Eldrith Manor - Book Report

Welcome back Smut Squad, today we are diving into the minds of Leigh Rivers and Avina St Graves with the paranormal dark romance Eldrith Manor. 

Just us for some downtown love between a ghost and a demon. 

Spoilers Ahead

Live Laugh Mortal Trash

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:06

Howdy, Smut Squad. Welcome back to Smut Syndicate. We are your literary dealers, Charlie and Danielle.

SPEAKER_00 0:13

Hello. Today we are covering a book that we first read back in February and has been stuck in our brain every day since. We are talking about some downtown love between a ghost and a demon. We are talking about Eldrith Manor, By Lee Rivers, and a Venus Engraves. Yes!

SPEAKER_01 0:30

Okay. First off, shout out to these two amazing authors. They both write such a variety of dark romance books. They cover paranormal romance, romantic. We've even got some monster romance, Avi Demon romance. So we are huge fans. Huge fans. Huge, huge fans. Second shout-out, the audiobook for this is amazing. It's duet narration. We have Aria Jacobs. She is our Sable. And we have Grayson Owens as Lynx and Tony. And he absolutely nailed it. Yes, so good. Let's set the stage. Spoilers ahead. Turn back now. We opened with Lynx sometime in the way, way back. He is working a job on the railroad all the live long day. And it's just him, baby bro Dylan. He's about five years old. Their mother passed away. Stop laughing at me. I got that song stuck in my head. Ah, I've been working on the railroad. I know. And it shed it. Um, anyways, Lynx wants to give them a better life because he's just doing it all. He is like trying to keep his brother from working himself, even though he's five years old and he doesn't have any parents. So he is rushing to work after dropping off his brother. He's late and he gets fired. Now he has no money. He's begging his boss to reconsider, but he was ruthless, and he's like, nah, get the hell out of here. So, in desperation, Lynx takes a gold watch. It is worth more money than he's ever had, and it's gonna give them their fresh start. He's like racing home. It's like Charlie with like his prize-winning ticket, and he's almost home. And someone grabs him, punches him, pulls out this fancy knife, and just guts him. Not great. You were so close. You're just like so close. Why didn't you just run a little bit faster? Um boom, flash over to Sable in the here and now. She is an IT customer service bitch, you know, that have you turned it on and have you turned it off?

SPEAKER_00 2:42

Sounds like my own personal health, like in the most literal sense. No amount of money. Worst job.

SPEAKER_01 2:50

The worst job. Because especially when you encounter someone who has, I remember trying to explain to my mom that you could access email on different computers, that it wasn't stuck to your computer. Because every time she would get a new computer or use someone else's, she would create a new email account. Yeah. Now imagine talking to those people on the phone all day. No. Yeah.

unknown 3:15

Right.

SPEAKER_01 3:15

So she lives in a sad, empty apartment. It used to be shared with her and her sister. Her sister recently passed away from cancer. She has some real shithead parents. They only care about money and only what someone could do for them, and they committed some kind of bad money crimes and they're now in jail. Sable's broke, she's alone, she's missing her sister, and she's living in the apartment that her sister died in.

SPEAKER_00 3:39

Well, she's like broke, broke. I don't think she has much of an option. I don't know. I'd sleep outside, though.

SPEAKER_01 3:46

Yeah, I think I would too. Like that cardboard box is looking real nice. Um, she finds this witchy box underneath her sister's bed. She grabs it and it's got a grimoire, and she decides she's gonna try and summon her sister.

SPEAKER_00 3:59

Okay. When I inevitably die before you. Yeah, not happening. Girl, do not read the grimoire under my bed. Just don't do it.

SPEAKER_01 4:08

For both of our sakes, okay?

SPEAKER_00 4:10

Just don't do it.

SPEAKER_01 4:10

Please have a person who removes that grimoire from under your bed, like a licensed professional. Like I don't know who, but don't make it me. Because obviously, I'm a born button pusher. I'm a born book reader. It's just who I have to be. I don't want to, but I have to.

SPEAKER_00 4:27

Well, you've been warned don't do it.

SPEAKER_01 4:29

Yeah. So we flash over to Lynx, and he is in hell torturing a sinner because when he was stabbed, the guy cursed him to go to hell, which, bro, curses are real. I'm gonna start cursing a lot more people.

SPEAKER_00 4:40

You're gonna have to do it while you stab people with a relic knife. I don't think you're down for that, but that's okay.

SPEAKER_01 4:46

Okay. I'll I'll try and work that one out. Um but he was turned into a demon, and then it happened to him over years and years of pain and suffering. Because the time in hell does not work the same way as the time up here. Horrible. Um, he's got a bestie, Tony. He's a human-turned hellhound who is again one of these best side characters ever. Yeah, he's great. Oh, he's so funny. He's like the epitome of Golden Retriever, hilarious side characters, always in a good mood, always harassing everyone. Which is just so funny because he's a literal hellhound. Yes, right, and he's not supposed to be funny and not supposed to be in a good mood and like having a party. I love it. I love it so much. Um, so Sable has decided that she is gonna go to her family's rundown mansion, Eldrith Manor. The name of the book. It happened. I love it. She brings her sister's urn, the grimoire, and she's got some heirloom old dagger belonging to her sister. Okay. Interesting. Interesting. She starts some summoning spell, and the spell is successful. It opens a portal, it summons a demon, outsteps this tall, hot as fuck, demon. His name is Lynx. You don't know his name is Lynx. He looks down at her, he smiles, he grabs her face, and he snaps her fucking neck.

