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Tumblereads 18: How to Ruin a Black Moment in 10 Ways
69 Plays2 days ago
In which the team comes up with 10 ways to ruin a black moment.
Show notes at smutreport.com/podcast
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Theme
00:00:00
Speaker
na na na smut report hello and welcome to the smut report podcast this is tumble reads edition because we go where the wind takes us much like a tumble weed but with books i am your captain ingrid i'm erin and i'm holly You know, one of these days we'll get smart and we'll just assign an order for that. No, we must keep it maximum chaos. Yeah, suppose that's true. it surprise every single time.
Main Topic Introduction: 'Black Moments' in Romance Novels
00:00:27
Speaker
Right. Anywho, and i queen of chaos, am so speaking of chaos, am i I cooked up a real fun topic, I think, for us to discuss.
00:00:39
Speaker
um So yeah us being millennials, I don't know if you guys also watched How to Lose a again a Guy in 10 Days on repeat. I did. Yeah, I mean, it was a whole thing. It was a whole thing. was a whole thing. Like, feel like it's not a good movie.
00:00:57
Speaker
It's really not And the message is, like, pretty gross. Right. it It shouldn't work, but for some reason, it played me like a fiddle. Yeah, I think it's because like Kate Hudson is so sparkly.
00:01:11
Speaker
She is. Well, that's the thing. She has like sparkly smile and sparkly eyes and like, okay. Well, and Matthew McConaughey, right? Yeah, Matthew McConaughey was being his peak romantic hero. Well, and she was driving him nuts. Like she was ruffling his hair like nobody's business. So I think there there are reasons why. We could go into it, but we are not a movie critic outfit so I don't think we will but the point is is that they're they're like that whole thing where it was just you know like how how do you ruin a relationship in 10 days so that's what that's what got me started on this because I do like to think about all the movies I watched when I was footloose and fancy free but um so I had this idea when I was reading the other day because I was reading a book and I I wanted I was like I want to quit this book real bad
00:01:56
Speaker
um but I had been enjoying it up until you know like three quarters of the
Struggles with Unfinished Books and Sunk Cost Fallacy
00:02:00
Speaker
way through. And at that point, I know we talk all the time about how there's this sunk cost fallacy. If you're not enjoying yourself, this is reading for pleasure, right? This is leisure reading. You should be able to just quit if you want to quit. But I have a really hard time with that. So I was thinking about it and I was like, well where did it go wrong? like Where did it lose me? And that's when it hit me that we could talk about how to ruin a Black moment in 10 different ways so we can talk about like let's say and this is the key here though I'm gonna create some structure for for you rule followers you're welcome so here it is it can't just be that you don't like the book it can't be that the whole book is bad right okay
00:02:37
Speaker
It has to be, think of, try to like dig in your brain for, it's a book that's been working for you. It and doesn't have to be your favorite, right? It's not like it's, you know, the best book you've ever read and then
Defining the 'Black Moment' and Related Terms
00:02:47
Speaker
they ruin it. But just you cook it along, everything's fine. You don't want to close the book, but then you get to the spot and something happens and you're just like, nope, I, nope, I can't. This is ruined for me. It's just ruined.
00:02:57
Speaker
And um there are some other areas of a romance novel that I feel like would be kind of low hanging fruit, but I wanted to do the black moment. The reason being, I feel like the black moment is a very um fragile and critical part of the book because all the vulnerabilities are laid bare.
00:03:14
Speaker
If you kind of didn't like a character, at the black moment could very well be where you throw in the towel. You know what i mean? Right. So I feel like it's one of those things where it's it is kind of like the pinnacle of where you makes or breaks. Exactly. Exactly. So that's why I thought let's talk about the black moment for people who don't know the black moment is Holly go.
00:03:33
Speaker
Okay. um So it's the moment. Usually it's pretty far towards the end of the book. And some people also, you might also see this referred to as a bleak moment or a third act breakup.
