Spill the Smut
Where the books are spicy, the conversations are juicy, and the stories rarely fade to black. Each week, I dive headfirst into the delicious world of smut with the people who live and breathe it—authors, creators, and bookish babes who aren’t afraid to spill all the steamy tea. Through interviews and unfiltered chats, I'll explore everything from fan-favorites to behind-the-scenes secrets of the bookish world. This is your weekly escape into the world of steam, swoon and unapologetically bookish.
So get comfy. Pour a drink. And get ready to spill the smut.
Spill the Smut
Behind the Pages with Olivia
Building a Bookish Brand and Navigating Conventions
How does a passion for reading transform into a thriving business and community? Olivia from Pages and Journeys shares her remarkable journey from bookstagram influencer to Etsy shop owner, revealing the thoughtful philosophy behind her popular bookish merchandise brand, Dreamy Pages Co.
What began with stickers and crocheted book sleeves has evolved into a refined collection of apparel and jewelry designed with a powerful purpose. Her minimalist designs embody this approach—providing readers with touchstones to carry the confidence and lessons from their favorite stories into real-world situations.
For those planning to attend book conventions, Olivia shares invaluable insider tips. We also discuss the recent Sinners and Stardust controversy, emphasizing the importance of author safety and boundaries at these events.
Follow Olivia on IG: @pages.and.journeys x TT: @pages.and.journeys and her bookish shop at IG: @dreamypagesco AND you can also find her on Etsy at https://www.etsy.com/shop/DreamyPagesCo?ref=shop-header-name&listing_id=1877378536&from_page=listing
Cover Art by: moi
Intro/Outro Music: positive vibes by nanaacom on Capcut
Contact Email: spillthesmutpodcast@gmail.com
Podcast IG: @spillthesmut TT: @spillthesmutpodcast
Jordan IG: @sipsoffiction TT: @sipsoffiction
You probably know her from her bookstagram Pages and Journeys, where she keeps us all updated with her Sunday book news, because who doesn't love someone keeping us in the loop with everything happening in the bookish world? She's also the queen of book rec reels I'm talking her trope to trope and romance roulette magic. So if your TBR needs a boost, she's the one to follow. So, if you so, if your TBR needs a boost, she's the one to follow. And beyond all that, she's just so happens to be the sweetest, kindest human you'll ever meet.
Olivia:Hi, you're going to make me cry with that intro, even though you know you're one of my favorite people. Good Lord, jordan.
Jordan:Oh my gosh, Wait, stop. You're one of my favorite people. Your intros literally okay. If people don't know, like this is the second time I've been recording or recorded this episode with Olivia. She was so kind enough to like let me do it closer to when her episode would release, because I know too like I reached out to you before I knew when this episode would come out like and when the podcast would release, so I wanted to hold on to like a couple episodes ahead of time. So I already had recorded with you, but that was like months ago and thank you for letting me record with you again. But the point of that is your intro is the easiest one to write. I feel like a lot of people I have to go like searching and I have to go like digging for things, but yours is just like. I literally wrote it in like two minutes before I like left work. So I'm like perfect.
Olivia:Thank you, I really appreciate that and, yeah, honestly I'm glad we're redoing it because the amount of stuff that has like changed for both of us since.
Jordan:Yes, exactly, and I feel like we can include so much more now too, and I feel like I don't like to. I know you were like, kind of like in the Etsy like shop, but now you're like in the Etsy shop, so I feel like. And then also with, uh, with um, oh my gosh, what? Oh, my book conventions. Wow, I just had like a complete brain fart. Um, but before we get into that, I want to know what the highlight of your week so far is so I finally checked the first thing off my full bucket list.
Olivia:We went apple picking and book shopping and it was, quite frankly, the most like romanticized apple picking you've ever done and it was so much fun.
Jordan:Oh my gosh. Yes, no, like I love apple picking and it's so, it's so much fun, but it's so funny because, like you literally could go to the store and spend like way less money. But it's, it's the fact of like actually apple picking, plus there's more options to choose from. Like you don't have the apples that you can get apple picking in like the store. So, yeah, it's just, but it's just better gosh, it's so much better.
Olivia:Also love like we go to the same place for all of our like picking stuff, like we'll do strawberries and raspberries and everything, and we go to the same farm and it is like literally this entire family's life and stuff. So I feel like it's it's so much more fun to go support them. Yes, yeah, that's that's why I love it. I also just love autumn and it's like kicked off my season, but we're going again in two weeks.
Jordan:Oh, I love that. I want to go apple picking so badly because I didn't get to do it last year. Yeah, I don't think I did. No I didn't, but I want to go this year, so I'm hopefully jumping on that like soon. I hope so, but fall is just the best season, if you ask me like autumn. I love fall, I love fall and everything.
Olivia:I'm gonna end up saying both, but yes, I love this season. It's the absolute best. It's. It's just, uh, it's just. I feel like it's a reader's dream. Like you get the some nicer days. So for people that like to read outside, you can go sit outside, you can read, you can get the cool breeze. You also get to wear all of your cute sweatshirts, long sleeves, like cozy, comfy stuff, or you can also take it and like dress up. This sounds really bad, but when I was at Romantically Yours in August, I was talking to Abby Millsaps and one of my outfits she goes you're so, um, her FNC in her latest series is called Sawyer and it's like got an apple orchard setting and everything. She's like you're so Sawyer, coded today and that was, quite frankly, one of the best compliments I've gotten. But back to the whole point. Like you can dress up and do some stuff and feel like one of your main characters, like it's, it's so much fun. I love this season.
Jordan:It's just, it's cozy, perfect, fun everything you could need and also like to like the color wise of fall and autumn. I love it like I love the browns, I love the deep burgundies, the dark greens, the neutrals. Like, honestly, I like I hate spring. I literally that is like the worst season imaginable. I also hate the colors like, like the, the pastels. So like fall, it's just like everything. Yeah, like color wise, like I'm usually wearing fall colors in spring and I don't care, it's whatever, but like I am not someone that can pull off a pastel.
Olivia:I am pale enough, being English, that can pull off a pastel. I am pale enough, being English. You put me in a pastel. I think we start looking too much like Casper the ghost. So you know.
Jordan:I just, yeah, I like. My thing too is like I have like a yellow undertone, like a lot of people have, like red undertone, like skin, so they can look good in like other colors. I just, I do not know, nope, nope, nope, nope. Okay, but anyways, now that we just like gushed about fall, uh, I kind of want to dive into your Etsy shop. So let's bring it on. Yeah, let's, let's go into that. So I mean, not that you haven't answered this question before and I'm so sorry, but like, what made you want to start an Etsy shop and like selling bookish things?
Olivia:so, first off, you're not gonna have to apologize, because half the time I would talk about it any day. Um, the amount of times I get asked that question as well, and it's like in different ways and I come up with something slightly different every time, so you're never going to get a consistent answer out of me in the first place. Um, I think it's pretty safe to say if you've seen me over on like pages and journeys wise, you'll know how much books have shaped me as a person and like reading has been the one constant throughout my life through my early 20s. Um, and I think for me, I wanted something that, whatever I did next, my next passion project was going to be something that I loved and I wanted it in a way, to honor reading. So when I started my small business, I came up with a bunch of stick writers because I was messing around on Canva, and then I was also doing crochet stuff at the same time, because I have like what's deemed grandma hobbies and crocheting is one of my favorite things, and I just picked it up again and I made a book sleeve, embroidered one for one of my friends, and they were like you should sell them now.