SPEAKER_00 6:12

The first time I read this, my jaw was on the fucking floor. That was like the fastest bi bitch I have ever read in a book. Also, like I knew that this book was about a demon and a ghost, but I was not expecting her to be a ghost, chapter three. No, no. You really What do you mean?

SPEAKER_01 6:31

It's just it it literally is like a punch in the gut. Like, cause you know, they advertised the book, even though we said to you, it's a romance between a ghost and a demon. You were not expecting that. It was not even a little bit. It was so out of left field.

SPEAKER_00 6:48

Insane.

SPEAKER_01 6:49

Yeah, I remember just like laughing and being like, What? Is she still dead? And then it's like, no, she's dead. She's dead, dead. So after being summoned, snapping some necks, he decides to search around. He's like, yo, I'm not in hell anymore. That's pretty dope. And he's also like, Oh my god, that chick that I just killed, maybe I shouldn't have killed her. She's pretty hot. Like, what's that? And then she sits up and starts chatting with him. And your girl a ghost now. Obviously, she's panicking. Like, what the fuck happened? Because also, like, Lynx is not in his demon form when he appears. He's kind of like, hey, Prince Charming, you know, like he's looking good. So she doesn't fully realize that that's what she summoned. He wanders over because she's kind of like, oh my god, what is happening? What did you do to me? And he grabs her face and he snaps her fucking neck again. So she comes back again as a ghost, and she sees Lynx and is like, uh, hello. And he's like, girl, you're dead. Like shitty buzz, but that's how she goes, Bub. And she runs away. She's trying to get the fuck out of Dodge. She wants to get a fuck away from this demon. And she hits an invisible field. So there's something that is keeping her in the manor.

SPEAKER_00 8:07

That's so embarrassing. That's like running face first into like a glass tainted glass. Yeah, that's so not only did this guy just kill you twice, but but he probably also watched you do that. What happens?

SPEAKER_01 8:20

Because you know you would have run full speed and just bounced off of it. 100%. Yeah. And he's good looking. Oh my god. Bro, come over here and tap my neck again. Because I can't. I know. So she's pissed. Obvious motherfucker killed her. And he also keeps killing her ghost self, like he does it a few other times. And you know, she's like, Why should I help you? Like, why should I tell you anything? He's like, Girl, I need to see like what how did I get here? I'm supposed to be in hell. What's happening? And she like shows him, and he's like, Okay, well, just so you know, like, I'm a demon. You used a spell to summon a demon. And oopsie doodle.

SPEAKER_00 9:02

I think that this might be really dirtbaggy of me, but I think I'd prefer this whole scenario over like the dead sister living in poverty scenario. Yeah. It would be a hard choice, you know? Easiest choice of my life.

SPEAKER_01 9:22

What do you mean it's a hard choice? Haughty demon or like sister that you can't save.

SPEAKER_00 9:29

Demon. She's already dead.

SPEAKER_01 9:32

Yeah. Right? Like, what was gonna happen if you got the sister? Was she just gonna be like another ghost friend?

SPEAKER_00 9:39

I wish you said nicer things to me while I was still alive.

SPEAKER_01 9:42

Right, because their past, like we're not gonna cover a lot of it, but like Sable was very jealous. There was like a lot of issue with the families and the treatment of them, and she didn't treat her sister the nicest, you know. So, which is why she wanted to summon her because she has some she got some splaining to do, but some unfinished business. Yeah, she has some unfinished business. So she tells like Lynx, I was trying to get my sister, and Lynx is like, Oh my god, maybe I can summon my brother, Dylan. So they go on dealing with this shit five days later. Sable has realized some things. Number one, she is always cold. Man, I do not want to die if that's what happens as a ghost. Just forever freezing. Oh, I'm always cold already. She can summon things, she can change her clothes into other items. It does take energy, but if she's like, you know, she summons a jacket, it doesn't help her, but she tries, anyways. Uh ghosts need sleep, which man, that would be great. Because I just do not have the time now to get the proper amount of sleep. But if I was dead, I could catch up on a lot of unlimited sleep times, right? Um, Lynx has also taken the grimoire and hidden it because if she's not gonna help him, she can't have it. And she only wants her sister back, she doesn't want to talk about helping anybody, so it's not likely to change anytime soon. They also come to the realization that Sable needs to stay on the manor property, and Lynx, for whatever reason, is attached to Sable. So they are stuck, and every time that he goes too far or tries to get away from her, he just re-materializes in front of her. So I kind of love that. So do I. I think that's really cool. Also, how handy, right? I know just where you're like, oh my god, I have to tell my friend something. Just run in that direction for a while and then boom, pop up in front of him.

SPEAKER_00 11:41

Do you think that it's like a jump scare every time? Or do you think that there's like a little like a wind chime sound that plays before? I think it's probably a jump scare, but when you're literally a ghost, what are you afraid of?

SPEAKER_01 11:54

If getting your snap broken, like getting your neck snapped broken just makes you wake up again exactly the same. What are you?

SPEAKER_00 12:06

I'm just like jumpy. So I think this would be awesome for me.