00:03:50
Speaker
moment Yeah, there's lots of words for it. yeah Lots of words for it. um Where it seems like the couple has is moving towards their happy ending. And there's a ah thing that happens that splits them apart. And it's like the final conflict that they have to overcome in order to reach the hea right right and usually it's um like it it's interpersonal conflict it's like i feel like a dark moment does or a black moment does not like it's not because if you're reading a romantic suspense and the evil bad guy finally is able to kidnap the heroine like that is not what we're talking about here
00:04:38
Speaker
Even though they're separated and it's like the last big conflict standing between them and the HEA. Yes. It's a fight. Yeah. it's like a like Between the main characters. Do you agree? do you guys agree? Yes. yeah I do agree with that. I think so it's that's a great caveat to make because some books definitely kind of override this moment between the characters and their relationship in favor of like a suspense narrative. Yeah. um And it doesn't, well, it doesn't even necessarily have to be a romantic suspense. Like,
00:05:09
Speaker
er Tal Bauer is one author who frequently will like the characters will kind of hit the oh fallen in love I love you is by like 50% of the book and then they have to like fight together deal with some other issue for the end of the book it's a you know so there are different story constructions but this is a very typical like three act structure especially romance narrative which is character driven right Yeah, it's it's very much. Yeah, like, so you may find external
Internal vs. External Conflicts in 'Black Moments'
00:05:38
Speaker
factors at this sort of like climactic moment phase of a book, but for romance, most of the time, it's going to be not a suspense based issue, right?
00:05:49
Speaker
Well, I mean, I think I can think of some examples where it would be, but it's, I think that if that's the case, then it's usually a layered, a layered black moment, right? So it's, you know, the outside. Can I rely on you? Putting pressure on the relationship. Yeah. Can I rely on you? Is it worth it? Like, this is never going to work out, that kind of a thing for external reasons. But point being. I would like us to come up with a list and it doesn't actually have to be 10. No, you know what? It does. It has to be 10 things. Oh gosh. I don't know if I can think of 10 reasons. i know we i Maybe we just together have to think of 10 reasons. No, I know. off with one Are you ready? Because i but I'll give you an example and maybe it'll make it easier, right? So how to how to ruin the black moment in 10 ways. One of the ways I think is when one character, usually the heroine, right?
00:06:32
Speaker
Gets incandescently mad at the other one, usually the hero for doing something That is a direct parallel to something that she did earlier in the book without naming the hypocrisy.
00:06:44
Speaker
you get what I'm saying? It's infuriating. So it's different. I've read books where, you know, there's some turmoil because the character usually... I'm to say she and he just to make it easier, but it could it please be aware. It could be anything. um But where like, let's say, for example, in this example, she's like, he lied to me about this thing and I can't trust him and that's it. And then she's like, in in a if there's turmoil that she's processing she's like oh well this is really complicated for because I know I did this to him earlier but like I just can't get over this like you know I don't know is that fair of me so I've seen it happen where it works but where it hasn't worked for me is where you as the reader know that there is a direct parallel to a behavior that she has done her own self not 50 pages earlier but she's about to call it off with the other person because he just did it you get what saying can you give me an example of this holly you know who i am uh i've oh i've read so many books that do this too and like this is really rage making because i feel like i'm like i can't i don't know if i've ever seen that but okay so one that i've bought recently and i can't remember if it was one where it was good or it was bad because again i don't remember these things but um it was where for example because romanticity um where they're they've talked it out they've They've agreed that she's not going to run off without communicating with her partner anymore. Right? Okay. Don't put yourself in a life-threatening situation without talking to me first, if at all possible. Like, you need to communicate with me. Right? Mm-hmm.
00:08:17
Speaker
and She almost called it off with him previously because he did the same thing. Right. They have a talk. They're not going to do it anymore. And then at the black moment, she does. So in this case, they have rings that were like if they wear the rings, they can communicate telepathically. Right. And she didn't just not tell him she took the ring off.
