was one of the country's preeminent child psychiatrists until a shocking tragedy ruined her career. Retreating to her small western Washington hometown, Julia meets an extraordinary six-year-old girl who has inexplicably emerged from the deep woods nearby—a child locked in a world of unimaginable fear and isolation. To Julia, nothing is more important than saving the girl she now calls Alice. But Julia will need help from others, including the sister she barely knows and a handsome doctor with secrets of his own. What follows will test the limits of Julia's faith and strength, as she struggles to find a home for Alice . . . and for herself.

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Once you're done listening, hop onto our Instagram and TikTok @rwreadspodcast to give us your thoughts on the discussion and the book. We look forward to hearing from you!

* Disclaimer *

At Red Wine Reads, we want to engage in the stories of people from all kinds of backgrounds and experiences. The value of books lies in the power of storytelling and sharing a range of perspectives. We don't want to just read what we know, we want to read stories that open our worldview. And in turn, that means getting into challenging, rewarding conversations. But we are not experts in any field — literature, race relations, politics, etc .— and we know that our reviews of these books come from a place of privilege. We encourage our community of readers to add to these conversations with their own thoughts, critiques, and questions. We want to open up a safe place for people. That being said, we also realize that getting into race, sexuality, gender, and other difficult topics can be triggering. We aim to include content warnings whenever they are applicable but we are not perfect. So as we continue to do our best, know you have the room to tell us when we can do better and even, if you want to, share resources with us. Let's learn, grow, and have fun together.

This week, we read Eileen by Otessa Moshfegh

Rebekah joins me on this episode to discuss:

• Why Otessa continues to fascinate me, even though I’ve disliked every book I’ve read of hers
• How Otessa crossed so many lines in this book
• Why we refuse to go watch the film adaptation

Open your book and press play on a podcast episode that will have you questioning if reading this book was worth it.

Mentioned in the Pairings section of the podcast:

• DRINK: Gin
• TV SHOW - Killing Eve, Dead to Me
• BOOK - The Discomfort of Evening, My Year of Rest and Relaxation, Other People’s Clothes, A Certain Hunger
• MOVIE - Saltburn, The Menu

Quick Summary: The Christmas season offers little cheer for Eileen Dunlop, an unassuming yet disturbed young woman trapped between her role as her alcoholic father's caretaker in a home whose squalor is the talk of the neighborhood and a day job as a secretary at the boys' prison, filled with its own quotidian horrors. Consumed by resentment and self-loathing, Eileen tempers her dreary days with perverse fantasies and dreams of escaping to the big city. In the meantime, she fills her nights and weekends with shoplifting, stalking a buff prison guard named Randy, and cleaning up her increasingly deranged father's messes. When the bright, beautiful, and cheery Rebecca Saint John arrives on the scene as the new counselor at Moorehead, Eileen is enchanted and proves unable to resist what appears at first to be a miraculously budding friendship. In a Hitchcockian twist, her affection for Rebecca ultimately pulls her into complicity in a crime that surpasses her wildest imaginings.

***

Once you're done listening, hop onto our Instagram and TikTok @rwreadspodcast to give us your thoughts on the discussion and the book. We look forward to hearing from you!

* Disclaimer *

At Red Wine Reads, we want to engage in the stories of people from all kinds of backgrounds and experiences. The value of books lies in the power of storytelling and sharing a range of perspectives. We don't want to just read what we know, we want to read stories that open our worldview. And in turn, that means getting into challenging, rewarding conversations. But we are not experts in any field — literature, race relations, politics, etc .— and we know that our reviews of these books come from a place of privilege. We encourage our community of readers to add to these conversations with their own thoughts, critiques, and questions. We want to open up a safe place for people. That being said, we also realize that getting into race, sexuality, gender, and other difficult topics can be triggering. We aim to include content warnings whenever they are applicable but we are not perfect. So as we continue to do our best, know you have the room to tell us when we can do better and even, if you want to, share resources with us. Let's learn, grow, and have fun together.