SPEAKER_01 12:10

To just like jump six feet in the air. Swinging, yeah. Yeah, pretty much. So they have this like bully push and pull, and Sable starts to like figure out how to move objects. She starts throwing shit all around the house, like really having a ghosty temper tantrum. Yeah. And we find out that turning into a demon has made everything better for Lynx, including his long thick dick. So you know I had to say it. You know I had to say it. I read a book recently where the author wrote that, and it just became a new stim for me. So enjoy that. Um, and he is down bad for Ghost Girl Sable. She's like, how could you not be? Right? Well, that's the thing. They're kind of like a perfect match, right?

SPEAKER_00 13:00

Like they're both kind of ooky spooky, and he's a demon and she's like a little goth girly. Yeah, right? Yeah. That's your dream man. It's my every time I read a book like this, it's your dream man. I'm unwell for a really long time because I know this will never happen for me.

SPEAKER_01 13:18

Don't never say never, girl. It could happen, maybe. I don't know. I don't know the rules of ghosts and life, and so maybe. Um Sable has been wandering around the manor. It's been left abandoned since her parents were carted off to jail. She finally finds out where he's been hiding the grimoire. He hid it on the floor, which is like weird. He didn't even hide it anywhere. It's just like on the floor. It's like, ha, no one will figure this one out. Um, she goes back to her sister's room. That was the first room where she had attempted this or had successfully done the summoning spell. Her dead body is there. It's all bloated and gross. But thankfully, today it's been covered by a white sheet. Avi links did it, which also I kind of love that they wrote that. Like instead of being like, she died, and then it was just like so beautiful. It's like, no, her body gets fucked up.

SPEAKER_00 14:11

Like, it gets worse too. Like, I would be so pissed if I had to watch my own corpse decompose. Yeah. But also, what a gentleman. Like, he just like draped this sheet to cover the body and like absorb all of the fluids and stuff.

SPEAKER_01 14:26

He's like, I feel like she's not gonna love what this is. What a kindness, right? Very kind. Um, so she tries a Sabelle again, and after six attempts, she's successful. Tony shows up, Lynx's buddy from hell, and Avi Lynx is pissed that she summoned another demon. But like, why? Of all the demons she could have summoned, at least it was your best friend. That's exactly it. He's kind of like, okay, so you got Tony, which is like a huge pain in my ass, and he's just like this optimist piece of shit, you know, that's eternal sunshine. But you also could have summoned a bad demon. Like, they're demons, you know. Just because I'm a barrel of laughs, and this guy's also a fucking chucklehead, doesn't mean that every demon you summon is gonna be great. Sometimes we're shitty. I think that's why, but also he's like, girl, what? Like, I'm not enough for you. And like Tony being the hilarious character that he is, he's like spilling the beans, telling her how they're roommates, revealing his real name is Lincoln, but she's still gonna choose to call him Lynx, which is like also the nickname that his little brother used for him, which is just so cute. And Lynx is also starting to get like jelly belly because she's flirting with Tony, which bro, hello, I've been here in the house with you for a while and you haven't done anything about it. What'd you expect would happen?

SPEAKER_00 15:52

Literally right in front of you.

SPEAKER_01 15:53

Yeah, I'm available, I'm single and ready to mingle. Yes, um, it's all going good until Tony shifts into his hellhound form, which is named Titus, and Lynx steps up to protect her. We find out that in this form, he can summon a portal, which he does. And it's just a few steps away. Lynx could just jump through and return to hell and just leave this trapped hellhole, but he decides he's gonna stay and protect Sable. And Tony just dips through the portal and he's like, Interesting. He's already starting to choose her. I like it. Yeah, I love it. Sable wants to bury her body, but obviously she can't manage it. You know, like she's a ghost, but she hasn't had her full ghost moment yet. She keeps like she's starting to freak out because obviously, like she's getting hella frustrated. Link sees her and he's like, I'll help you. Picks up her bloated ass body, which like gross.

SPEAKER_00 16:55

He's gonna stink forever.

SPEAKER_01 16:57

Yeah, yeah. You're not washing that out, all right? And he carries her to the backyard. Sable ends up like grabbing her sister's urn so that they can bury them together, and it's really cute, and so then like now that they're kind of like starting to trust each other and helping each other out, she's like, I'm gonna tell you everything that I did in the ceremony. And Lynx is like, Okay, like thanks for telling me. I'm gonna tell you like how I was turned because I wasn't born a demon. And Sable explains to him about her sister, how her family lost all their money and her parents went to jail, and her sister couldn't afford medicine, so she stopped taking it so that Sable wouldn't have to work so hard. And then she died. It's just gut-wrenching. It's awful, it's awful, it's really awful.

SPEAKER_00 17:47

It's like a perfect villa villain origin story. Yeah, 100%. 100%. But like she can't do anything with it because she got her neck snapped by a demon. So even though they're still like spilling the guts and having this like cute little heartfelt moment with each other, she still fucking hates him. But he's he doesn't even care, okay? He doesn't even care. He doesn't even care. He don't care at all. Tony's back and he's like snuggled up to Sable in his animal form, and Lynx doesn't even care. I don't even care.

SPEAKER_01 18:17

That doesn't care to bother me at all.

SPEAKER_00 18:19

He doesn't care so much that he fucking loses it. Tells him to get the fuck out of there. Um, and when he shifts like between his hellhound and his human form, when he shifts from hellhound to human, he is completely nude. Which I think is so funny. It is, it's the appropriate thing. If you're shifting from an animal or a monster form into human, your clothes don't come with you. No, 100% they don't. I don't care. Your pants don't stay on. Yeah, you know who doesn't care though? Links. Because he just doesn't care.