00:08:37
Speaker
uh you what i'm saying yeah and i was like that's a very deliberate choice that you made that like if i were him i'd be real mad at you you know what i mean but like yeah so you don't it's like that kind of a thing that the um unself-aware hypocrisy is what i'm gonna put yeah i agree with that holly i bet if you well maybe you're just reading better books than ingrid and me because we read too many books yeah Maybe from too many places. i bet also if you read, you'll be more aware of it
00:09:07
Speaker
um I feel like this is sort of related to the. Oh, there are two here that are kind of related to
Problems with Shallow Resolutions and 'Failed Sneeze' Metaphors
00:09:15
Speaker
this. OK, maybe the misunderstanding, which everybody Romancelandia knows it about, which is like, did you even stop to think and ask a question at any moment in time? But but I think this is particularly shallow misunderstanding, right? Shallow misunderstanding, because if it's a well done thing, or there's a misunderstanding that really tracks with the characterization and the relationship growth, especially as it relates to, you know, the characters past history and trauma, I think. Then you can be like, oh, that's a doozy. Like, I don't I don't like how this is going, but I know I'm not supposed to like how this is going.
00:09:53
Speaker
But I get it. But the when it's just like a really shallow misinterpretation, it's like oh, my gosh, I still remember. What book was it? I remember reading it. i It was one of my earliest arcs.
00:10:05
Speaker
And I was so excited because i think the author was Heffernan. um I was so excited because I was like, a gamer girl. It's like a geeky romance. How fun. And of course, this is also early into my contemporary reading stage because, you know, before we started the blog, I pretty much only read historicals.
00:10:25
Speaker
And ah she like is one of those ones where she sees him. like hugging another woman one night and just like completely ghosts him and there has been no previous infidelity or conversations like that um wait so he's not allowed to have female friends exactly and it ended up i think his sister yeah of course of course it's his sister but like actual conclusion yeah oh oh And I was just, yeah, so that's the kind of misunders that's the kind of like ah misunderstanding problem, right, that romance readers tend to hate and aid on in this category, right?
00:11:02
Speaker
um but I would like to state for the record yeah that I am married and I have male friends that I give hugs to who are also married and nobody has any problems with this. That's because you're emotionally mature, Holly. like Yeah. Yeah. Also, when I was 23 and in my slutty phase, but also dating my now husband, I had many male friends that I gave hugs to and it was not a big deal.
00:11:32
Speaker
ah So. I think it's a little bit of a maturity issue. I think it is too. So what you're saying is I was a very mature, slutty 23-year-old. Hey, listen. Being mature being slutty are not mutually exclusive. That's true.
00:11:45
Speaker
Fair enough. You can be maturely slutty. True. True. I have another one. Well, i had another one that was related, but now I lost it. So you should if you try to remember the also tangentially related to those two that we've already discussed.
00:11:58
Speaker
I'm calling this one. Wait, go ahead, Holly. Oh, well, because I was just thinking of one in a book I read recently. go Okay. um Which is closely related to what Aaron just said, which is the misunderstanding that's actually a setup Oh. Oh. You know, where like, of course, I'm going to believe. the bad guy. The bad guy over my over my partner. Right?
00:12:25
Speaker
oh oh i don't yeah even trust your partner do you even and and i think and um in this case it was um are we naming books here or like what are we doing with that well i was gonna say yeah i mean the book was she's got game by laura heffernan i was right about the author look at me pulling that i i mean because listen we can say this Yeah, we can say this, but there are some people who are going are you kidding me? I love when he gets jealous because she hugs someone else. So, like, this is just – this is personal opinion, right? This is yeah what we think, you know?
00:13:01
Speaker
so go it. Okay. So, this ah this was um The ah Passions of a Wicked Earl by Lorraine Heath. You really did not like this book. I mean – it was It was well executed, but this hero was so awful. um But anyway, he ah has all this baggage because um he found the heroine bed with his brother on their wedding night. Oh, no.
00:13:31
Speaker
um with his yeah it was it was innocent, but stupid. Anyway, yeah yeah that but so it's been three years. They've like, they've gotten back together. They fixed their relationship. They're at a party. And the evil bad guy, um other woman, sets it up. So he sees his wife and his brother hugging. Or embracing. Maybe he's kissing her. I don't remember. it but like and But it's totally a setup. And he won't listen to his brother. and he won't listen to his wife. and Because they're both like, this is not what it looks like. Not what it looks like. I thought I was meeting you. I thought I was meeting this other person.
