Dear Reader Friends,

All of us have different personalities, depending on the setting. On my visual socials, I present as the relatable aunt. The one who knows things but will never tell you how she figured it out.

So, I have tea related to the book I’m reading, but can’t share on my Instagram or Facebook because the book has spice.

(I write sweet romance, so anything beyond banana pepper seasoning catches my attention.)

And the spice was a plot twist, so I had to pay attention.

This plot twist was so sudden, I argued a loudly with the audiobook, while it was happening.

My poor husband wanted to go to sleep. But my reply to him was the same verbiage I had directed to the character.

“There are ghosts in the room, and they can see everything.”

And “That has to be traumatic for the humans who have no clue about what is going on.”

And “This cannot end well.”

I pressed pause because I was traumatized.

If it was a print book, I would have skipped three paragraphs to make sure the characters were okay and circled back to the beginning.

Since that wasn’t an option, I had to press forward—or in this scenario, play.

By now, my husband, who had no clue about what was going on, but is invested, was waiting to hear the outcome as well.

Palms pressed to my cheeks, I listened and am pleased to say Darynda Jones delivered. The punchline to the twist worked. She had seasoned the story well.

Now, this isn’t something I’d share on my social media. Yes, I know blogs are social media. My students don’t care about my writing. They’re just impressed that I do it.

Do you see where this is going?

Yes, I can write about it. 😊

So, thank you for being a friend that I can talk books with. A friend that can appreciate a variety of characters. A friend that gets the tea.