SPEAKER_01 18:52

I just don't even care.

SPEAKER_00 18:53

He just doesn't even care. Um, so there's this horde of like frat boys outside the manor, and they're like loading in party supplies. We've got speakers and booze and drugs, and Sable is having none of that because why the fuck are they in her house? So she's like, I'm gonna scare them away. But she's dead and very invisible. She's like invisible ghost, but they can see links. So I think they even like have a comment in there, like one of the girls comes up and they're like, Why are you dressed like you're going to a renaissance fair? Which is so funny to me that even though he's a demon, when he's in his human form, he's like wearing his shitty old railroad clothes, like his tweed with his cap and stuff. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:34

No, that's exactly what I pictured. It is perfect. But also, no offense, you've got this big ass old haunted whipster's manor kind of Casper house, and you don't want us to party there? Are you high? Like, no, that would be the best place to party. So what a waste of space. Nobody else is using it. Yeah, right. There's so much room for activities.

SPEAKER_00 19:59

That's how we're gonna use it. So Sable's having a full-blown mental breakdown because she can't get these fucks out of this house. So she stole some Chad's phone and ends up taking it to another room and Googles her family. And they weren't talking to the media about her sister. They were actually talking about Sable and that she must be a drug addict. And this fucking sends her because she's never touched it, she's never been like that. She spent her whole life making sure that her sister was taken care of, and her family like goes to the media and basically shit talks her, being like, nah, she's actually a dirt bag.

SPEAKER_01 20:34

Which yeah, that's a val that's a valid crash out about to happen. That's your only family, that's it. And also, like you and your sister were like close for a tiny bit of time, but it's not like she doesn't have that best friend, she doesn't have that, like, it's fine. I don't need my original family. Yeah, I've chosen a new family. No, these are the only people in her life, and they are saying this horrible shit about her, and now she's also dead. Girl, I'll fuck that house up too.

SPEAKER_00 21:05

So she does. She fucking trashes one of the rooms, which honestly seems fair. Yeah. Um, Lynx is meanwhile being cornered by some party girl who just won't leave him alone. I love that railroad get up. Wow, where did you get this? Is this vintage? He's trying to understand like all this like new hip lingo. There's square flashing things that are taking photos and the modern music, and it's just fucking sending him. So he dips, he finds Sable in the middle of her tantrum, and he admits that he thinks his brother is dead too, and that he was born in a much different time than her. Like, no shit, girl. How long have you been? Have you seen Ea fit? Yeah. Because I have figured that out. So they watch this loser downstairs drug this girl, and that's Sable's final straw. So she put Pushes this guy, straight yeets him down the stairs until he's just like a heap of person at the bottom. Fair man. Which so I know that she can summon like different outfits and stuff. She has to be with Lynx in order to touch other people. I did not realize that. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So she's fucking with the party people. She's throwing drinks, she's shoving people, she's stealing phones. She's having her full Patrick Swayze ghost moment.

SPEAKER_01 22:30

I am here for it. Yeah. Like, I love it.

SPEAKER_00 22:33

Yeah. So she ends up summoning a cute little gauzey white dress to change into. And she's feeling herself. Okay. And Lynx tells her she looks like shit. Which is so funny. She's like, oh, do you like it? He's like, no, actually, like fucking stupid. It looks like hot garbage. Obviously, he's lying because the pepperoni in his pocket says otherwise. Um but then Michael, which is Sable's ex, shows up at the party. And Lynx knows that there's obviously some history between these two because her jaw probably dropped and she was drooling and he can read her mind, and I don't know. So he fucking snaps down. It's time for him to have a little tantrum, and he just goes and chokes this guy the fuck out.

SPEAKER_01 23:22

Which is so hot. Hot, but also if I saw this like Renaissance fair guy who was like, ye old pontigoers, and just started choking guests out, and you're like, guys, huzzah! This has been a great party, but uh get the fuck out. Yeah, I think I'm gonna go. It's it's kind of giving weird vibes. They also push someone down the stairs, and I think he's dead. I think I'm gonna go. Yeah, the cops are definitely gonna show up.

SPEAKER_00 23:52

For sure they are. But in the meantime, if you can just keep choking that guy out to in my honor, that's fine too. So Sable's soul belongs to Lynx. He is big jealous. Yeah. He just choked her ex-boyfriend. So he chases her down and he shifts into his demon form. And dare I say, I think that this is like I think I'm into it. Because how many times how many books have we read? You think that you're into it?

SPEAKER_01 24:23

I know you're into it.

SPEAKER_00 24:25

How many books have we read where it's like they're in hell? Um and I am it keeps happening a lot more animal.

SPEAKER_01 24:33

It keeps happening a lot more. We're getting damed into this. We have the Lord of Bulls and hence it's happened.

SPEAKER_00 24:41

Some recommendations for me for some demon books. Yeah. Just slide them my way. Just slide them, just slide them in my way.

SPEAKER_01 24:48

Yeah, we love them. Honestly, because at first I don't know what I really thought a demon was. I think I thought it was just like this tiny little thing that was red. Tiny. Yeah. And then Tiny. I know. I know. I kind of I think I was confusing fairies and demons. And then when I started reading more books and I learned English, then I was like, hmm.

SPEAKER_00 25:11

I think I learned.