Olivia:I had some other stuff going on in my personal life that gave me the time to be able to start a small business. So I had about a month and I designed all of these stickers, bookmarks and then crochet sleeves and I ended up just saying, okay, what else is going to stop me? It's not going to matter what anyone says, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. If I can make one person smile and that's been my philosophy with reading and social media always if I can make one person smile, then it was worth doing it.
Olivia:Um, and so I ended up just going for it. Did I have any clue what I was doing? Not really. Um, I figured most of it out and I had some great friends who both owned Etsy shops and were like on FaceTime with me constantly and literally telling me to do it. Um, so it was a good old peer pressure out the friends too. But it yeah, I mean Dreamy Pages Co came from a love of bookstagram, the love of my reading, and as a way to give back to a community that gave so much to me.
Jordan:Okay, oh, there we go. I love that response, and so my thing too is like, now that you've had your Etsy shop for I want to say it's been a year now- yeah, it was a year, at the beginning of September it's been a year now. Yeah, it was a year at the beginning of September, so congrats to being a year Etsy shop owner. But how has like the Etsy shop and you changed from like when you first started it to say now?
Olivia:A lot's changed. I can't believe it's been open for a whole year. It feels like it's been open like five minutes, but obviously it hasn't. Um, I think when I first opened up the shop I had a rough idea of what I wanted to do and like what I was thinking of doing, and a lot of it comes from trial and error. Right. So in the last, like last year, of how everything's changed, my branding has completely changed into a new logo your branding.
Jordan:I love your branding. Now, I think it's so stinking cute.
Olivia:I adore it. Um, I really solidified down what I want to do, so it's mainly going to be apparel moving forward and jewelry and a couple other bits and bobs that I'm playing around with now. But I love my cozy bookish stuff and the whole mentality behind the shop kind of shifted from being like what's some cute things readers might want to being how can I create things for readers who want a subtle way of reminding themselves of what they learn from their books? I think one of the things that I appreciate is from having so many strong female main characters and lessons that I've learned from them, or even within the relationships that these characters have with each other because we both predominantly read romance like the the love between those characters and how you internalize what they're going through and how that teaches you, whether confidence or self-love or self-worth or something like that.
Olivia:I wanted people to be able to have a subtle way to remind themselves of that when they're maybe not in the most confident situations, like at a book convention or going to the bookstore might be. You know, most of us don't like being out in public on our own. I think that's just innate human nature. But if you have something to take with you to wear, that makes you feel great and remind you of something that maybe you didn't think would help, and it does. There you go, so that's where it all came from and what changed?
Jordan:I like that. No, I like that Because I think too, like you made the comment of, so I'm going to kind of derail her, I'm going to go in that direction.
Jordan:I know right, we'll get back. We'll get back, it's fine, it's fine. But I like the comment that you made where I feel like these romance books can give confidence to women and the people that read them that wouldn't necessarily have confidence otherwise. Because I know too like even for myself, like when I was like, I want to say, in my like early 20s, I, when I would do something that I was like scared to do, I would embrace this like female main character badass that I had just read and I was like, no, I need to embrace their like mindset to do whatever XYZ thing was. And I feel like, and also too, I feel like romance books can build confidence for women in their love life and in other aspects that wouldn't necessarily have happened if they hadn't picked up a romance book.
Olivia:It's absolutely true, and I think I'm a walking example of that every day. You know, I think there is so many pieces that I've taken from books. I don't think I would have as much hope as I do Like just from everything I've experienced. I don't think I would have anywhere near as much hope as I do for the future as I did, but without reading romance books yeah, no, I totally get that because it's like it's something to like essentially strive for too yeah, and it's not just the relationships in them.
Olivia:Either it's like reading about fmcs that have got their own houses or know they make a big move, or they end up finding friends when they didn't think they were going to have any. I think there's so many little things that you can pull out that just it ties in really well, you know.
Jordan:Honestly, it really does. So I'm OK now going back to your Etsy shop. So you're thinking of like going solely like apparel and jewelry and anything?
Olivia:not necessarily just that, but for right now, those are the main focuses, um. Okay, that's what I love creating the most right now, um, and it tends to be what does the best.
Olivia:So oh, okay, so then, yeah, I I love being able to expand when I think's right. There's a lot of research that I put in before I pick out products, um, and what's going to go up next. So I feel like for me, I'm really nailing down. Especially in the first year, I nailed down how I want things to run in my shop. On my side, whether that be, you know, some people create things and immediately put them up. Right, there's not a gathering of ideas. Having it be cohesive and then present it out. You know, like a collection style versus a I've. I've designed something. Here you go. I'm very much someone that thrives on collections and having structure and everything, so my shop will now predominantly run on a collection basis.
Jordan:I think that's really cool. I think that's like way cooler than just like dropping. I think it's like it builds, like. Also, too, you can spin it in any way of like building excitement. So you're like okay, a collection's coming and then you can slowly tease it, and then I think there's so many more things you can do than when just coming up with like a single item plus. It's also like exciting because it's like multiple pieces.
Olivia:Yes, and that's what I love doing with it.
Olivia:I love having that sort of like time to really build a mood board out, figure out what pieces really make sense, going through designs, figuring out like there's not only a collection. Right, you've got two brands. When you're doing a collection, you're doing the brand of the collection and like what that theming is, and then you also have to make it fit your overall shop brand. So for me, dreamy Pages Co is very much a minimalist, bookish brand, like it's not always loud and out there. I think the best example of that is the Main Character Moment t-shirt. Like that shirt literally just says main character moment with two little bows.
Olivia:If you see someone wearing that, you're not going to know what it's necessarily referring to, because there's so much of this movement to romanticize your day and romanticize your life. It could just be from some person that's created their own merch because they're a content creator. You know what I mean. Versus it being like a bookish shirt where you're like oh, I'm embracing the main character energy that my favorite character has to get me through this moment right now. So I've spun it both ways, like that was in a rebranding collection or whatever. But like the Soft Reader Society, you know I had to go through and figure out. What does a soft reader want? Do you've got like the romance reader tank and all of that? It's minimal but it's also heavily leaning on that romanticizing scene that comes with being in that soft girl era and what people were loving for that is you had to match both up, if that makes any sense at all.
Jordan:Does, which I'm curious how do you come up with these collections, do you think of like the main character moment, or do you think a certain piece and then come up with like the overall brand for the drop? Like, how do you come up with? What's your thought process behind that?
Olivia:typically, I know the theme of what I want to do next. So there's two upcoming ones. Actually, one might be out by the time this episode's out. Um, one will be for online. So, oh, I'm here for the fall. I'm doing a birth drop. I've decided I want to post something on my birthday. I don't want to do a sale, because I just did a big sale on the birthday of the shop. So I was like, okay, I want to do something fun and it's like my birthday is at the beginning of like true fall, so I thought I can get away with it. So for that one, I'm literally looking at mood boards now of like fall and autumnal and like all the vibes I want to embrace in the collection. First, why the mood board is the first place you guys see when I tease anything, because I do it in order. Like all of my collections have a mood board and a very specific social media unveiling that goes with it.
