Calling Cards

And then, and then, AND THEN... Julia Quinn’s An Offer from a Gentleman, continued! Starting with THAT SCENE with the Bridgerton brothers and Penelope Featherington, we examine class and social standing with only a moderate amount of uncalled for hilarity, consider consent, privilege, dreams, different kinds of bravery and the subversion of romance in this incredibly romantic third book in the Bridgerton series. Also: Yes, we lied last episode, Anthony is actually in this book! And all of our book recs are in the show notes and will be on social media and our website.

In two weeks: Part 1 of our ultimate favorite, Romancing Mr. Bridgerton!

Recs:

Fairy tale -

Cat Sebastian, The Lawrence Browne Affair (2017)

Teresa Medeiros, Yours Until Dawn (2004)

Naomi Novik, Uprooted (2015)

Mistaken ID/ Hidden ID -

Joanna Bourne, Spymaster's Lady (2008)

Sherry Thomas, Beguiling the Beauty (2012) and His at Night (2010)

Elizabeth Boyle, Something About Emmaline (2005)

Tracy Anne Warren, The Husband Trap (2006)

Naima Simone, Scoring with the Wrong Twin (WAGS #1) (2018)

Talia Hibbert, Mating the Huntress (2018)

Alyssa Cole, A Princess in Theory (2018)

Sonali Dev, A Bollywood Affair (2014)

Bastards AND the 99% -

Sarah MacLean's “Bareknuckle Bastards” series (2018)

Mentioned:

The Princess Bride (yes, again)

The Swan Princess

Tangled

A Cinderella Story

Thanks for listening! You can find us on Instagram and Facebook @callingcardspod, on Twitter @CardsCalling, on our website, callingcards.wixsite.com/callingcardspod, or by emailing us at [email protected].

Original music by PASTACAT, @pastacatmusic on Instagram.

Instagram and Facebook: @callingcardspod

Twitter: @CardsCalling

Website: https://www.callingcards.wixsite.com/callingcardspod

Email us at [email protected].

Theme music by PASTACAT @pastacatmusic on Instagram.

Lydia and Tay jump into gender roles and the logic of dominance among changelings with our discussion of Nalini Singh’s Branded by Fire. Mercy worries she’ll never find a mate as a dominant female and Riley thinks he wants a submissive wolf mate, but don’t worry, we relate this all back to real life (it's actually... super relatable).

We’re taking a short break, listeners! We’ll be back with our next episode, Blaze of Memory, on Feb. 1. EDIT (2/16/22): We'll be back by the end of Feb!

In this episode, we also revisit Tally and Clay to discuss a really insightful article sent to us by listener Mystery. We highly recommend the article, “In Defense of ‘Unlikable’ Heroines,” by Aarya Marsden on Smart Bitches, Trashy Books (**SPOILERS for Kiss of Snow, Tangle of Need, and Shards of Hope**): https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2019/04/in-defense-of-unlikable-heroines-a-case-study-of-three-heroines-from-nalini-singhs-psy-changeling-series/

Reading Recs:

• Mercy shifters
  • Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs (urban fantasy)
• Co-workers/opposites attract
  • Shadowdance (Darkest London #4) by Kristen Callihan (historical paranormal romance)
  • Partners in Persuasion by Nalini Singh (you can also find this novella in the collection Wild Embrace)
  • All the Feels by Olivia Dade (contemporary romance)

Thanks for listening!

Instagram and Facebook: @callingcardspod

Twitter: @CardsCalling

Website: https://www.callingcards.wixsite.com/callingcardspod

Email us at [email protected].

Theme music by PASTACAT @pastacatmusic on Instagram.

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Instagram and Facebook: @callingcardspod

Twitter: @CardsCalling

Website: https://www.callingcards.wixsite.com/callingcardspod

Email us at [email protected].

Theme music by PASTACAT @pastacatmusic on Instagram.

Lydia & Tay discuss episode 3 of Netflix’s Bridgerton, “The Art of the Swoon.”

The female gaze is here to stay! Daphne meets a prince and we take a firm stand against drinking milk straight from the jug, trudging endlessly through puddles, and stealing roses from vases... and a firm stand in favor of Simon in general. Swooning gets a closer look, as does Simon’s spoon moment and how the episode functions as an adaptation.

Next week, we take on episode 4, “An Affair of Honor.”

What we’re watching & reading:

“Sylvie’s Love” on Prime (2020) with Tessa Thompson, Nnamdi Asomugha, Eva Longoria, Aja Naomi King, Jemima Kirke, Tone Bell and Regé-Jean Page

Alyssa Cole, When No One Is Watching (2020)

Olivia Dade, Spoiler Alert (2020)

Support independent bookstores!

Moon Palace Books in Minneapolis, MN https://www.moonpalacebooks.com/

Charis Books & More in Atlanta, GA https://www.charisbooksandmore.com/

Also mentioned:

This hilarious (SPOILER-ridden) video by Josh Pray: https://m.facebook.com/joshpraycomedy/videos/202734014856450/?refsrc=https%3A%2F%2Fm.facebook.com%2Fwatch%2F&_rdr

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

A Cinderella Story: Once Upon a Song

Romancing the Stone

The American President

Gray’s Anatomy

The Bechdel Test

Star Wars

Game of Thrones

Hamilton

The Young Victoria

Thanks for listening!