SPEAKER_01 25:12

Because I also, uh, I don't know if you realize this, but I realized this somewhat recently. A lot of times when it says monster romance, the monster is a demon. Yeah. That was a nice little surprise. Because I always, again, monster, I don't know. I was like, I don't know. I think it's like the snuffle upights.

SPEAKER_00 25:28

I think I'm into that. And the snuffle upigus?

SPEAKER_01 25:32

And then when I realized that it was demons, I was like, oh.

SPEAKER_00 25:36

The count.

SPEAKER_01 25:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 25:37

Well, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:38

The I was like the plot thickens. All right.

SPEAKER_00 25:42

Yes. Anyways, I'm sorry, sidetracked. That's okay. So he tells her to run because obviously it's time for a little chase. Hell yeah. Um, but fucking Tony shows up, dog form, outside, and he has Sable's corpse's leg in his mouth. So he like, I think he's like slow-mo running and like sees it in his peripheral and like has to just like slow-mo look back away and continue chasing because he doesn't have time to deal with that right now. But when he catches her, he gives her the demon onions. Oh, the demon onions. Yeah. But so this is the spiciest chef's kiss chapter in this book, I think. Yeah, it is. But when they're like finished, she falls out the fucking window. And there's a few parts in this book where she's like still learning how to like control her how her ghostness. Yeah. So she like falls through like multiple levels of the floors. She's going through walls, she's like just having a bad time. So she ends up, yeah, falling out of the window onto the ground. So it's like a third death for her at this point now. Um so sh when she's like getting up and like shaking it off, she finds her mangled corpse outside, and it is in fucking pieces. So horrible.

SPEAKER_01 26:59

How like that grave?

SPEAKER_00 27:03

How shall they just like covered it with like leaves, so they're like, yeah. A stick on top of her bloated body. That's good enough. There's there's just a stick on top of the sheet. He's like, it's buried. It's just how burying works. Um, so Link strolls up around the same time as the cops. He's never seen a car before, so I think he refers to it as like a monster at one point, just like that's a car, you fucking idiot. Um, but there's no time to explain. We have to get to the manor, the cops are here, so he has to shift back into his human form, and they run back to the manor right as the cops are stepping through the front door, and he tells them basically like Kickrocks, get the fuck out of here. But they want to come in. There's some weird stuff. Sable's been missing, they're looking for her, and he's like, No, fuck you. So they leave, which is such a weird yeah too. Wasn't there a party?

SPEAKER_01 28:06

Where's the kids? Right. They leave too. The kids must have left. Shit got awkward. There's body parts all over the place. There's yeah, they see a girl buried underneath a sheet, and they're like, I don't know, shit's getting crazy here. Yeah. Like it it must have, but also like for the cops to kind of be like, she kind I think she kind of tells him a little bit what to say to the cops. Like, tell them that you're telling me man. And so they're probably wondering if like he's not the brightest crayon in the box or something, and is like, we gotta get the fuck out of here. They're like, uh, this guy's just here trying to do some business, and you know.

SPEAKER_00 28:53

So he's also admitting to himself that Sable's kind of growing on him like a lot. He also finds out that it is the year 2025 and he was born in the 1800s, and he is disgusted with himself because he is centuries older than her and they just had sex. So she's like laughing in his face, like age and piece of shit. Like, I'm a child.

SPEAKER_01 29:18

You're going to jail.

SPEAKER_00 29:19

You're going to jail for a long time. Yeah. So Sable is also coming to the realization that she doesn't really hate him anymore. And honestly, if I was banging an ancient demon, I wouldn't be that mad either. No. Well, I know you wouldn't. Yeah. He is outside picking at the literal pieces of her that are scattered around.

SPEAKER_01 29:38

Um the fact that he has to go around the yard and be like, ah, here's a finger. Here's a elbow. Get that over here. You know, like, oh my god. And that place must just stink. Oh. Like, it must just stink.

SPEAKER_00 29:54

There's pieces of corpse all over the place. Gross. But they're having this little cleanup party and they're opening up to each other a little bit more about their past and their siblings and their parents. Um, and Tony shows up again, and he has nearly killed a guy, and Lynx had to snap his neck to finish the job, which is like such a cock block because they were just having this nice little moment, and there's fucking Tony. Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay.

SPEAKER_01 30:17

Tony didn't nearly kill a guy. Okay. He mauled him. Um, there was a guy who he ripped both of his arms off. And there was another guy who had like, I think his legs were ripped off. Like he Yeah, they were in pieces, but still alive. And it was like seconds. He just like this film crew shows up to be like, ooh, what a skeep, like a scary place to film. Let's go see what kind of weird demons and ghosts live here. And then, woo, hellhound out of nowhere. And it just fucked them up. Man, you gotta be vigilant. That shit happens a lot more than you fucking realize.

SPEAKER_00 30:53

It's true. You know, so Lynx using his powers, like if he's transforming into a demon form, it actually makes him traceable to other demons and other creatures.

SPEAKER_01 31:02

Which is so interesting.

SPEAKER_00 31:05

It is, it is very interesting. And Tony tells Lynx that something is wrong and then just fucking yeets himself back to this portal.

SPEAKER_01 31:12

And but also can start exiting conversations this way. Just like talking about jumping out of the smell around. Something's wrong.

SPEAKER_00 31:25

And just like full speed run in the in any direction.

SPEAKER_01 31:31

Doesn't matter which one. Doesn't matter which direction, you just fucking smell it in the window. And just leave. Next time that my boss asks me something at work and I just don't want to do it, something's wrong. And just go home for the day, see what happens.