Jordan:So, typically, yeah the same every time. That's the same every time.
Olivia:I like that. So you get, like the brief teaser for the collection and then you the full collection reveal. You got a vibes reveal, um, and then a live reel and then a styling guide. Every.
Jordan:I really like the styling guide. I really have so much fun.
Olivia:So now that down, I'm terrible at posting in between questions and that's what I'm trying to get better at. That's my current goal, but, um, yeah, typically it goes picking out a board, so the one that comes after the all is going to be romantic suspense based solely because one of my favorite sub genres and I can never find any romantic suspense too much that is my style. Um, so I think and book is becoming a bigger sub genre. I feel like people would let you know like we all love to play a little bit of detective. Um, some of us just like more romance in it than we do thriller, mystery vibes. But you know I can cater to the same collection, so that'll be next. But again, it's solely because I love that genre and wanted something from it. There's so many different things I take inspiration from, but, like doesn't most time though, it's the mood board that starts everything off.
Jordan:But then is that something that you are you always thinking of like different mood boards, or you, how is that? I'm just curious, like how did you come? Well, I mean, okay, so fall makes sense. But then it's like how did you think of like a romantic suspense, like mood board?
Olivia:just because I was reading so much romantic suspense and I wanted something personally and I looked online, couldn't find anything that I really loved, the romantic suspense based. And that's where that one came from the oh, the stadiums. One came from a Christmas present for my brother. I have, like sports shirts, uh, romance book club, baseball romance book club and hockey romance book club. That's one, two, but that's just the car itself. I hand drew all of those, um, and it was because I was trying to, and schemes to draw for my brother's sweatshirt, because he's a huge Tottenham Hotspur fan, and I made him one that was a sketch of the stadium. So I said, well, why not make it a club shirt? And that came there. So inspiration comes from all different kinds of places. It's never one consistent thing, but it typically ties back to something I love about reading or something I've loved in books that I haven't been able to find anywhere else oh okay, that's like kind of cool.
Jordan:So then, what would be like one and now, this doesn't have to be like a collection, but like what would be like one thing that you would love to sell at some point, if you do or don't, but like an like, I don't know, like something tangible.
Olivia:Tangible if that makes sense when you ask me this question, I can. My main thing that I want to do more of that I'm trying to push myself to put myself out there. More to do is author collections. So that is what means like for me personally. If I've read a soul book and I have loved it to pieces and I get to create for that and bring their world that is my safe space to life, that is the best thing and that is what I want to do more of. I love making my own collections too, and I will always keep doing that. But if you ask me like what's one tangible thing I wish I could do, it is do more of that.
Jordan:It is to bring my favorite books to life and I think that would be super fun like to do like author collections or even if it's just like one book or series, that's like super big or something, would you? So? I know it's like an Etsy shop, so it it's on like the Etsy app, etsy website. Would you ever make your own website and sell on there, or would you not want to do that? I?
Olivia:would love to do that. It is a cost thing. Oh, it is cheaper right now for me to sell on Etsy than it is for me to have my own website.
Olivia:Oh, okay, that makes sense then, Eventually, when I can, I will absolutely do that. Um, that is something I want to do by the time I'm like three years old. That's like a further out goal. So the the costs of starting up a small business on Etsy are minimal. I think I spent $27 to open up my shop yeah, that was really inexpensive. But then to open it up on somewhere yeah, that was really inexpensive. But then to open it up on somewhere like Shopify, which is probably where I would do it, I believe it's a lot more. So we're playing around with it.
Jordan:And that makes sense. And I know too like a website can be a little bit like more demanding of like putting products up. I'm sure I mean I also have no idea, so like don't, don't. I think it's just getting the routine down of how to do it and how to time it and everything. That's probably the hardest part. Oh, yeah, maybe. Yeah, because I know too there's like so many sites that like have like a template of like sites that you can like follow.
Olivia:So I'm sure that makes it like somewhat easier to put things up, but like also with how you do it and I have no idea, so like I would love to have my own site because I can picture exactly how I'd want it to look and like how I would have people navigate it and everything we will get there and I can't wait for the day we get there.
Olivia:But you know I'm pretty excited with the journey that we've been on in the first year. So who knows, who knows we can do this in a year and see that I've got my own website and we're doing really well, and you know all of that and see that and that's perfect.
Jordan:And I kind of, before we get into like book conventions, I did want to ask what is a piece of advice you would give someone that wants to start their own like Etsy shop, like bookish Etsy shop? What would be the piece of advice you would give them?
Olivia:plan like have a concrete plan of what you want to do and where you want to go. When I rebranded, it was the best thing creating a full out outline of everything I wanted the shop to be like, from my vision board and mission statement to what my dreams and goals were, to everything that mattered most to me having my routines for posting on socials and how to get orders done and out the door, how I structure my listings, the like, tone and voice and everything that I use for the branding. Every little detail. The more you can have planned out, the better, because then you're off and running and it makes things so much easier. So if you have a rough idea of how you want everything to run, then it makes the designing time explode because you have so much more of it. Like.
Olivia:A lot of times you can get stuck in the weeds of how am I going to fit enough keywords into my search listing so that people actually find my shop? What is my you know about me page going to include? What is my thank you cards going to say? Does it all match? Does it make sense as a brand? How am I going to show up on social media? What's going to make me different. What's going to make me stand out's going to make me stand out? All of those kind of things. That is, what I'd recommend is just literally sitting down, having a huge brain dump plan and then get it all organized in a way that makes sense to you okay, I feel like that's a good piece of advice.
Olivia:I feel I don't have an Etsy shop, but I feel like that's a good piece of advice nice because the Etsy stuff is so intuitive, like it literally walks you through step by step how to post something to list, so it's not like you're going to miss a step with that. It's the parts that are the hardest of running. The shop itself is making it seem cohesive and, you know, all merged together and meshed together.
Jordan:Oh, ok Then, yeah, that makes sense, that that makes sense. Okay, let's talk about book conventions. I so what made you want to go to a book convention like? What made you get like? Because those, those tickets are expensive depending on the signing.
Olivia:Yes, they are expensive. Um, the first one I went to was in Philly and I used to live in Philly, so it was like I think it was like 10 blocks from my flat, it was not too far. Oh, that's so nice, and it was one of the cheaper book signings. So I went there and I wanted to see a bunch of friends I'd made earlier in the year and hadn't, like, actually had time to go and see yet. So that's how I started going. I mean, I knew a couple people going. Yes, there were a ton of authors I was interested in seeing and that was great too, but it was mainly hey, does anyone want to come stay at my place and we can go to the signing together and it'll be a fun time. It was also half a day, so it wasn't like the big three-day conventions and everything. It was a four-hour signing session and then the rest of the time was hanging out with friends.
Jordan:Oh, but see, like I also like think that's what it's like. Those are nice, because I feel like some of these conventions, like I get it, they are like three days long and there's stuff in between and there's usually a ball at the end. But I'm like I could also just do a signing and spend way less money.
