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This week Katy and Rosie are joined by the wonderful Anna Caig to chat about her debut novel The Wise Witch of Orkney — and it is an absolute gem. Set in 1593 Scotland, King James VI is launching a bloody witch hunt across the country — but the women he fears most are already inside his court. Elspet Balfour is a spae-wife — a wise woman and healer from the Orkney isles — disguised as a lady-in-waiting and trapped between serving a queen who needs her and a king who would see her dead. Throw in Kitty Muirhead, outcast and desperate, and three women must concoct a reckless plan to save each other before the worst can happen. It’s gripping, atmospheric, fiercely feminist, and we had a brilliant chat with Anna about bringing these hidden voices of women to life.

Plus Rosie’s Bit on the Side this week features a golf club that becomes a man and has a very eventful time indeed. Katy had feelings about this one. Several feelings.

☕ Grab your cuppa. From 16th century Scotland to the fairway — we contain multitudes.

⚠️ Trigger warnings: witch trial themes, persecution, historical violence

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Niles' Historical Footnotes

Edited by: Kelly Jones Fantasy Author

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This week Katy and Rosie tackle the question everyone has secretly thought about — which book character would you actually want to be stuck in a lift with? The debate gets chaotic, the choices get suspicious, and nobody picks someone sensible.

Then we deep dive into the BookTok phenomenon that started it all — Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon. Georgie is an ordinary woman abducted by aliens and abandoned on a remote ice planet with a group of other human women and absolutely no survival plan.  The only native inhabitant she finds is big, blue, horned, and absolutely convinced she is his mate — and the purring coming from his chest is apparently her fault.  It’s alien romance, it’s survival chaos, it’s somehow both completely unhinged and genuinely hard to put down. We got into it. All of it.

☕ Grab your cuppa and maybe a blanket. It’s cold out there on that ice planet.

⚠️ Trigger warnings: abduction themes, adult content.

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Niles' Historical Footnotes

Edited by: Kelly Jones Fantasy Author

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This week Katy and Rosie are joined by the lovely JJ Cross — romance author, caffeine enthusiast, and proud owner of more notebooks than is strictly reasonable — to chat about her debut novel Built on Love, book one of the Peterson Brothers series. It’s a friends-to-lovers romantic suspense with found family vibes, a book boyfriend thoroughly wrapped in green flags, and enough twists to keep you questioning everyone and everything.  Emmy discovers her boyfriend cheating  and what unfolds from there is warm, spicy, and genuinely gripping. We had a brilliant chat with JJ about bringing it all to life.

Plus Rosie’s Bit on the Side this week takes a hard left turn into a story about a man who lost his nose in a childhood game of Got Your Nose — and what happens when it turns up at his door years later with arms, legs, and absolutely no sense of personal boundaries. Katy’s reaction was everything.

☕ Grab your cuppa. We promise this all makes sense in context. (It doesn’t.)

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Niles' Historical Footnotes

Edited by: Kelly Jones Fantasy Author