SPEAKER_00 31:46

I feel like it would go okay. Probably nothing. Probably nothing.

SPEAKER_01 31:49

They feel like it'll be okay. They'd be like, you know what? I'm kind of scared. I'm not gonna bring that up. That scared the fuck out of me.

SPEAKER_00 31:56

100%. You can't bring it up.

SPEAKER_01 31:59

It's insane behavior.

SPEAKER_00 32:00

Yeah. Um, so they have to kill some time while they wait and find out what is wrong. What is wrong in hell, I guess. Um, so they bang quite a bit.

SPEAKER_01 32:10

Uh, you know, just what else are you gonna do? You got body parts all over the lawn. The he's ripping people's arms off. You're stressed, may as well just quick get it in, some pee in the pee.

SPEAKER_00 32:23

Uh when they're done, a torus demon comes through and bites Sable. So he yeah, obviously tracked them, is my guess. And she is gonna be in pain, like hallucinating, sweating her balls off over the next few days. Like, I think it would be the equivalent of coming off of like a full-blown heroin addiction, is what it sounds like. Yeah, and he's like, no, no, no, you're gonna be okay, everything's gonna be fine. It's just gonna hurt a little bit. But like in her monologue, is like she's gonna want to kill herself again repeatedly. She's gonna be in the most pain and suffering she's ever endured in her entire existence.

SPEAKER_01 33:00

We're for sure gonna have to rip her skin off.

SPEAKER_00 33:03

A hundred percent. So Sable's having a tantrum again. Poor fucking dead girl stuck with a 10 out of 10 demon in a manner. Manner. You know, some of us have real problems. Yeah. Like Sable, he just wants to cuddle you while you heal. Let the man cuddle up. So he's forcing her to kind of like snuggle and rest to heal, and they chat a little more about their previous lives, and then they play a little two truths in a lie game. And Lynx admits that he's never kissed anyone before. So Sable fucking roasts him. And she's like, uh, you've never kissed anyone. You fucking nerd. And it obviously hurts his feelings, so he kisses her, and then he just dips, so he like kind of gets the last laugh, which is he does well.

SPEAKER_01 33:55

I think something's wrong. And then just wrong.

SPEAKER_00 33:58

Yeah. Uh but then something is is wrong. So he can't sense Sable anymore. The house is quiet, like she's gone. He can't find her. He goes outside, and the fucking cops are there again, searching for a few missing cops. Interesting. Not good. Uh so Tony's there, and Lynx and Tony tell these guys, like, fuck off, get out of the manor. Like, you're not come back with the bigger.

SPEAKER_01 34:25

And he knows, and he's like, You're gonna need a warrant to search these premises. And so they leave.

SPEAKER_00 34:31

That's exactly how he talks, also. Yeah, you're gonna need a warrant there, pigs. Exactly. So they leave because that's how things work. Yeah. Um, so they do find Sable. She's hiding out in the basement. She's digging through some boxes and she finds this book, and there's some handwritten pages in there from her mom, and it's all the evidence that she would need to keep her parents locked up in jail forever. It's basically the ledger with proof of all the fraud and money laundering that they've been doing.

SPEAKER_01 34:59

Okay, well, here's the thing that I have learned about evidence. Don't keep it. Don't keep it. Why do people always keep it? Like, don't keep it. Throw it away. Don't do it. Don't do it.

SPEAKER_00 35:14

Like, just get rid of it. So they're in like downtown love now. They're admitting it to each other. They're kissing on the mouth, okay?

SPEAKER_01 35:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:23

With tongue? Probably. He's never done it before, so it's a learning, it's a learning thing.

SPEAKER_01 35:28

As this is happening, she, for whatever reason, spells her last name, Eldrith, and he's like, what realizes that Sable's family was the company that he was working for when he was working on the rail, roads all the live long day, and he is fucking pissed because he assumes, right? He assumes that this has been some kind of fucked up ploy to torture him more. Like, obviously, he doesn't know how that would even be passable, possible, but he's like, obviously, this is a family that ruined my life. Like, they separated me from my brother, they sent me to hell, like, what the hell? So he What the hell? What the hell? He runs, he like dips. He's like, Okay, fuck you, I'm out. Bye. He runs to Tony, who asks, like, yo, man, why do you smell like a human? And it turns out that while they're having kind of this whole little chat and she like explained who he was, she accidentally uh stabbed, cut, nicked a little bit with the blade, and it was the cursed blade. It was the one that put him in hell, and now his curse is gone. He's not a demon anymore. That's why he smells like a fucking human.

SPEAKER_00 36:42

I think this would piss me the fuck off. Because, like, what do you mean? I had to I had to change over years of like pain and suffering and torture into this, and then learn how to like transfer back and forth between like a human and a demon form. And what do you mean that I have to be some fuck ass human again after years of having horns and a tail? Right?

SPEAKER_01 37:06

Yeah, but I guess you don't have to go to hell. Like that's pretty ballin'. Horns and a tail. The thing is, he died when he was young. He was just a young buck with so much life to let's choke her.

SPEAKER_00 37:19

He was choking her with his tail.

SPEAKER_01 37:20

That's true. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:22

They were doing fun stuff. Now they're gonna be now we talking missionary and more missionary.

SPEAKER_01 37:27

And more missionary.

SPEAKER_00 37:28

Missionary with a kiss on the forehead.