00:14:13
Speaker
And he's just like, nope, nope, nope. and totally fought And even though he's like, oh yeah, this evil other woman is like, actually, I don't love her. Actually, she's cold. Actually, I don't want to be with her. He's like, oh, yeah, i totally believe her side of like, what happened.
00:14:29
Speaker
And I'm just like, oh, your relationship with your wife. Like, it doesn't matter if you come back together after this. You obviously don't trust her and are never going to trust her. And I can't believe your happy ending in the future. yeah Kind of no matter what your reconciliation looks like. Which I hate to say it now that I think of it, the exit pursued by a baron. I could see that. I could see other people. I liked that book quite a lot, but um I could see other people feeling that way about that book.
00:14:59
Speaker
Oh, that it's the same kind of thing? where Yeah, because because it is the same thing where he doesn't trust – like, he does it again. He does it again. Like, he tosses her out of her ear again after they've just, like, talked about building this whole life together. And it's the same exact thing that you were talking about where it's like there's this setup. She's been, you know, and he doesn't trust her. head get He drops her again. And yes, there is an a grade A grovel, but still – Right. I feel like it's exactly, it's exactly, it's they're like, my history has repeated itself. Yeah. And I feel like that, especially if it, and so I guess there's two sides to this. There's two reasons. Like the first is the setup, like where you trust some bad guy over your partner. Right. Right.
00:15:38
Speaker
But also if it's I trust you in exactly or I distrust you in exactly the same way that I distrusted you on our first breakup. Yes, that's second chance romances. pattern. It's a pattern now. It becomes a pattern and yeah that really calls the happy ending into question.
00:15:54
Speaker
That's a good one, Holly. See, you were all worried you weren't able to do this. That's solid. Yeah. So I hope you wrote down my two, my two additions. Wait, what? So I have misunderstanding set up and then. Oh, the set up and then the like the repeated pattern. Oh, yeah. Repeated. pattern Oh, yeah. That is that is true. And that is good. Especially the repeated pattern. I'm calling it the repeated pattern. The whole point is that you want to believe in it. Yeah. So I've got – we're up to four. I've got number five. Are you ready for this one? Okay. Ready. going to call this the failed sneeze.
00:16:22
Speaker
Are you ready? What? Because you know when you really have to sneeze and then you're like, it's going be a – it's going feel so good. It's going to big sneeze and then you don't sneeze. And how it feels like – it's a letdown. It doesn't feel good. It's when you're – We're driving that black. Yeah, go ahead, Holly. Okay, I get it. No, that's what I'm going to say. It's like you're going, you can see it, you can see it coming. You're like, yeah oh man, they're going to have a big fight. And then they just like talk it out like adults. And you're like, well, that was boring. I'm like, where's the plate throwing? What's the drama?
00:16:53
Speaker
Yeah, like, Yeah. i want I don't know what kind a person that makes me. Yeah. Well, that's the thing is I feel like we're all like, ugh, I hate it when they're irrational and dramatic. And then we're also like, ugh, I hate it when they're rational and not dramatic. Right? Well, maybe here's the thing, though, because people fight.
00:17:14
Speaker
I've yeah been married for almost 20 years. Oh, my God. You've been married long. I know. Isn't that nuts? I know. She's not that old, folks. She got married really young. And – love my husband and he loves me and I trust like I have don't have issues with trust it's we both have lots of different friends they're a good couple and um we still fight course you do that's because sometimes it's like super irrational sometimes it's like I need 12 hours to calm down just let me come back yeah I don't want to your face for 12 hours i don't want to hear you walk quietly i just we're not gonna resolve this tonight let's pick it up again tomorrow yeah we need time yeah um because you're just like super heightened and so i think just in some ways it can be really nice to have people have a nice conversation instead of being like How dare you go with that other woman?