This week, we read A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Sierra joins me on this episode to discuss:

• How I was able to steer clear of any spoilers up until this point
• Why Tamlin gives me the ick
• The pure excitement that Sierra feels to FINALLY talk about this book with me

Open your book and press play on a podcast episode that will have you traveling Under the Mountain and through the woods to save the people you love.

Mentioned in the Pairings section of the podcast:

• DRINK: Out East Cotes de Provence Rosé, Red Sangria
• TV SHOW - Vampire Diaries, The Rings of Power
• BOOK - Crescent City, Beastly, A Court of Mist and Fury
• MOVIE - Beauty and the Beast, Twilight, Ella Enchanted

Quick Summary: When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a terrifying creature arrives to demand retribution. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she knows about only from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not truly a beast, but one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled her world. As she adapts to her new home, her feelings for the faerie, Tamlin, transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie she’s been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But something is not right in the faerie lands. An ancient, wicked shadow is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it, or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.

***

Once you're done listening, hop onto our Instagram and TikTok @rwreadspodcast to give us your thoughts on the discussion and the book. We look forward to hearing from you!

* Disclaimer *

At Red Wine Reads, we want to engage in the stories of people from all kinds of backgrounds and experiences. The value of books lies in the power of storytelling and sharing a range of perspectives. We don't want to just read what we know, we want to read stories that open our worldview. And in turn, that means getting into challenging, rewarding conversations. But we are not experts in any field — literature, race relations, politics, etc .— and we know that our reviews of these books come from a place of privilege. We encourage our community of readers to add to these conversations with their own thoughts, critiques, and questions. We want to open up a safe place for people. That being said, we also realize that getting into race, sexuality, gender, and other difficult topics can be triggering. We aim to include content warnings whenever they are applicable but we are not perfect. So as we continue to do our best, know you have the room to tell us when we can do better and even, if you want to, share resources with us. Let's learn, grow, and have fun together.

This week, we read Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

Ella joins me on this episode to discuss:

• Why, as two people people who don’t normally read romance, ate this s**t up.
• The fact that our girl Diana can sure write a sex scene
• How all of the elements — romance, historical anecdotes, character development, setting — came together to create a lovely, entertaining story

Open your book and press play on a podcast episode that will have you singing a song of a lass that is gone.

Mentioned in the Pairings section of the podcast:

• DRINK: Rhenish Wine, Whiskey
• TV SHOW - Reign, Game of Thrones
• BOOK - Kindred
• MOVIE - Brave, Lady Chatterley's Lover

Quick Summary: Scottish Highlands, 1945. Claire Randall, a former British combat nurse, is just back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach—an “outlander”—in a Scotland torn by war and raiding clans in the year of Our Lord . . . 1743. Claire is catapulted into the intrigues of a world that threatens her life, and may shatter her heart. Marooned amid danger, passion, and violence, Claire learns her only chance of safety lies in Jamie Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior. What begins in compulsion becomes urgent need, and Claire finds herself torn between two very different men, in two irreconcilable lives.

***

Once you're done listening, hop onto our Instagram and TikTok @rwreadspodcast to give us your thoughts on the discussion and the book. We look forward to hearing from you!

* Disclaimer *

At Red Wine Reads, we want to engage in the stories of people from all kinds of backgrounds and experiences. The value of books lies in the power of storytelling and sharing a range of perspectives. We don't want to just read what we know, we want to read stories that open our worldview. And in turn, that means getting into challenging, rewarding conversations. But we are not experts in any field — literature, race relations, politics, etc .— and we know that our reviews of these books come from a place of privilege. We encourage our community of readers to add to these conversations with their own thoughts, critiques, and questions. We want to open up a safe place for people. That being said, we also realize that getting into race, sexuality, gender, and other difficult topics can be triggering. We aim to include content warnings whenever they are applicable but we are not perfect. So as we continue to do our best, know you have the room to tell us when we can do better and even, if you want to, share resources with us. Let's learn, grow, and have fun together.