Olivia:I've never been to the ones with balls at the end of them, um, but I've mainly just gone in seeing what the party's like and then then gone and done stuff with friends. So half the time when I'm going to these signings I'm paying to be in the same place as my friends to see some of my all-time favorite authors and to get some new exposure to new authors and everything. But you're right, they do get really long that's, oh my gosh, so long.
Jordan:And then I'm like I would be like pooped yeah, you, you. My biggest recommendation is take the day after you get back off which, and because I want to ask too, like what are your best tips about? Like going to them, like what do you wish you knew the first time you went to one?
Olivia:so I'll say the first one that I went to was fine because it was Indies Invade Philly is my go-to recommendation for anyone that is looking to do their first ever book signing. It's an amazingly ran event. It is very, very organized and it is like four hour signing windows. Signing windows. You will get to meet everyone that you want to meet and even have time for extra visits. Because that was the biggest thing I was worried about and I see people worry about it the most is getting to meet the authors that they're paying to go and see, if you're ever looking for a signing to go to go to that one first, because Jennifer and Holly do the most amazing job of putting it together.
Olivia:If you're going to a bigger convention um think like book harvest or polycon, those kind of ones um, I would think of doing a list of authors that you absolutely have to meet but cap it at like 10 and then that way you're going in with the expectations of you know, you know you're going to make the priority of meeting your 10 and anyone else you get to meet is a bonus. I think going into these events with that mindset really helps, um, because they do get busy, you know they do. There are lines. I know not everyone likes queuing. Unfortunately, that is a part of going to these events. So if you're not okay with queuing, please don't go to one, uh, because it's there for a good time, and if you're going to complain about the queues, it's probably not a good space for you. Um, but I I think book conventions are what you make them right like. If you're going with your friends, you know you're going to have a great time because, no matter what situation comes up, you're going to have your people around you and make it fun, no matter what. I think that's what I did at the two that I've been to recently. We all made the best of it and we had a hilarious, great time and they are treasured memories.
Olivia:I would also recommend not taking every single book on your shelf if it's like a big author. So, for example, I'm going to use Laura Pavlov as an example. Everyone loves Laura. They have, you know, honey Mountain all the way through to her current series. I'm doing the maths, that's at least 15, uh, so that's 18 books. If you were to take Laura's like big series and you took every single one of them to go and get signed, that's 18 books. That takes ages. So the common courtesy rule at book signings right is to go if you have more than five that you want signed and personalized. You do the line multiple times and you get wristbands multiple times because otherwise you stop other readers from getting to meet that author. Yeah, and that is the one thing that I have seen happen several times and I despise it because it's just people being rude at that point and you see it posted in these convention Facebooks of the time of like this is the common courtesy rule, like this is what you should know, um, and people.
Olivia:I honestly didn't think people got more than like one or two signed no, so that's the other thing is like having pre orders is really helpful if you can afford it, because pre-ordering from authors means you're guaranteed to get those books. And then you know you have to go and meet them because you have to meet them to pick up the books. So that's the other big thing. It's like, um, and most of the time the special editions that authors have, they don't have at the tables because you know they've pre-ordered them for a reason and they can only bring so many people to these tables. It's like you know at school, when you go and check in for an event or something and it's those white plastic tables that collapse down.
Olivia:Yeah, they're not huge, it's those are the sides of the tables and sometimes authors have two and sometimes they have one, depending on you know event. Every single book that they are bringing has to fit on those tables, like the different editions and things. They can display them. That's you know. Also, think about them. Most of them are flying and most of them have so much stock.
Jordan:Yeah, and a lot of them too have to pay for getting it shipped there. So it's like all of it adds up, man, it does add up, they are.
Olivia:Book conventions can be expensive because you buy books without realizing how many you've bought and that cart feels fast.
Jordan:Let me tell you so oh yeah, I, I can only imagine.
Olivia:I see, like I saw your like book haul and I was like damn okay, the one from the one in February was worse than the one from in August and, to be fair, most of the ones I got in August I was very kindly gifted, so we love that. That was kind of nice.
Olivia:But having to it's expensive yeah, yeah, I'm thinking bringing books back too it is, most of them ended up wholesaling them to a local bookstore and the local bookstore took them for them because they didn't want to have to pay to have them ship back so the, the bookstore, paid for it to be shipped.
Olivia:So an indie book? No, no, no. So an indie bookstore? Sometimes indie bookstore owners will go to these events. Okay, at the end, if they see authors have stock, they'll go around and say, hey, I'll buy these for you at wholesale price, so like eight, nine dollars per book, and then I'll stock them in my bookstore and then you don't have to ship. The author doesn't have to ship them anywhere, because the indie bookstore can take them and sell them in the shop oh, okay, that makes sense, but I'm thinking like you as the reader going.
Jordan:you're having to like ship all your books back, so like.
Olivia:Yes and no Sometimes. I mean, I would recommend packing a, like paying for a carry bag, like a what are they called? You know the ones where you take them to the till and they weigh it. What is that called? Like a checked bag? Like a suitcase Bag? Check suitcase? Yeah, I would do a check suitcase Because most of the times when you go to the events and you do registration, you don't actually like have to register. You just get your lanyard and your goodie bag and most of the time those have books in them too. So, like gifted books from authors go in the goodie bags with stickers and like art prints and stuff. Oh, that's fun, it's really fun. And then you can get those signed during the event. That's nice, um, so that's typically what people will do as well, and then they start going around and collecting all these books. So I will never forget one of my friends having to sit on someone else's suitcase to make it shut. They got to the airport and it barely was under the weight limit to get it back oh my gosh.
Jordan:I this completely side note. I went to this was years ago as, like a graduation gift. Like me and my friend decided to go to Hawaii. Um, and we like got to Hawaii, it was fine, it was whatever. Coming back, my friend was like you have to open up your suitcase. Like mine's the max, they won't let me have it under the plane. Like you need to take some of this stuff. And I'm like, okay, let's try to fit all the stuff that we can in my.
Olivia:It was insane, but I feel like I just had to share that story. I don't know, because that's exactly what happens. You go with them. I went to the one in August with two books. I came back with two. Both of my carry-on bags were books.
Jordan:Amazing, yeah, I mean naturally Okay. So, like I, we're going to get into like some book convention drama. I don't know if you heard about the Sinners and Stardust. Did you hear about?
Olivia:all that.
Jordan:Oh my gosh, can we talk about that? Because I am dying to talk about it I, so I don't know what it is. First of all, I feel so bad for every author, that and that musician I don't know any, I'm not going to say any names, like I don't. I also don't know the. I think he's a musician for anybody that had their hands like people, like touch them, pulled them, had their boundaries like violated, I uncalled for, not okay, like I think everybody that's at fault should, should be punished, like it. I'm thinking especially for like a man and if any man did that to any female it would be game over but like because a female is doing it to a man or another female, they think it's okay and it's not. But so I do want to say that, but I do. I'm curious because it's like you hear all these things happening at sinners and stardust. Did you ever feel, like at any of these events, that you went to something like this, like happened or felt like it would happen?