00:18:13
Speaker
Whatever. but at the same time, maybe we're missing the It's like when I always complain about how too good people are or characters can be sometimes in modern publications where it's like... It's too messy. Yeah, we are all. Yeah, shoot. I had the best fight with my husband other day. And it applies to this because I um i just I wasn't feeling well. And I was like, I just rained holy terror on I just came downstairs and he very sweetly decided he was like, you know, he tried to avert this black moment of our own. by being like Hey, babe, have you eaten anything today? And I was like, no. And furthermore, instead of being like a rational person, being like, you know what? I haven't eaten. And I'm out line and I should eat something like a mature, healthy person who's been to therapy would do. I doubled down real hard. So later... But then when we like talked it out later, it felt so much better because I was like, you were 100% right. and I didn't listen to I'm so sorry. And he was like, thank you so much. I felt really bad. Yeah, it didn't feel good when you did that. There's an opportunity for the characters to come together yeah after. It creates intimacy. Showing their showing their worst sides and still being loved for it. Yeah. Yeah. So it was one of those things where like, yeah, I feel like that failed sneeze. It is, if it is, it ruins the moment for me because I'm like, you guys should have fought.
00:19:28
Speaker
And I know that that doesn't sound like I'm emotionally healthy when I say that, but I just think it from a plot standpoint, you need to have some tension. This everybody playing by their best. sell Like I don't, if I wanted to freaking see that I would just ask my therapist for examples of how people should act and then call that a romance novel. have all right let me segue into another one so which is um the i must run away and sacrifice myself instead of confronting this head-on so i don't mind talking to you but it's no i feel like there's there's two sides of that is okay i it because there's this there's the runaway part
00:20:13
Speaker
Where I'm just going to run away and ghost to you without a conversation.
Character Critiques: Facing or Avoiding Relationship Issues
00:20:17
Speaker
Like that's one. But there's also the sacrifice myself. Like I'm no good for you. That's true.
00:20:26
Speaker
ah And I'm doing this for your own good. I'm going to be miserable. But this is better for you. You know why? i'm Because I feel like it's too blatantly. If it's not done perfectly, it's too blatantly manipulative. yeah And then the the character looks immature and nobody thinks immaturity is sexy unless you're like, you're right. Not right. Because I feel like that's another one that it could be if you thread the needle, it could really track again based on characterization and past history and trauma of the characters. um And I've read a couple where the character was like, I'm going to run and then maybe the love interest like caught them and was like, can't I have a choice? You know, or like, can I have a choice in my own future and choose you? Right. And sometimes I will say, i sometimes I feel like the run the run can work. where Not if it's I'm sacrificing myself, but where it's like, this relationship is not working for me and I need to remove myself from the situation for a little bit. Right? That's different though. because that's Right. That's self-awareness.
00:21:28
Speaker
right but Right. And it usually is lacking self-awareness. Yes. And it can be tied to a stupid misunderstanding. Yeah. Now frequently it is. And yeah. So ever I think, yeah, there are. Okay.
00:21:41
Speaker
We can add a little asterisk at the end of this where it's like, this can be done well, but we only have a few minutes left and we still need more. Okay. going three more but Here's the example. So I'm reading this book right now and I'll have to put it in because i don't even remember the name of it. But it's the it's the black moment. She's been told in a prophecy that she has to die for the the world to be saved. Right. And he he's her fated mate. So he's like absolutely not over my dead body. But also building up to this, they've had a whole bunch of conversations about the how the reason that their relationship is so good and so strong is that he trusts her judgment and that he would never take her choices away. And so in the black moment, she realizes like she's this is it. like She's got to do it. And he's holding her hand and she's about to jump on a wyvern who's going to fly her to go die. And she just says, let go.
00:22:27
Speaker
And he lets her go. And he's like absolutely crushed and almost kills him. But he does it. Right. So but it's one of those things where like the whole way it's about that it's so much about respecting the other person's. Well, i see that I wouldn't even call a black moment because that like it's a conflict that they have to overcome, but they're still doing it. It's so external.
