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A queer quest, a derpy horse, a rolling pin raised like a sword, and one truly important question: is it gay to kiss your BFF while you’re wildly unqualified for monster hunting? We’re Mari, Kelly, Ashley, and Jonathan, and we pick up a stack of bookish headlines before diving into our Pride Month read, Bromantasy by Marie Roche, a cozy fantasy romantasy that had us laughing for real.

We talk about why representation in romance fiction matters, starting with Ruby Dixon sharing the personal story behind a heroine with scoliosis in her upcoming Villain Origin Story. From there we hit more new release buzz, con chatter around Monsterotica BookCon and Villains and Vixens, and the Hot Girls Read trademark fiasco that lit up bookish social media. It’s book community, fandom culture, and the business side of “booktok made me buy it,” all in one place.

Then we get to the main event: Bromantasy’s slapstick humor, self-aware tropes (yes, there was only one bed), and the surprisingly tender emotional core under Juniper and Mo’s chaos. We also cannot overstate how good the audiobook narrator is, and we end with our classic debate on whether this counts as a true kissing book.

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Links from the News Segment and Show:

• Ruby Dixon’s upcoming book, Villain Origin Story
  • Instagram Link
  • Ruby Dixon posted about the heroine in the book having scoliosis and her own experience with it
  • Instagram Link
  • Coming out 02/02/27
• Raven Kennedy has a new duology, Played by the Piper, coming out
  • Based on the Pied Piper story
  • Instagram Link
• Heather Fawcett’s The encyclopedia of Faeries books 4 & 5
  • Instagram Link
• Monsterotica BookCon 2027 exhibitor applications are open through 07/22
  • Instagram Link
• Hot Girls trademark fiasco
  • Instagram Link
• Villains and Vixens panels announced
  • Instagram Link

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