Calling Cards

WE’RE BACK! Hello! This episode is about the wedding that wasn’t, and Lydia and Tay are annoyed. We recap & discuss Bridgerton s2, e6, "The Choice."Lydia’s recs:Watching: How to Build a Sex Room, House of the Dragon, and Rings of PowerReading: Iron Lake by William Kent Krueger, a local MN author, Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood, sequel to The Love Hypothesis Tay’s recs: Ali Hazelwood’s Love on the Brain, The Sentence by Louise Erdrich, Jeannie Lin’s Pingkang-li series (murder and forbi...

Lydia and Taylor are back, with a meandering and impassioned discussion of Season 2, Episode 5 of Bridgerton, An Unthinkable Fate.Lydia’s recs: I haven’t been reading much the last several weeks…but I have been watching Kenobi and Ms. Marvel on Disney+ Tay’s recs: I’ve been obsessed with the Murderbot Diaries series by Martha Wells & I read some of Ellen O’Connell’s great western historical romanceWe’ll make the next episode as soon as we are able- thank you so much for listeni...

Lydia and Tay discuss s2, e4 of Bridgerton. Surprises, schemes, and double standards abound. We’ll be back in 2 weeks with episode 5.Our reccs:Lydia- EK Johnson’s Padme series, Moon KnightTay- Vita & VirginiaThanks for listening! Instagram and Facebook: @callingcardspodTwitter: @CardsCalling Website: https://www.callingcards.wixsite.com/callingcardspodEmail us at callingcardspod@gmail.com. Theme music by PASTACAT @pastacatmusic on Instagram.Help us spread the word abou...

Grab the Mallet of Death, listeners, because Bridgerton Pall Mall is finally happening! Lydia and Tay recap and discuss season 2, episode 3 of Bridgerton. Rants ensue.Our reccs:Tay: Maggie Osborn’s A Stranger’s Wife and Crash Landing On You (Netflix)Lydia: Everything Everywhere All at Once Links mentioned:Cameron Diaz on Graham Norton: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXhk8zE_Ac0**SPOILER ALERT** Article that mentions oiling hair– don’t read if, like Tay, you haven’t watched all of season...

Lydia and Tay recap and discuss season 2, episode 2 of Bridgerton. We go on at least three rants and detour into Austen, Newsies, Lord of the Rings, and My Fair Lady. Join us in celebrating poetry month this April by insulting Byron in true Bridgerton fashion! P&P film comparison tik tok:​​https://vm.tiktok.com/ZTdHrVg29/ Prank interview with Elijah Wood:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yd8jfzN5OkI&list=PLy-0fc3G7o83gWBEDyhk4G_b6cskoRF3O&index=1 My Fair Lady: Come on...

Lydia and Tay recap & discuss episode 1, season 2, of Bridgerton. The Pride & Prejudice vibes are real, folks!What we're reading/watching:Both: Starstruck, a rom com series in the vein of Notting Hill, Our Flag Means Death, an irreverent pirate romp with surprising amounts of romance, and Taskmaster (go check it out on Youtube!)Lydia: Dating Dr. Dil by Nisha Sharma, Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood, A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas, and Incense and Sensibility by Sonali Dev.T...

...and so are we! Lydia and Taylor return from an extended hiatus to discuss the upcoming Bridgerton season 2.Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYNCws-a6CQNetflix video we mentioned: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdIeuLTXKJ4Thanks for listening! Instagram and Facebook: @callingcardspodTwitter: @CardsCalling Website: https://www.callingcards.wixsite.com/callingcardspodEmail us at callingcardspod@gmail.com. Theme music by PASTACAT @pastacatmusic on Instagram.Help us spre...

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 ...

Book 6 of the Psy-Changeling series starts with a bang, and Lydia is HERE FOR IT! Tay and Lydia recap Branded by Fire and add to our series playlist.We’re back again in 2 weeks with our deep-dive discussion of this book!Psy-Changeling Playlist:Tay:Boss Bitch, Doja CatIt’s Raining Men, The Weather GirlsShut Up, Kiss Me, Angel OlsonWildest Dreams, Taylor SwiftWhat I Like About You, The RomanticsLydia:Dive, Ed SheeranKing of Anything, Sara Bareilles Mr. Know It All, Kelly ClarksonSweet Crea...

Lydia and Tay dive into themes of Hostage to Pleasure, book 5 of Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changeling series. Is Dorian a Mary Sue, and do we care? We get into a somewhat heavy discussion around women’s bodily autonomy, because sci fi is RELEVANT.Next episode: Branded by Fire Reading Recs:Enemies to loversPeter Darling, Austin Chant, (queer romantic fantasy)Magpie Lord trilogy, KJ Charles (queer historical paranormal)Folk of the Air trilogy, Holly Black, (YA Fantasy, romance comes later in the ...