Olivia:I mainly so when, when you hear about the book convention drama one, I think it's first important to just wait and see what else comes out. I think a lot of the times at conventions things can either get blown out of proportion. It definitely didn't happen with the one in August I went to that did not get blown out of proportion. I was there. I can tell you it wasn't um but the Sinners and Stardust. I didn't go to Sinners and Stardust, I don't know too much about the event, but I think a lot of people start jumping on each other and I think sometimes, before people make their draw, their conclusions, sit back just like let things unfold for a couple days, because I think you have the combination of exhausted people.
Olivia:Then you have a combination of people that feel horrible about what's happened, um, and the scare and fear that comes out of those. But also if you're going to an upcoming convention, it when you're waiting for your convention to respond to those things right. So, like I'm going to book harvest in October, I sat back and waited to see what they were going to do, because I think it depends on how they respond if I feel comfortable going still On a personal level, because, no matter what happens at a book convention, like whichever one it it is, it impacts the others immediately, because if readers don't feel safe, they're not going to go to these things anymore and they're going to drop off. And you want your event to be the safest, most exciting thing, because you also have to think how many of those authors that were at centers and startups and had several issues are then still going to future events.
Jordan:Well, and that's the thing is. I saw so many authors being like I'm not doing any more events like unless I have my own security, and I think that's completely valid and I hate saying this, but I don't and I'm not knocking dark romance readers, that's not what I'm doing here, but I do find it very interesting that this is what happened at like a dark romance readers. That's not what I'm doing here, but I do find it very interesting that this is what happened at like a dark romance like specifically this, like I, like I don't. And then and it's not everybody, and I do think there's something too with like parasocial relationships and these people feel like they have this personal tie with an author, even though it's just like the author was like thank you so much for reading my book. They just feel that they have this special connection that people think that then they can be touched Like I.
Jordan:I I'm one of those people that when somebody stands too close to me in line, I'm like, I'm like, can you back up, like and we're in like a queue and we don't know each other. I'm like you are too close to me, like, I feel uncomfortable, like, so I can only imagine, like I don't, I would not like to do any of those balls, any of those extra events, because of how close people are and I'm like I don't know you, like we could have had a conversation on social media once, but I'm like I don't know you, so I can only imagine, like authors, and I think it's totally valid that now, these authors because I've seen a few like book harvest and I've seen some authors drop out. Now I don't know why, I don't know if that was because of Sinners and Stardust, something else, but I completely understand these authors dropping out of events because of Sinners and Stardust or for whatever reason.
Olivia:Yeah, and a lot of times they post the reason. Sometimes it's family things come up, sometimes it's hey, it's just not a good time in their schedule right now. They thought they were going to have it differently when they signed up ages ago, because they have known they're going to these events for like a year. So they applied probably a year and a few months ago. You know. So when you find out about these events you're like, oh okay, because you see them all get announced before the tickets go on sale and typically tickets are going on sale like eight, seven, eight months before the event. So you know, it's kind of a life happens.
Olivia:Authors post about why they're dropping out. I think if you're going to a convention and you don't know who's dropped, either check the website or go into the Facebook group. I will say going to conventions having Facebook is absolutely definite. You need it because that's where most conventions post updates. They don't really use instagram, they won't use tiktok. They will use facebook as their posting system. But like when they yeah, so like book harvest, when all of this stuff came out, that's why they posted hey, these are the security measures going into place. There's now going to be a bag check, like if you've got a purse, a handbag, it has to be clear within this certain amount of range and the bags are good. If you don't match up, the bags are going to be checked here and there's like a place for you to drop everything off. I think that's what they mean by bag check. They might just they're also going to have people checking, like security checkpoints for bags, but that was their response to what happened at sinners and stardust.
Jordan:You know, really, we've got extra security, yeah, but they post all of that stuff in the facebook group, so just make sure you're in the facebook group, um that's kind of nice that I think I really appreciate like book harvest doing that in response to because, like to be completely honest, like I'm very curious if sinners and stardust will happen again next year. I know they have like a like, essentially they came up with another one that's happening in New Orleans or some shit, I don't know, but I think that one's like already set and done. But I am very curious if the Sinners and Stardust that happens in August in Boston will happen again next year or not, because I can see like a lot of people, especially within like the dark romance community, authors wise wouldn't want to go again. Because it's like it's different when you like these other conventions are responding to something that happened at sinners and stardust, but for it to be the convention that it happened at I think is different that and then also learning what ones they're connected to.
Olivia:So like, do they have other? Like you said, there's one in New Orleans. Is that just a one-off spinoff or is that a content? You know there's? A great example of this is Wild and Windy. There were several issues with Wild and Windy. I'm not going to hold back on that one. So they run one in Vegas, one in Phoenix and one that moves around. I think Chicago is where it was, but they're about to run. Okay, I saw what happened in February. I've seen other things come out since. I've seen things. What happened in February.
Olivia:They ran Basically the whole premise of Wilder Winnie they did not set up and I went to the one in Phoenix. How they did it was that they had one room with, like I want to say, 10 to 11 authors, but they were the big name authors that everyone pretty much paid to go and see Chantal Tessio, ka Tucker, laura Pavlov, kristen Proby, sj Tilly, liz Tomfordi, nina Hendricks. They were all in one room and they, when you registered, you got like a lanyard and it had a color circle on it and a number sticker below and they said the first day everyone will get it because you have vip in general. Um, and so the other room had every other author and it was easy to walk around and you could see everyone and they still did wristbands. But how they did the big ticket room was you got called by number and by color and they just were getting nowhere in getting through these rooms. And I mean, like we got to the end I I think there were six colors and they'd only gotten through four of the VIP colors by the end of day one. So and they sold, I think, like it was a massive event, massive. I think there was at least 300-something VIP tickets, like it was crazy, and so we I got to see some of my favorite authors Hands down. I was able to do it, but it was solely because I was lucky.
Olivia:On the day two they made minor changes in speeding things up, but we ended up getting in on day two to go and see all of those authors, but what happened was people were staying in the room and they weren't leaving after they'd met people because they didn't want the chance to like not meet them again. Oh anyway, so we get like an hour. We got an hour, half an hour from the end and they basically just said anyone, if you've not been in there, go in there. But there were authors in that room signing until 1am because of their bad planning and they've done it the exact same at the future events. So there was that issue. I think there was a couple of like safety issues at one point and then, obviously, much further down the line, there's some other bad things that have happened in terms of like authors who are going and things have been said and their responses to making readers feel safe was not great and I just won't go to their events again because of that.
Olivia:But I think I think it's just watching how conventions respond and learning who runs them and learning what's safe to go to and what's not safe to go to for you personally is huge, and I don't normally get I don't ever like to be super negative. I mean that convention was one that we made the most of it as a group of friends. You know, I got to see some of my favorite people. We got an Airbnb together. I will say don't stay in the hotel, stay in the Airbnbs. There's some great ones probably nearby. Stay with friends. It makes it cheaper, and that is those are some of my best memories from signings is just hanging out being stupid with them afterwards Because we're all so deliriously tired and everything hurts that we're all just kind of having a great time. So if you, you know, they were the people that made it the greatest.
