Murder Mystery in a Speakeasy – Best Served Cold

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Image is a screenshot I took of Best Served Cold. The font feels like a 1920s broadway type of font. There's gold around the words and on the top is a red, cocktail glass and the bottom is a red drop of blood.
Best Served Cold – screenshot taken by me.

I received an email from Steam about a game demo that’s now available to play. I don’t pay much attention to these emails, but this game caught my eye. Best Served Cold is a visual novel game where players interact with patrons to solve a murder at a speakeasy. When I researched the game, I realized that Best Served Cold is being developed by the same developer that made Hidden Through Time which is another favorite game of mine. Once I knew that, I was intrigued and downloaded the demo of Best Served Cold. Best Served Cold is an entertaining game and the demo expertly gives players a first-hand look at what the game will be like.

Image is a newspaper with the title headline "Killer Still At Large". There's font below that says "That star's being dying for a while". Image taken by me.
Screenshot taken by me.

Best Served Cold opens with the player being greeted by a detective. The detective offers the player a forced choice of helping to gather information to solve a murder. In turn, the detective won’t bust the speakeasy the player is working at. By mixing drinks, the player can gather more information from suspects. Some suspects open up more when the drink sucks or isn’t made right, so messing up drinks isn’t always a bad thing. At the end of the day, there’s an evidence board where evidence can be linked together. This reveals if the player caught a suspect in a lie or built a motive against a suspect as to why they would want that person dead. The demo ends after a few rounds with evidence collected leaving the player wanting more.

I was surprised at how long the demo was. According to Steam, I played the game for 86 minutes or an hour and twenty-six minutes. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I thought the demo would be a fifteen-minute experience and I was pleasantly surprised by how much gameplay was included. I felt the demo did a great job of showcasing what the game would look like. There is no doubt that I will be purchasing this game when it’s released.

In the demo, it shows how cocktails are made. There’s a cocktail list and once a cocktail is chosen, the player has to move their mouse along a series of lines. There’s a timer, so if the player doesn’t make the cocktail fast enough, the drink is ruined. This was a little clunky because you only have one shot to make the cocktail correctly. However, once I had a few tries, I found myself getting better at making the drinks. From talking to patrons, you can gather clues on what cocktail might be their favorite. Serving a patron their favorite cocktail allows the player to record clues and ask more personal questions. I liked how this came together especially when you could put the clues together on the evidence board.

I mentioned how Best Served Cold was made by the same developer as Hidden Through Time. Rogueside is based out of Belgium and has a ton of interesting games. Hidden Through Time is one of them along with Warhammer 40,000 Shootas, Blood & Teef and Guns, Gore & Cannoli. I have never heard of those two games, but I’m more willing to check them out. As far as I’m aware, there isn’t a release date for Best Served Cold yet.

Best Served Cold was a fun game. I can’t wait to play it once it’s released. If you’re interested, the demo for Best Served Cold is available and I’d highly recommend downloading it and checking it out for yourself.

Washington D.C., The Occult and Divine Monsters – Historical Fiction TBR

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March is a reading month where I normally don’t have a plan as to what I want to read. With that said, my friend’s book club book is The Briar Club by Kate Quinn. Since I’m already reading historical fiction, I figured I’d make it the theme for this entire month. Unlike last month, I will not read four books as that was a lot. I’m picking three books with two being higher in page number and the third book being a short novella. I’m going to share what I hope to read and listen to this month.

In February, I read five books. They are as follows:

  • A Thousand Miles by Bridget Morrissey 5/5 stars
  • Love and Other Conspiracies by Mallory Marlowe 5/5 stars
  • Do Your Worst by Rosie Danan DNF
  • The Art of Catching Feelings by Alicia Thompson 4/5 stars
  • Heroine by Mindy McGinnis Unrated

I read a lot of good books last month. A Thousand Miles surprised me because I thought I would enjoy it, but not as much as I expected. Do Your Worst was a book I thought I would like, but it wasn’t for me. It was odd because the main character is supposed to be a professional occultist, although it felt like the book didn’t have a lot of supernatural elements to it. I thought it cheapened the female main character because people thought she was a fraud. I would have liked the book more if it leaned into those supernatural elements versus shying away from them. Heroine was a book I had on my Goodreads TBR for six years. I listened to it on audio and this book was heart-wrenching. It’s a book about a high school athlete who gets addicted to heroin. It was a heavy book to listen to, but I’m glad I did.

