Episode 73: Pants?

Is it a monster or is it a cryptid? Or is it just… pants? We’re chatting about the Fresno Nightcrawler this week. We slide into the origins, before tighening our belts and searching for it in pop culture. Plus, Jess and Sarah chat monster news, and what’s in store for Season Seven! So get your comfy pants on and press play… the episode starts now.

Book Review:

A Spark so Bright - Emma Hamm

This book deals with heavy themes (read the trigger warning), but is such a wonderful reflection on healing and trauma. Rose and Gunnars relationship is slow and patient, and is built on trust. The new characters added have me very excited for the final book as well. Emma has built such a rich world, and diverse community, into these series and I find myself invested in what happens next, and how the story will end.

Synopsis:

She hides from the world. He’s the monster who refuses to let her vanish.

Rose has spent her life running. From hunger, from pain, from anyone who dared to care for her. Once a street thief, then a reluctant priestess, then a prize in a gladiator’s arena, she’s learned that safety only comes from silence. From disappearing into dreams and a false reality that has always kept her safe.

Until Gunnar finds her.

The troll warrior with eyes like storm clouds and hands that could shatter stone. The moment he sees her, he knows she’s his, and that claiming her will take more than brute strength. It will take patience. Trust. The slow, dangerous surrender of her heart.

But the realm is changing. Humans are flooding into the troll kingdom, and the king has declared bridal games—a brutal contest to bind humans and trolls in marriage. Rose is fragile, untrained, and has no wish to compete. Gunnar can’t bear to see her offered to another.

So he enters the games himself. To fight for her. To prove his worth. Even if it means pretending he could ever want anyone but her.

Because monsters may not dream, but for Rose, Gunnar will tear apart the waking world itself.