Jordan:So it's like it's the people you go with. Yeah, it's the people you go with, and the people you meet when you're there.
Olivia:There you know, so don't be afraid to have a conversation with whoever's next to you. You might not know them, but you'll. You'll learn them by the time you leave, exactly.
Jordan:I feel, like everybody that goes to these books conventions, they just love books, like I remember. So I went to Romanticy Book Con, which I have to say, like, overall, I think that was a very solid one, even though they had one of those things where it's like they had the big authors in different rooms and you had to get a time. But I got my ticket very last minute so all of those authors were booked up so I couldn't meet any of them, unfortunately. But one of my dream people I wanted to meet was Nisha J Tooley and she was not one of those authors. So I was able to meet her and I'm so extremely grateful because I love her books. But in her line I had to wait like an hour and a half in her line, but the people I was waiting with it was the coolest thing that happened because I think it was the person in front of me.
Jordan:We ended up talking about Sarah J Maas's Throne of Glass and we're like discussing that series, spoilers, things that are like she could be like hinting at for another other series and things like that, where the person in front of them heard us and then we became a three person party talking about it, and then the person in front of them heard us and then we became a three-person party talking about it and then the person in front of them heard us and then it just it became the four of us until we basically got up to the front and then, as they were meeting Nisha, then they just fell off. But I think what's really cool is everybody just loves books so you can just start a conversation, especially if it's somebody you're in line for. It's so easy to be like oh, what was your favorite book by them or did you read this series? Like I loved it, and it's. Everybody just wants to talk about books and I think that's so freaking cool it is.
Olivia:It's the best. You get to talk about books, you get to meet new people. I think it's one of the best places if you don't normally get to have a conversation with someone that you don't know. It is the best place to do that because you know you've at least got one common interest. Yes, and I think that's the most fun. Um, I've also just walked up to people that I think I know online, and then turns out it's not that person, but we start talking anyways. That was one of my favorite moments. Yeah, I love that. Yeah, they did know who I was, though, so you know that's fine it works, it works.
Jordan:So it's like totally it, totally, it totally works. Um, did I ask you what's like one tip of advice you would have for someone that's going to a book convention?
Olivia:piece of advice. I mean I can do another one, that's fine okay, I did, I did ask you.
Olivia:No, I feel like you talked about it other than like making the the list of authors that you know you want to see and making them a priority, not taking more than the five books unless you're willing to get in line multiple times, making sure you look out for pre-orders. They typically close month and a half, two months before the event. Some local authors will do it up until the very last minute, so you've also got that option. But typically if you go to baventicom, a lot of them are listed there and they have it organized by convention. So, for example, I was looking at book harvest authors. I literally just went to book harvest at Baventi and like scrolled through to see who had pre-orders open. Still, that's a good way to do it, um wait, I actually have a piece of advice too.
Jordan:If there's a now this, I don't know like this would be for people that, like, can't afford to go to a book convention but you live near one, I highly recommend checking out the local bookstore, whether it's an indie one or a Barnes, noble, bam, because I have found a lot of authors will go to those bookstores and sign books that are in stock. So if you can't afford a book convention but their books are in a bookstore, I would highly recommend checking out bookstores that are local to where the convention is, because you just might find a signed book.
Olivia:There's that, and then a lot of them also might do like pop-up signings the night before the convention starts or a couple days after. So that is also one thing to keep an eye out for is because some of them because they're close together and have to come in a night early, they may or may not just talk to a local bookstore and see if they can do an event together. Um well, that's a good one. My last piece of advice comes with a very fun story. If you happen to see the escapade that was me at wild and windy, I did not check a carry-on check bag and I had so many books so I ended up trying to use a tote bag, not one of the ones from the shop, I promise. The ones that are in my shop have been tested at book conventions. They were tested in August. They did not break. There were no issues, I promise.
Olivia:But this one was from somewhere else and I took a bookish tote bag with me and it promptly broke, like an hour into the signing, and so I had to like tie the handles together and I was dragging it around by the floor because it was literally not carryable. So please, please, please, get a book cart. It is the best thing. There's the hulking bags if you need those. They're like literally just a little cart, but instead of the solid sides it's like a metallic side like you drag at a post office, um, or you can get a book cart, and a book cart is perfect for these events because you can keep them organized. They fit snacks. They fit drinks. Take an energy drink with you. You're gonna want one. If you're not normally a coffee person, I promise by the end of the weekend you are going to want some form of caffeine. So always bring like a snack with you too, as, as a girlie with food allergies, I always take snacks with me. You're going to need more energy than you think and it might not be the most accessible, so make sure you take something with you. Hydrate energy drinks. It all fits in the book cart. It keeps your book safe. No one's going to dent them.
Olivia:There's a lot of signing, exclusives, special editions that go up and about. Make sure you've got those together and go with an open mind, like you're going to meet new authors that you haven't spoken to before. Just go up and have a conversation. You do not have to buy books at every person's table, but they often have like three stickers or maybe a bookmark that tells you more about their books. It's a great way to meet new people and support others, even if it's downloading their book on KU. You know, that was a really interesting thing that I found at the one in August. Not a lot of people were buying the books, but they were downloading them on KU and getting the names and making sure that they had access to them because it sounded interesting. So that's also an option if you're going to a book convention and you've spent a ton of money already and you just don't don't think you should spend any more.
Olivia:Ku's available. The wish list feature has a private one and you can go through and make a KU wish list and keep a running list of all the books from the different events. I've done that. I've like got a whole wish list just so I know it's like a list and that I can go through and be like okay, I need to download some new stuff on my kindle for whatever's coming up, I want to read some of these books. Here's the list and I can go through and find authors that I've previously met.
Jordan:I think that's a really good one, because I think too like I feel like people can't like think that you not that you have to buy a book, but like almost like you should buy a book. So it's kind of nice having that mindset of like no, you don't need to do that, like, okay, use a thing to like you can also if you read them ahead of time.
Olivia:You can also get a journal. I have my scrapbook journal that I take with me, and for books that I've read I actually do up a scrapbook page and have the authors sign that. So I'm going to do some of those soon.
Jordan:I think that's cool. You know what I think people should also do? Well, I guess this is kind of tough, but I think what would be cool is like if these book conventions had essentially like a t-shirt with the logo of the convention on it and then well and then have, you can have authors sign that.
Olivia:And I think that's really cool. People get Kindle inserts, pillowcases like poster boards with the signings on that they can then frame. I will say, if you're going to go that route, please be courteous to the authors. If it's not someone that you've read or met before, like it's not a. I think some people go to these conventions and treat it like a game where they just want the signature from every author around and it is someone that has been there with authors, like I haven't been an assistant but like stood there helping, you know, with whatever, chatting with my friends that are assistants, whatever, because I'm friends with some of these people. Now I know it's weird An author wants to be friends with my crazy butt.
Jordan:No, that makes sense I get that.