00:22:47
Speaker
Right. And then she compels him. She's got powers to compel people. So she compels him to let go. But he still respects, even after he's she's compelled him, he's like, she had to do it.
00:22:58
Speaker
I wouldn't have let her go. I she needed, like, I had to respect her. Anyway, point is, i I thought it was actually done really well, and I don't often like that. Yeah. so Interesting. I have one. seven That's eight an example of a really irritating, ah i want to sacrifice myself slash runaway.
00:23:16
Speaker
um slash maybe this is even a different one you guys can tell me so in not your damn omega which was my like super rant from 2024 it was like of why it was like a spoken wheel omega verse that I read And she has self-esteem issues, but the entire relationship is these guys. First of all, there's like a scent match issue going on, right? So they they know that they're kind of fated to be together because they have this pheromone match relationship. That is unique to people who are supposed to be together. So that exists, number one. And number two, all of these guys are completely obsessed with her, like from the jump.
00:23:57
Speaker
They have um never at any point in the book expressed any disinterest in anything about her right and then she ends up with a situation where she feels like she's not good enough or they don't really want her or they're and so it's like a combination of a misunderstanding and a you know I just need to disappear she like runs off into the woods and ok so And they just, it's like, it doesn't make sense, you know, based on how the other characters have behaved during the book, even though she has this trauma. Right. So I think that seems to be a case of the character or of the author.
00:24:39
Speaker
i mean, that kind of seems like too stupid to live Yeah. deal is it right I mean, that's kind of how I felt. Right. That's the one. Like where the author hasn't laid the groundwork right for like maybe for the character, the backstory of the character to feel that way, but not the groundwork within the relationship. But also, if when when you say too stupid to live, that opens the door wide open for so many other black moments where I've been like, at this point, like, I have difficulty rooting for your relationship because I feel like i feel like you need a caretaker and not a partner. do you know what i mean? So when we when we blow that ah example open, Erin, like that if we open it a little bit more and broaden it, I think it's like, you're right. There are so many times where I've been like, oh my gosh, how can you possibly like put a like a tracking device and, you know, like a- core you yeah it doesn't work Before you do a relationship, you need to go do some work on yourself. Yes. Yes. You are under the bottle. It's going to take a little longer. You know what i mean? Yeah.
00:25:33
Speaker
All right. I have one. i have one. And i'm I'm going to call it – it's actually – I think it's more of like a setup like Holly's example was, that one. But it's – I'm calling it like ah I don't actually like you.
00:25:45
Speaker
like change or else it's um when a character has exhibited like this is who the character is for all the whole book leading up to the black moment right but then the purpose of the black moment is basically for that for the other character to be like I don't like anything about I don't like you Right. Like yeah i need you to change. Right. So this person's been the same. You're sitting here. You fell in love with this person the way that they are. But you don't act but you you can't be with them anymore. Like the rupture in your relationship is happening because you've actually the person that that it looks like externally that the person that you've fallen in love with isn't that person.
00:26:23
Speaker
You fell in love with the person you thought they could be. That kind of is like a groveling for the wrong reason, is it? Yes. i'm thinking I was just thinking like when, and this kind of, maybe this is the one I was thinking about when i you were, after your first one, Ingrid, when I was like, oh, I have two and then I forgot the one, is like, I feel like there are times when one character does something egregious and the other character is like, oh no, I did something wrong.
00:26:50
Speaker
And maybe they did something minorly wrong, but not on the level of the other character, like, losing it at them or whatever and then they're the one who apologizes yeah or you know what are you doing and maybe that's more after the yeah the dark moment but like that is yeah I hate it when there's a dark moment or there's a fight and then the one character is like oh he done me wrong and may or may not you know go talk to their besties about how then their besties like oh maybe you should check yourself or not you know that's like extra frustrating but then the other character is like oh no we had this fight and i really messed up and then they're the one who ends up apologizing like what are you apologizing you're rewriting history now the one that i was thinking about was death made prince where he tells her the entire book he's like i'm a bad person and i'm going to betray you i'm a bad person and you can't count on me i'm gonna betray you and then what the heck happened sorry spoiler alert don't read this don't listen to me if you want to I actually like the book, but it ends on a cliffhanger. He betrays her.