SPEAKER_01 37:31

That's I would be pissed. Well, Sable's about to be pissed when she finds that out. Um, so Tony again runs off. He's like, something doesn't smell right, and she just fucking keeps on dipping. And they're like, Sable, Sable, where ya? Soul suckers, God saves. Soul suckers. Soul suckers. And then worse. Well, we get this like time where she goes to hell. We're not gonna go super into it. Um, but while she is in hell, she is getting every shitty flashback from her life. Like she is getting all of the abuse again that her parents gave her, but it's also like mixing in with like kind of what could have been between her and Lynx, and like you know, I gotta say that if like flashbacks is like what hell has to offer, bro. I do that on a nightly basis.

SPEAKER_00 38:26

A hundred percent.

SPEAKER_01 38:27

I would be so good at hell, right? Like, uh, every time I do something embarrassing, I'm gonna overthink that shit for the next year and a half. Like, what do you mean? You'll do that to me? Like, okay, I'm a professional. Like just saying oh, sign me up, the Olympics, okay? I'm taking home the gold in stupid flashbacks. Anyway, so Lynx explains to Tony, like, you have to take me back to hell. He's like, What? Bro, you're a human. This is what you wanted, this is what everyone wants. He's like, Yeah, but I love Sable. I gotta rescue her. I kissed her on the mouth. I kissed her on the mouth. And Tony shifts into his dog form, and Lynx rides him like a pony straight into hell. This is an insane visual.

SPEAKER_00 39:10

What do you mean? He rides him like a pony into hell. Insane.

SPEAKER_01 39:19

I need someone who could draw fan art because I really want someone to draw that.

SPEAKER_00 39:23

Yeah, because I picture him in his like little paper boy cap, his tweed vest, 100% balloons riding this big black dog in hell hound.

SPEAKER_01 39:34

And he has what? His little sacrimonial dagger, the one that like stabbed him. I want this painting on the side of a low. Yeah, right. Yeah. We absolutely need somebody who could draw that. Um, and for someone who is all like rainbows and butterflies, I get really giddy and excited when reading about hell. Like, maybe I'm just like looking forward to my future, but like Lee and Avena do such a good job of describing hell. Like, obviously, it's horrible, it's whatever, but everything's so interesting, you know, because they kind of have like jobs and there's like a hierarchy there, and it honestly it's it's fabulous. Read this part of the book for sure. So we get another shitty flashback on Fable's side of things. This time it's when she's like living and taking care of her sister, and it's back at the day when she realizes that her sister isn't taking her medicine anymore. And Sable just fucking rips her apart for this, and she says some bad shit, obviously out of anger.

SPEAKER_00 40:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:40

And when she goes to apologize, she realizes that her sister is dead.

SPEAKER_00 40:47

Way to go, Sable, you fucking idiot. I'm pretty sure like the first rule of dying family member club is to not talk shit to the dying family member.

SPEAKER_01 40:56

Yeah. It's bad. It's tough. It's bad. It's hard out there for a pimp. Yeah, it is hard. So Lynx and Tony, the pony, have now made it to hell. And they're tied up in a courtyard. They're like kidnapped right in. Or kidnapped, they're just kind of like, what the hell are these guys doing back here? Yeah. And they're just yoinked right away. They're tied up in a courtyard. They're on their knees in front of this shitty demon, Vaden. And he stabs Tony over and over again, killing him forever. He stabbed him so many times that his head falls off.

SPEAKER_00 41:35

I would be so upset if somebody stabbed you to death until your head fell off.

SPEAKER_01 41:40

If they stabbed me or if they stabbed you? You?

SPEAKER_00 41:43

Or just if this happens. I'm not getting stabbed that many times. But if we like roll reverse and this was me and you, and I rode you like a pony into the fiery pits of hell, but you don't have a dog form, it's just you as a human. I don't know. Maybe I just haven't shown you everything. No.

SPEAKER_01 42:01

That takes a certain level of trust.

SPEAKER_00 42:07

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 42:08

It's just a bad day for everyone involved. Any time that it's like stabbed so many times, parts fall off.

SPEAKER_00 42:15

Yeah. It's a bad time. Lynx is human again. His best slash only friend is dead for real. His brother's dead. His mom is dead. His girlfriend was captured. Like, I don't think it can get any worse for him today.

SPEAKER_01 42:27

He's also in literal hell.

SPEAKER_00 42:29

Like as a human.

SPEAKER_01 42:31

As a human. Bad place to be. Not great. It ain't cabbo, my guy. Um, so the hellhounds show up and they are fucking pissed. And they take revenge for Tony on the guards, which, like, hell yeah, Tony, because he's the fucking best character. And one of them tells Lynx, uh, yo, your girl is in Bowser's Castle at the center of hell, and you gotta go save Princess Pai. Like, all right. Essentially. You know, the devil has her, and your princess's name is Sable. Um, so he steps in front of uh basically he goes there, he steps out in front of the devil, and Lynx offers the devil a deal, his soul, in exchange for Sable's. Which is like he's so self-sacrificing. Also, like he's a he's a demon. He didn't have to be good. No. Sable comes to, and she is also now in front of the devil. And this lying devil that he is tells her that Lynx traded his soul, or sorry, her soul, for his own freedom, not the other way around when it actually was. And Lyra Lynx. Right? Lia pants on fire, you're in the right place for it. That's why your pants are burning. And it offers her the deal of talking to her sister in exchange for Lynx's soul. Which, okay, sidebar real quick.