You can find us on Instagram and Facebook @callingcardspod, on Twitter @CardsCalling, on our website, http://callingcards.wixsite.com/callingcardspod, or by emailing us at [email protected].

Theme music by PASTACAT, @pastacatmusic on Instagram.

Instagram and Facebook: @callingcardspod

Twitter: @CardsCalling

Website: https://www.callingcards.wixsite.com/callingcardspod

Email us at [email protected].

Theme music by PASTACAT @pastacatmusic on Instagram.

Michael gets consent! He gets it! In Part 2, Lydia and Taylor discuss seeing another side of Lady Vi’s character, grapple with themes of Julia Quinn’s When He Was Wicked, including grief, death of a spouse, and guilt, and decide where Michael ranks among the Bridgerton books so far. Lydia gives a recap and analysis of Francesca and Michael's second epilogue and Taylor FINALLY gets to rant about colonialism. Plus: Book recs!
CW: miscarriage, infertility, colonialism, death of a spouse

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, please tell a friend.

Book recs:

Great Scot!:

Diana Gabaldon, Outlander (1991)

Jennifer Ashley, The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie (2009)

Maya Banks, Never Seduce a Scot (2012)

Alyssa Cole, A Duke by Default (2018)

Widows (but not straight):

Olivia Waite, A Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics (2018)

Courtney Milan, Mrs Martin's Incomparable Adventure (2019)

Alisha Rai, Wrong to Need You (2015)

Angsty relative widows:

Naima Simone, Sin and Ink (2018)

Lorraine Heath, The Earl Takes All (2016)

Angsty widows, no cousin stuff:

Diane Biller, The Widow of Rose House (2019)

Jessie Mihalik, Aurora Blazing (2019) (Tay forgot to say it in the episode)

Lord Liverpool, freedom of the press and class politics:

Olivia Waite, The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows (2020)

Celeste Bradley, “Liars Club” and “Royal Four” series (2003-2006)

KJ Charles, “Society of Gentlemen” series (2015-2016)

Mentioned in this episode:

Edward Said, On Orientalism (1978)

Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden (1911)

Rudyard Kipling, Kim (1901)

B&N cover fiasco-- see “Author L.L. McKinney: Barnes & Noble 'Diverse Editions' Are 'Literary Blackface',” NPR, Feb. 2020: https://www.npr.org/2020/02/06/803473296/author-l-l-mckinney-barnes-noble-diverse-editions-are-literary-blackface

Mark Twain

Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea (1966)

Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre (1847)

Project Gutenberg free classic ebooks, https://www.gutenberg.org/

Virginia Woolf

You can find us on Instagram and Facebook @callingcardspod, on Twitter @CardsCalling, on our website, callingcards.wixsite.com/callingcardspod, or by emailing us at [email protected]. We might read your message on the pod! Original music by PASTACAT, @pastacatmusic on Instagram.

Instagram and Facebook: @callingcardspod

Twitter: @CardsCalling

Website: https://www.callingcards.wixsite.com/callingcardspod

Email us at [email protected].

Theme music by PASTACAT @pastacatmusic on Instagram.

“Hey Penelope, your wallflower days are over, you rad spinster, you!” - Lady Danbury, probably

This episode, we take our sweet time and tackle tropes from Julia Quinn’s Romancing Mr. Bridgerton. Featuring dudebros, privilege, history as setting, female friendship, reading recommendations, and more!

Book 5, To Sir Phillip with Love, airs in two weeks.

Thanks for listening! You can find us on Instagram and Facebook @callingcardspod, on Twitter @CardsCalling, on our website, callingcards.wixsite.com/callingcardspod, or by emailing us at [email protected]. Original music by PASTACAT, @pastacatmusic on Instagram.

Mentioned:

Sabrina

Captain Marvel

How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days

Return to Me

Thirteen Going on Thirty

Crash Landing On You

Wynona Earp

Date Night with Alyssa Cole, Loyalty Books

KJ Charles, Society of Gentlemen series

Recs:

Writers (historical)

Lisa Kleypas, Dreaming of You (1994)

Tessa Dare, Romancing the Duke (2014)

Heroines who aren't teeny-tiny

Talia Hibbert, Get a Life, Chloe Brown (2019) and Take a Hint, Dani Brown (2020)

Wallflowers & spinsters

Sarah MacLean's One Good Earl Deserves a Lover (2013)

Lisa Kleypas, Marrying Winterborne (2016)

Secrets

Celeste Bradley, The Pretender, The Imposter, and The Spy ("Liar's Club" series, 2003), To Wed a Scandalous Spy (2005)

Beverly Jenkins, Indigo (1996)

Courtney Milan, Unraveled (Turner #3) (2011)

Alyssa Cole, An Extraordinary Union (2017)

Elizabeth Hoyt, Maiden Lane series, #4-6: Thief of Shadows (2012), Lord of Darkness (2013), Duke of Midnight (2013)

Alexa Martin, Fumbled (2019)

Alexis Daria, Take the Lead (2017)

Girl next door

Kwana Jackson, Real Men Knit (2020)

Unrequited love /friends to lovers

Samantha Young, Before Jamaica Lane (2014)

Women who run empires

Alisha Rai, The Right Swipe (2019)

Instagram and Facebook: @callingcardspod

Twitter: @CardsCalling

Website: https://www.callingcards.wixsite.com/callingcardspod

Email us at [email protected].

Theme music by PASTACAT @pastacatmusic on Instagram.