Olivia:Um, I've seen some people go up and just literally toss them whatever they want signing, won't talk about the books, and they're like, can you just sign this? And then they walk away and I think that's just plain rude. Yeah, no, it gives me the, it gives me the ick. Yeah, if you're gonna go that route of just taking something and you don't know the author or anything, just have a conversation, like just it. It takes no effort to be kind and have a conversation with someone no effort at all. So you know they're trying to just share their books and hey, let's face it, most readers have some kind of either anxiety, depression, like there's some kind of mental health thing. I feel like all the book girlies have something, um, and I just realized how harsh that sounded. But it's true, you know.
Olivia:No, it's so true so true, though, you're not wrong no, but you know, I think also, authors are also humans too. They're not just some brilliant genius that wrote a book. They, they are that, but they are also a human um, and I think just being able to have that courtesy is lovely.
Jordan:So oh yeah no, no, and it's just be kind human, it's not that hard.
Olivia:It is not that hard just to be kind just, even if you know you're never going to read the book. Yeah, even if you know it's not your cup of tea. They have been practicing this little pitch. They have been, you know, they've poured their life into this book and a piece of them, and it takes five seconds to hear him out.
Jordan:Yes, no, I, I totally agree with that. Okay, so, before we end this episode, I do want to ask you two questions, and the first one is what is the spiciest book you've ever read? Hit me or hit the listeners.
Olivia:I have two, but I'm going to try and pick between them. No, no, no.
Jordan:Liz, okay, now you have to say both. You can't just leave us hanging.
Olivia:I was deliberating this before I was deliberating this on my hot girl world this morning. There are two. They're both sports romance. So if you're not a sports person, I'm sorry. Actually, the first one I think you could get away with not being a sports person and enjoying it's, away with not being a sports person and enjoying it's Sideline Play by Taylor James. It is a baseball romance, age gap.
Olivia:She is the coach's daughter. He like has like she's grown up around this team, right, and she's now becoming a physical therapy student. That's what she's doing and she helped out with the team because that's, you know, shadowing is part of needing a job and he is the captain for the team. He gets injured, they get to go, so she gets pulled in on his rehab because obviously she's top of the class, because she's grown up around this team and is such a genius and she's like pink and bubbly and all of the things, so she goes with him to the mountains to help rehab and things pick up from that.
Olivia:There is how, like, are you cool with any details? Or oh, my god, yeah, hit me. Okay, so it's. She's a virgin, oh and oh no, but not in a bad way. Not in a bad way. It's not her only personality trait. She's very explorative and very much like is she? No, she is. She is okay, um, but there's a little bit of trauma in there. There's a little bit of like. There's a little bit of like she's reserved for a reason. It's not like a no, guys have ever been interested in me. It's my whole personality. I just want it over with thing. And she it's also breeding kink that's the other one in there um, but not in like a hampering way, in like a I'm into this, but it's not like I want kids right now. Why does that make sense?
Jordan:I think so I think so, like I want you inside her. Yes, I swear this whole podcast and I can't say that word.
Olivia:But you get it, you get it um.
Jordan:It's more the sensation, if that makes sense it's just so funny how we're like trying to explain it without saying it and then this podcast has literally spilled the smut and I'm like blushing yeah, I mean, I'm also not home alone, so that's part of it, but I have my gas.
Olivia:Literally everyone is home right now. Oh, anyways, it's fine. Anyways, there is a very, very hot scene. He reads her kindle because she doesn't know how to explain to him why she enjoys it and like her whole, like her whole mindset regarding sex, and he reads a kindle scene. There's a whole thing with the shower.
Jordan:It is impeccable it is very very hot are they like recreating it?
Olivia:no, it's more so how he learns about what she likes, but it's not like he fully recreates it oh, okay, okay, okay um, yeah, if anyone's scared of reading, you know she's a virgin. It is one of the best ones. Just saying, um, you also won't look at pink cupcakes in the same way again in a good way, but like it's not a bad thing, it makes me smile every time wait, wait.
Jordan:Sorry, I have to ask did you have you, did you wow remix? Did you read the megan quinn? No, okay, the holiday one, no, I haven't read any Megan Quinn. Okay, because there's a moment with a candy cane and the only thing I can freaking think of is yeast infection.
Olivia:Oh, no, no, no, no, no. It's nothing like that. It's nothing like that. It's not like a. Let's use pink cupcakes in a bad way. No, no, no, no, no. I said that so wrong pink cupcakes in a bad way no, no, no, no, no.
Jordan:I said that so wrong. It's just like a funny reference in the book, okay, okay, because I'm like I things like that happen and I don't think sexy, hot, I think yeast infection.
Olivia:I just get the ick but not the point. Um, the second one. The second one is the speed demon series by Caitlin Peterjohn it. It recently came out. It is phenomenal. It is like oh, it's one of the best sports romance series I have ever read. You are following the same couple across the whole thing. It is on rapid release right now. So the next one, flat Out, is out October 1st and then the other two, red Line, no Red Flag and Finish Line, are out by the November 23rd. I can't remember their exact release dates, but he is the?
Jordan:Sorry, I have to make a comment because it's called Speed Demon, right? Speed Demons, yeah. My first thought was a paranormal romance and I was like that this paranormal does sports or something.
Olivia:I was like so confused and I just I needed to say that no, speed demon, yeah yeah no demons involved nope, it's f1 um and she is the first female, she's the newest f1 female rookie, I think she's a third of all time and she is not afraid of calling out the sexism in the sport, the dirty tactics of the other drivers, and there is this slow, slow burn that is one of the hottest things I've ever read and the tension between them and it's like they're racing across these very, very dangerous tracks. She's fighting the patriarchy and she's dealing with all of these terrible things that people are saying and she's got this family that are like she's taking her brother's seat. Her brother had a career ending injury. She steps into his seat in this like middle of the pack car and she takes it places. I mean, she is a certified genius and she's also not afraid of being like yeah, I like these things and it is, oh my God, the way her and Callum are together.
Olivia:Her name's A'Reilly, she's French, he's Scottish, which I love him. I love him, I love him, I love him. But, like, there is this they're like dealing with people making edits of them because of their like looks across the track and their interviews and their quick, witty banter. And he is just like I need you in any way I can have you energy.
Olivia:And the emotional cliffhangers are just amazing. And the little fan family, god, I could rave about it for days, but the spice in that one. There is public stuff there is. I want you so badly. Stuff there's will. They won't they. Um, it is like she's like it, she's learning, like what pleasure should feel like. All the time I'm like sweating thinking about it. And these books are not short but they are the most addictive thing you'll ever read. And there's his and her perspectives. If you're not into the sport, caitlin explains everything. You've got a glossary if you need reference for what the words mean. There is a breakdown before all of the grand prixs that literally have a map that she drew explains the key points of the race, like things to know, and then you read it and you feel like you are in the car driving with them oh, that's cool yeah dope.
Jordan:They're amazing, absolutely amazing well, if anybody needs some sports spicy, book recs spicy, spicy book recs spicy, spicy, yeah, um, okay, and then the last question I have for you is I realized that it autocorrected to understand but what is an underhyped author that you think people should read more?