SPEAKER_00 43:56

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 43:57

The reason why I think of the devil is asking both of them. To barter for each other's souls is because it belongs to the other. Because you couldn't ask someone to give away something that didn't belong to you.

SPEAKER_00 44:09

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 44:10

That's even better than a full-on pregnancy book. Okay. That means that we're in love forever. Like that made me really excited. And she says, you know what? You can have my soul so that links can be free.

SPEAKER_00 44:32

It just feels like we love each other. They're in love.

SPEAKER_01 44:37

Man, I really hope that I never am like offered this because I'll always want to be like, I give up my soul for the other persons. And then if it's a trap and it doesn't work out the way it does in the books, damn. That would be true. I'd also like to read a book where it doesn't work out that way. Where the person offers it up and the guy's like, sweet, and just yeets out of there. Yeah. And leaves you in hell forever. Yeah, I'd kind of like to find a book like that. Okay. Anyways, next thing she knows, she comes too. She's in the manor. Lynx is there, and they realize that they are both alive. They're not cursed. Hashtag new life, new me. Woo! Yeah. And she actually crazy. Which is crazy. Also, what a great fucking. We're getting close to the end if you can't tell. So what a great fucking ending. Lynx tells her that Tony had to stay back in hell. And she's like, oh. Yeah, knock on the wrong foot here. Yeah, like, of course. You know, whatever. And they see a little black dog carrying a human arm wander out of the woods and just welcome himself into the manor, Tony 2.0. Which a good part. I don't know what that means. I don't know if that is like a reincarnation of Tony. I don't know if Tony has all these babies that are out there.

SPEAKER_00 46:03

Out fucking dogs while he was on Earth. Don't know. Okay. He's a demon. Don't know how I feel about that.

SPEAKER_01 46:13

I had a lot of time to sit and think about this. And I was like, either I'm really, really happy or I'm really, really unhappy. And Tony deserves the debt that he got. So I'm unsure. We would really need the authors to clarify this for us. That's true. What exactly is Tony 2.0, but I still love it.

SPEAKER_00 46:34

This book honestly ends with such a neat little bow, which is all wrapped together. It is so good.

SPEAKER_01 46:42

Right? It honestly is. So they're alive, they're together, they're in the world, they're joining the rat race like us, mortal trash. They're fixing up the manor to sell it. Tony 2.0 lives with them. Evidence has been provided to the FBI. We're keeping her rents locked up for a long, long time. And then we get the epoch luck, okay? So this book, we had some demons, we had some tail choking sex. We had some hellhounds.

SPEAKER_00 47:14

What doesn't it have?

SPEAKER_01 47:15

What doesn't it have?

SPEAKER_00 47:16

It's got a little bit of everything.

SPEAKER_01 47:18

I fucking cried. I was like, hmm, I didn't cry. That's pretty, you know what? I'm impressed with myself because normally I cry at books because I'm a wee little baby. And she takes Sable takes Lynx to a graveyard and they go and visit Dylan's grave because obviously it's been hundreds of years. And they find out that he got to live his life. And we also learned that Dylan named his son Lincoln, and every son's son after that was named Lincoln.

SPEAKER_00 47:51

That is so wholesome. What do you mean? Why do you have to hurt my feelings like that?

SPEAKER_01 47:59

Why did you guys have a few? I was happy. How can you put that in a book with that kind of like why'd you go for that? That I I feel like if I had to guess, because I I'm always very curious when authors co-write books together. Do you just share? Is it chapter for chapter? Like I really, really am very curious. But if I had to guess, I would say that the but the epilogue is a Lee chapter because she loves to make me cry. She just doesn't want me to just be happy.

SPEAKER_00 48:28

If I don't cry, she does emotional emotional devastation real well. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 48:34

She really does. And that is it.

SPEAKER_00 48:38

Yeah! Yeah. I had so much fun. Oh. I think I I think I love this one every time I read it. I I love it more. Yeah, like the first time we read it was an arc, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 48:48

The first time we read it was before it came out, and I knew that it was to be good. Obviously. I knew that it was going to be good. But also, if you think about it, um, Lee only has one other book that is like paranormal romanticy, you know, kind of fantasy, which is Satanic Shadows, which is phenomenal. And Avina Avi has a whole bunch of like she does a lot more monster romance and other stuff like that, which I was like, okay, cool, totally. But I had no idea where this was gonna go or how, like the turns that it was gonna take. And honestly, yeah, I think I'm like you. Like the first time I was like, holy shit, this is a five-star book. And then when I read it again, I was like, okay, you know what? This might actually be a six-star book. Like this, it's fabulous. Like this, this will be a book that you just add to your list and you read like on a yearly basis. Because they really honestly killed it with this one. Well, thanks so much for listening. You can hit us up on all the socials. We are most active on Insta. If you have any questions, comments, book recommendations, thank you so much. We've been getting a few of those from you lately, and we are looking into covering some of those books on our episodes. Um, but if you have any of those, you can email us at smut syndicate at gmail.com. And if you can draw us that fan art of Tony the Pony and Lynx riding him into hell, we would love to see.

SPEAKER_00 50:23

It doesn't even have to be done by an artist.

unknown 50:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 50:26

Just you know what? Just do your best. Yeah, just do your best. Just see what you can do. It could be done by your child and send it to us because we would love to see it. Live, laugh, mortal trash.