00:27:50
Speaker
like And then she's like, oh, he he's betrayed me. And I'm like, that he said he was gonna the whole time, honey. like And she knows that. She's like, oh shit, he meant it. You know what I mean? But you're like, honey, he told you.
00:28:01
Speaker
like And so it's one of those things where I'm just like, like he was being honest the whole time. Anyway, so I haven't read the next book in that series, but I could see it that heavy-witting. Unless she handles it, the author handles it really, really well. I could see it being like, well, that was a one and done. So we'll call that, what do what should I call that? Change or else? Or i don't I don't like you? Or I don't know.
00:28:19
Speaker
Yeah, don't know. Personality transplant? I don't know. I mean, your partner should not want you to have a personality transplant. Your partner should not want you to have a personality transplant. I'm going to it personality transplant. That a gigantic red flag. Yeah. Really? relationship so technically this is time but we have one more left does anybody have it okay I have one but I don't know if this is gonna count because it's not a hundred percent interpersonal it's like plot based we're gonna call it count it I was scrolling through my rants and what uh I sweet talking lover by Tracy leaves say like the relationship was fine but the whole like the heroine's whole deal is based on
00:29:00
Speaker
trying to accomplish something that I felt deeply she should not want to accomplish because she's trying to like get this promotion at work and her office is like basically treating her horribly um and she's worked here for years like she has a good reputation in this company she makes one mistake she gets basically demoted and has to like reprove herself in order to get the promotion and they're just putting her through the ringer and I'm like why do you want to work for this place and then The dark moment is like, it's a vacation-ish romance too. So she has to like, is it is she going to stay? Is she going to leave? Is he going to stay? Is he going to go with her? and then it ends up like kind of she gets everything.
00:29:37
Speaker
um But, and that was just really disappointing. I kind of wanted it to be like, go tell your boss to you know, eat shoes and you're going to go be fabulous somewhere else. And maybe even, and her, the guy also should have been like, go tell your family to like,
00:29:53
Speaker
run into a river with a bag of rocks. I don't know Like they they were so awful and racist, but like, and that was the point. And he needed, you know, like, i think so like a dissatisfying, we got like bad choices for bad reasons, right? Maybe. Yeah. Like it's just because it's different when they're making bad choices for good reasons or when they're making good choices. But you know what Like if they're, it's not complex enough.
00:30:15
Speaker
Do you know what i mean? Like you can't, you can see this coming. Like you feel like they should see it coming. It bored. I would group that with too stupid to live just like emotionally. Yeah. You what I mean?
Summary and Challenge to Authors
00:30:24
Speaker
It's like emotionally too stupid to Anyway, I see themes. This is I see themes because I i see like I feel like Hollies are more construction based.
00:30:33
Speaker
um I feel like Aaron's are emotional mess based. I don't know what mine are. Probably drama based. Anyway, point is. This was fun. So we'll have to post them. We have good ones. um We have, all I can read what I call them really fast. So we end up once unselfaware hypocrisy to shallow misunderstanding, three misunderstanding setup for repeated pattern of bad behavior, five felt, failed sneeze, six runaway, seven sacrifice, eight too stupid to live, nine personality transplant setup and 10 bad choices for bad reasons. I love it.
00:31:08
Speaker
We did Good good job, friends. Good job, friends. And here's our final caveat. All of these can work. They can. And they can work well. But when done well. So there's your challenge, romance authors.
00:31:21
Speaker
Take one of these and prove us so wrong. That would be delicious. I would eat with a spoon. Yes, absolutely. Anyway, that's all for Tumble Reads today. i am going to be Holly successfully.
00:31:31
Speaker
If you want to catch us on socials, sometimes we're there. Also, you can check our show notes underneath wherever Holly puts it. And find our on where podcasts are found.
00:31:47
Speaker
That's all, friends. And as always, keep it smutty. Did do it? You did great job. it good? Keep it smutty, folks. Na na na na smart report!