Here are the three books I want to read this month:

The Briar Club by Kate Quinn

The Briar Club takes place in Washington D.C. during the height of Communism and Joseph McCarthy’s accusations. The book follows a boarding house in D.C. where a young woman named Grace moves in. Grace has this allure to her and she quickly befriends the other women in the house. Four years after Grace moves in, there’s a murder at the boarding house that the police are investigating. What happened and was Grace involved?

I started reading The Briar Club and I’m enjoying it so far. I’m not far into the book, but I like reading about the women in the house.

The Diviners by Libba Bray

Evie O’Neill is sent to live with her Uncle Will in NYC in 1926. Will has what Evie would call an unhealthy obsession with the Occult. Evie doesn’t make much of it until a girl is found murdered and the police consult Will. Evie is pulled into something she doesn’t fully understand and maybe Will has knowledge about something dark coming to the surface.

I like how The Diviners combines historical fiction with fantasy. I have had The Diviners on my Goodreads TBR since 2019 and it’s about time I read this.

Even Though I Knew The End by C.L. Polk

Even Though I Knew The End is about a magical detective in Chicago who investigates monsters. She is tasked to hunt a serial killer called The White City Vampire.

I read the premise of this book and I couldn’t resist. I like how this book is shorter as I think it will balance out the other two books I chose.

This is an interesting reading month as I’m reading all these books on my Kindle. That’s why I didn’t post a picture of my book stack like I normally do. It’s good to break out my Kindle every now and then. While I prefer reading physical books, I don’t feel as bad if I purchase a book on Kindle that I don’t end up liking.

The Legend of Vox Machina (2022)

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Image is a promo image for The Legend of Vox Machina. It shows all teh members of Vox Machina ready to charge into battle with an evil dragon shadow over them.

At one point in time, Critical Role had one of the most successful Kickstarter projects of all time. The Legend of Vox Machina began as a Kickstarter campaign which Critical Role advertised during their live stream. The campaign was immensely successful leading to the show launching on Amazon Prime. I started watching the show by myself, but my husband became interested and I ended up restarting season #1 and watched the series with him. The Legend of Vox Machina is an exciting rendition of the popular campaign.

The Legend of Vox Machina follows the seven members of Vox Machina. Each member is voiced by the same player that portrayed them in the campaign. There’s Vex (played by Laura Bailey), Vax (played by Liam O’Brien), Percy Fredrickstein von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III (played by Taliesin Jaffe), Pike Trickfoot (played by Ashley Johnson), Keyleth of the Air Ashari (played by Marisha Ray), Scanlan Shorthalt (played by Sam Riegel), and Grog Strongjaw (played by Travis Willingham). Each character has their own back story that comes into play throughout the seasons. Vox Machina teams up to take on several powerful enemies including The Briarwoods and The Chroma Conclave. Exandria needs Vox Machina, but are they ready to embrace becoming heroes?

The Legend of Vox Machina is such a delight to watch. It felt like I was reliving the campaign all over again. I felt the characters personalities were on point with who they were in the campaign. Grog’s humor comes out from some of the lighthearted statements he makes. Keyleth’s insecurities and being afraid to embrace her role as an Ashari. As someone who watched the campaign and the show, it felt like they were one in the same.

I can’t talk about the show without talking about all the enemies. The Briarwoods are one of my favorite adversaries that came out of Critical Role’s first campaign. I remember watching Taliesin’s reaction on the livestream when Matt mentions them. As a TTRPG player, I have been there! The shock when something is relevant to your character is presented in game. I get it. The Briarwoods having a full season dedicated to them was much needed. The Chroma Conclave pops up in the later seasons and they are scary. The amount of damage they did to Exandria is surreal to watch. I loved seeing all of this come to life.