Lydia and Tay recap Hostage to Pleasure, book 5 of Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changeling series. The Psy Council is stupid, Dorian is frequently shirtless, and high stakes shenanigans ensue. This one is a LOT less dark, and it has some of our favorite characters!We’ll be back in 2 weeks with part 2, our deeper analysis into this book.Psy-Changeling Playlist:Tay:Everybody Wants to Rule the World, LordeI Want to Break Free, QueenI’m Still Standing- Elton JohnDangerous Woman, Ariana Grande Got It B...

Lydia and Tay discuss Mine to Possess, book 4 of Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changeling series. Featuring morality in sci-fi and romance (with the usual shout outs to Captain America and Anakin Skywalker), plus vampires and zombies (you're welcome). Please let us know what you think of Clay and Tally! We’ll be back in 2 weeks, recapping Hostage to Pleasure.Reading recs:Second chance loveWinterblaze, Kristen Callihan (Darkest London #3), historical paranormalJackdaw, KJ Charles, queer historical p...

Lydia and Tay recap book 4 of Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changeling series, Mine to Possess. Oof, we are really down on this one. *CW for child abuse. The whole plot and character backstory is child abuse. We won’t go into a ton of details, but it’s gonna be there for the whole episode, so be aware. Also, slut shaming and rampant misogyny.*We’re back in 2 weeks with part 2, our deeper analysis into Mine to Possess.Psy-Changeling Playlist:Lydia:Bad Romance- Lady GagaBleeding Love- Leona LewisBack...

Lydia and Tay talk about our love of sci-fi metaphors, and the main themes of Caressed by Ice, the third book in Nalini Singh’s paranormal romance series, Psy-Changeling. Romance novels ask some of the big questions, folks, amid all the bonkers plots and sexy times, so we talk about light and darkness, loss of innocence, identity, choice, family, and more… plus, mating bonds and “Princess Bride” (hey, we’re still us).We’ll be back in 2 weeks with book 4, Mine to Possess.Reading Recs:Forbidden...

Lydia and Tay finish recapping book three of Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changeling series, Caressed by Ice. It’s still pretty dark stuff, but we’ve got you covered with pop culture references, from Scooby Doo to High School Musical (and of course, Arrow!).CW: details of Brenna’s abduction and assault (from book 1); child abuse **We’re back in TWO weeks with part 2, to discuss themes of Caressed by Ice. (Life got in the way again...)Playlist:LydiaStyle, Taylor Swift mad woman, Taylor S...

Lydia and Tay recap the first 20 chapters of the third book in Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changeling series, Caressed by Ice, because we get... really... in depth. We agree that Judd and Brenna are TOTALLY Oliver and Felicity from Arrow. CW: details of Brenna’s abduction and assault (from book 1); child abuse We’re back next week with the rest of this recap.What we’re reading:Tay:Nalini Singh, Last Guard (latest Psy-Changeling Trinity novel)Sonali Dev, Incense and Sensibility (modern Austen...

Lydia and Tay discuss ableism and whether Vaughn uses his cave mirrors like Brendan Fraser’s character in The Mummy. In this discussion of book 2 of Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changeling series, Visions of Heat, we decide that Faith is Rapunzel, Vaughn is Flynn Ryder, and the Psy-Council is terrible. We’re back on September 7 with part 1 of Caressed by Ice. Reading recs (grain of salt edition… lots of grr arg Alpha Male types!):Lydia’s:Jeanine Frost, Halfway to the Grave, book 1 of the Nigh...

Lydia and Tay recap book 2 of Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changeling series, Visions of Heat. Man buns, fated mates, high stakes, Council treachery and erotic mind readings abound.We’re back in 2 weeks with part 2, our deeper analysis into Visions of Heat.Playlist:She’s Always a Woman, Billy JoelRemember When It Rained (Live), Josh Groban ft. Judith Hill Stronger, Brittany Spears When You Say Nothing at All, Allison KraussI’m a Believer, The Monkees versionMy Girl, Otis Redding versionDreams...

Lydia and Tay get deep, dark, & dangerous with our analysis of themes in Nalini Singh's Slave to Sensation, book one of the Psy-Changeling paranormal romance series. We talk dreams, Silence, skin privileges, Pirates of the Caribbean and more!We’ll be back in 2 weeks with book 2, Visions of HeatReading recs:Patricia Briggs, Mercy Thompson series & Alpha & Omega series (urban fantasy; werewolves)Emma Barry, Party Lines (2015) (contemporary political romance)“BrainDea...

Two enemies- one secret badass and one overt badass- meet and fall in love while catching a serial killer! Slave to Sensation, the first book in Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changeling series is packed full of psychic powers, leopards, magic sexy dreams, and lots of swoon-worthy emotional scenes, plus Lydia and Tay discuss tropes, the Titanic, and a playlist we made just for you. We’ll be back in two weeks with part 2.Playlist: To Love Somebody, Nina SimoneLook What I Found, Lady GagaNever Gonna G...