It's our birthday month, so we wanted to start off our new season with a bang (literally). This episode was originally recorded in 2022, but I have sat on it, waiting for the perfect time to post it. And now, it is the perfect time to post it!

Today, we're reading Birthday Girl, a steamy romance in which Jordan, a 19-year-old, falls in love with the almost-40 Pike. The only snag in their romance? Jordan is dating Pike’s son, Cole. Oh, and they’re living in his house.

Sierra joins me today to talk about how I overcame my fear of smut thanks to her book choice.

In this episode we cover:

• Why I was legitimately scared of this book
• How sexy books shouldn’t be shamed, but rather celebrated
• Why this book is right up Sierra’s alley

Open your book and press play on a podcast episode that will leave you finding a movie theater on your birthday this year.

This week, we read Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Bekah joins me on this episode to discuss:

• The dark past of author, Delia Owens, that may or may not influence the plot/characters of the book.
• What order you should read the “Where the Crawdads Sing” trifecta including book, movie, and New Yorker article.
• How this book became a phenomenon among book clubs and Reese Witherspoon fans.

Open your book and press play on a podcast episode that will have you running barefoot into the marsh and talking with all the birds.

Mentioned in the Pairings section of the podcast:

• DRINK: Sweet Tea with Whiskey
• TV SHOW - Big Little Lies, Outer Banks, The Last Thing He Told Me
• BOOK - The Great Alone, To Kill a Mockingbird
• MOVIE - Safe Haven, Gone Girl, Girl On The Train, The Woman In the Window

Important links mentioned in the podcast:

“The Hunted” - The New Yorker

“Where the Crawdads Sing Author Wanted for Questioning in Murder” - The Atlantic

“A Shooting in Zambia” - The New Yorker

Quick Summary: For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life—until the unthinkable happens.

***

Once you're done listening, hop onto our Instagram and TikTok @rwreadspodcast to give us your thoughts on the discussion and the book. We look forward to hearing from you!

* Disclaimer *

At Red Wine Reads, we want to engage in the stories of people from all kinds of backgrounds and experiences. The value of books lies in the power of storytelling and sharing a range of perspectives. We don't want to just read what we know, we want to read stories that open our worldview. And in turn, that means getting into challenging, rewarding conversations. But we are not experts in any field — literature, race relations, politics, etc .— and we know that our reviews of these books come from a place of privilege. We encourage our community of readers to add to these conversations with their own thoughts, critiques, and questions. We want to open up a safe place for people. That being said, we also realize that getting into race, sexuality, gender, and other difficult topics can be triggering. We aim to include content warnings whenever they are applicable but we are not perfect. So as we continue to do our best, know you have the room to tell us when we can do better and even, if you want to, share resources with us. Let's learn, grow, and have fun together.

This month, we’re starting Season 3 off with a BANG. Outlander, ACOTAR, Kristin Hannah and Ottessa Moshfegh? Oh yeah, this month is going to be good. We got a little romance for you (it is the month of love after all). We got a little mystery and weirdness for you. We have characters you love to root for and characters you love to hate.

Whatever your taste in books, we hope you find something you’re looking for.

Here are our picks for February:

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon - a novel that combines the best of all worlds — historical fiction, fantasy and romance — into an unforgettable ride through the 18th Century Scottish Highlands.

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas - a TikTok-famous romance fantasy novel that is a (very) loose retelling of ‘Beauty and the Beast’.

Magic Hour by Kristin Hannah - a heart string-pulling novel about a woman who will do anything to save a little girl’s life, while also saving herself.

Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh- a dark and twisted tale about how one girl’s obsession turns into an unforeseen friendship with many strings attached.

Which book are you most excited for?

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Once you're done listening, hop onto our Instagram and TikTok @rwreadspodcast to give us your thoughts on the discussion and the book. We look forward to hearing from you!