Olivia:and then if you have like a book rack of theirs that you would recommend, if you've ever seen me post on my page, you know I could rent probably about five or six of them right now, but I'm gonna go with indy valentine because I feel like she has something for everyone. Okay, I met indy at the convention in august. She has the coolest book covers. If I ever worked with indy as well, she's on my like bucket list of dream authors. If I ever worked with her, I think I would simply pass out of excitement. Um, but she has sports romance and then she has this emotional whirlwind, phenomenal, beautifully written romance that is like healing and trauma and emotional and like all the best things. I have yet to read one of her baseball books. I'm getting to them, indy, if you ever listen to this, I promise I will as soon as I get a chance to breathe. But I would say start with Capri. She is 26.
Jordan:I've definitely okay. Sorry, um, I've seen that on your shelf.
Olivia:That's awkward here you go, yeah, yes, um, she has three versions because she supports artists like no Tomorrow, so she has the traditional cover, which is the one that I'm currently showing jordan. It's the one with the girl with blonde hair and the like crochet looking cover. It's so pretty, I love that it is um.
Olivia:And then she also has the other one where it's a girl leaning out of the window on like a in like a italian villa, villa with the sunglasses on and the pink flowers. That's the special edition art version. And then she has the signing exclusive, which is like white, with blue postage stamps and like little yellow icons on them Gorgeous, that's a hardcover, though, good Lord, can you tell I love her in this book, with how much I'm yapping about her editions already, goodness. Anyways, back to the point of Capri I wait, can I make a?
Jordan:can I just like say a comment? I won't say the pr firm, but there she worked with a pr firm for that and it's one that I like follow and I applied for that arc and they were like okay. And then they were like nope. And I was like okay, cool. Yeah. I was like why tell me yes to begin with, if you're just going to take it away? It's happened to me twice. I won't apply for arcs with them anymore. But I'm not going to name any names, but yeah.
Olivia:Yeah, interesting.
Jordan:But I still get their emails. I'm like oh well, I can see like if any books are coming out that I'll like read when it releases.
Olivia:I mean that's a mood um right, but she, I'm gonna jump back in, but she is a 26 year old teacher sorry, sorry, jordan, that sucks.
Jordan:Let me tell you about the book.
Olivia:No, that's so bad. Oh my god, that was amazing that was amazing.
Jordan:I'm gonna jump back in now. Fuck your story.
Olivia:Jordan. I was like, how do I segue back into the whole question you asked me without it being awkward? And look what I did if you don't know. Jordan and I have been friends for four years. We started books around very close together, so I feel like, at this point, if you, if this is the first time you're hearing us talk, good luck oh, oh, my god, yeah, this honestly, that conversation literally sums it up and I think it's amazing.
Olivia:It is amazing yeah, we spent a while on the beach together and this is what it was like, so you're basically just getting a face time with us at this rate yeah, with some book recs yeah.
Olivia:So capri is my like soul book and jordan's making me laugh again and we're not gonna get through this if we don't start. So she was 26. She got married at a young age to a god-awful man and she gets divorced because she finds him sleeping with her best friend and he's been doing that for most of their marriage, actually most of the time they've been together. So the divorce is finalized and her sister goes. We're going on holiday, we're going to capri. So she goes with her and they are like literally at the beginning of this holiday and she goes to this sweet shop and she's's looking for like jawbreakers and he like starts talking to her and she's like this is the most fun I've had in a conversation and I don't know how long. Meanwhile they're talking and flirting. Her sister meets one of his co-workers, or like best friends, and gets them on a chartered boat to go out to an island the next day. And it turns out that the person that owns the boating company is Jones, the person that Capri met in the sweet shop, and they decide to have a one-week fling. There is a 13-year age difference, where he's older, so they have a one-week very, very hot fling and Capri is like, okay, I'm going to, you know, enjoy my life. And it is like her getting to enjoy herself again and find love again and healing. And Indy doesn't shy away from making it her and make it be painful, because she obviously is only there for a week, so she goes back home three months. I want to say it's three months later. Um, I'm pretty sure it's three months later. But he shows up in her small town at the local bar and turns out he has someone there and he's going to be there for a while and so they decide to make a go of it.
Olivia:It is. It's got so much of the things I love in here. It's got like karaoke nights. It's got a close family moment. It's got so much of the things I love in here. It's got like karaoke nights. It's got close family moments. It's got this deep emotional trauma that is so personal for me as well. So I saw a lot of myself in Capri and I think just having that, having Jones in there with all of his reassuring words, it's like. Healing from anything that is difficult is painful on your own, but when you hurt someone else with it too and you don't intentionally mean to, that is also reflected in there and it's very, very beautifully done. I just love it. I cried a lot reading that book, like a lot, and I don't cry at books. So I think if you're looking for something that is a fresh take on a romance love after feeling like you don't deserve it anymore um, a grumpy mmc just you need that book in your life.
Jordan:I feel like everyone should read that book oh, okay, okay, when I need a good cry, I'll pick it up. Maybe it's a good thing. This pr company I'm bringing it back, olivia, I'm bringing it back to my story. Maybe it's a good thing. They denied me, yeah, accepted me and then denied me. They knew they were like this bitch can't handle this book, just cry too much yeah, oh.
Olivia:So I can't wait for her twin sister's book to come out next year, because it's a runaway groom a runaway groom and the teaser reel was incredible oh, now I need to go look at this teaser reel.
Jordan:Okay, well, now that we have all the book recs from you. Thank you so much. Oh wait, I want to give you the floor. Did you want to plug your instagram shop? Oh yeah.
Olivia:I mean yeah, yeah, yeah. So if you've enjoyed listening to this chaotic rant, um, I'm Olivia. Uh, you'll find me over on pages and journeys. There's a dot between pages and a dot between and and journeys, so that is where you'll find me posting bookstagram, not bookstagram book news. Um, you'll also see me do trope to trope romance roulette.
Olivia:I love a bookish game. My mind loves a puzzle, so you'll find that. Um, a lot of cozy book chats. Like I love to just be comfy. I don't have that perfect aesthetic where it's like let me dress up and look perfect 24, 7 and very much so a down to earth. Like you're gonna get me if you get me vibe. Um, I love a dance out moment. So if you want any of that, that's where you'll find all of those things. But if you're gonna get me, if you get me vibe, um, I love a dance out moment. So if you want any of that, that's where you'll find all of those things.
Olivia:But if you're looking for bookish merch, or you happen to be an author that needs PR, or because I'm doing PR now for authors if you want a collection done that brings your world to life, uh, feel free to shoot me an email or a message, and that's at dreamypagesco, which is my small business. If you are looking for custom book sack shirts that you get to pick 10 books of your all-time favorite and put it on a t-shirt, um, or if you're looking for some minimal bookish merch that will make you feel confident, you can absolutely find that there too. It's all the same on tiktok as well, but tiktok scares the life out of me, so we're trying to get better about posting that. It's a little bit hard, but yeah, that's me.
Jordan:Okay, well, thank you so much for coming on the podcast again.
Olivia:Absolutely Always. You know, you can text me the day you need an episode and I will hop right on.
Jordan:Honestly, I will hold you to that. So, like guys listening, this isn't the last you'll hear from Olivia.
Olivia:She'll be back. I will always be back. You guys can't get rid of me.
Jordan:It's not fun insert evil laugh here, but yeah thank you so much.
Olivia:You're so welcome. Thank you for having me.