With all adaptations, there will be changes. The first change I thought was interesting were the romances. In the show, it felt that Vex and Percy’s relationship developed quickly while Keyleth and Vax’s relationship was a slow burn. In the campaign, that’s the opposite. I thought that was interesting. I could see why this was changed as it helped provide the revenge arc of Vex taking on Anna Ripley and it helps to develop Vex’s feelings for Percy to sell this portion of the story. Vex and Percy’s relationship was so beautiful because it took the time to develop. While those changes were made, the original Vex and Percy moments are faithful to the campaign. Vex opening her door completely naked is exactly what Laura Bailey did to Taliesin. I believe someone clipped side by side of the campaign versus the show and it’s worth it to watch because they are identical.

The second change that I feel is not talked about enough is Kash. Kashaw (played by Will Friedle both in the campaign and the show) appears with Vox Machina at pivotal moments throughout the series. In the campaign, Kashaw lives to the end. However, in the show, Kashaw is killed by Thordak and accepts his death by going to The Raven Queen. I was so unprepared for this because it was drastically different. I understand things have to change, but this feels like a huge change. I’d hate to see other NPCs get killed off if they were left living in the original campaign.

The Legend of Vox Machina was a joy to watch and I’m looking forward to what will be adapted in later seasons. It feels like I’m rewatching the original campaign that made me a fan of Critical Role to begin with.

Doomlings: Imaginary Ends Expansion

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My friend introduced me to Doomlings after she backed the game on Kickstarter. When I visited her one weekend, we played several rounds of Doomlings and I loved it. I loved the art style, it feels similar to Unstable Unicorns or Exploding Kittens. The game is easy to learn and explain to someone else. Several weeks ago, I was contacted by someone from Doomlings asking if I would be willing to review the game. I was delighted! They were kind enough to send me a copy of the base game and their expansion, Doomlings: Imaginary Ends. I had already written my review of Doomlings three years ago, but because they were open to sending me the base game, I introduced my brother to the game. Doomlings: Imaginary Ends adds so much more to the base game.

Image is a photo of Doomlings Imaginary Ends. It shows a bunch of cute creatures. One at the bottom looks like a circular narwhal . The one above it looks like a red blob with lightning on it.
My copy of Doomlings: Imaginary Ends. Photo taken by me, copy provided by Doomlings

If you’re new to Doomlings, I’d recommend checking out my original review of the base game here before continuing to read this review. In summary, Doomlings is a game where players collect trait cards before the world ends due to an apocalyptic event. The player with the highest number of points at the end of the game wins. Some trait cards have abilities while others are cute and add points. The base Doomlings game has a stack of trait cards and apocalypse cards that help keep the game interesting. This is where the Doomlings: Imaginary Ends expansion comes into play.

Image is a photo of a catastrophe card. It says Abyss Stares Back. It shows the night sky with a purple shadow over it. At the bottom of the card it says: -1 Gene Pool Suppress all cards from your hand. Stabilize. World's End: -5 if you have 12 or more traits in your trait pile.
This new Catastrophe card from Doomlings: Imaginary Ends. Photo provided by Doomlings

Doomlings: Imaginary Ends has five different expansions which add a twist to the game. The expansions are: Magical Merchants, Glitterlings, Moonlings, Deeplings, and Fuzelings. The Magical Merchants can sell players trinkets that may score extra points at the end of the world. Glitterlings are cards with abilities based on chance meaning playing them could benefit you or they could backfire. Moonlings allows players to give out unwanted cards and add rewards. Deeplings can give players a chance to suppress abilities. Finally, Fuzelings is a mix of the above expansions and can provide players with additional combos with other cards played. The amount of replay value in this expansion is wild! This expansion has five new additions for every game and that’s on top of all the cards from the base game.

Image is a photo of a person holding the Glitterlings cards in a fan. The cards are rainbow in color from red, orchid, gray, green and some are multi colored.
Glitterlings cards. Photo provided by Doomlings

Since I was introducing my brother to Doomlings, we played a few rounds of the base game before introducing the expansions. What worked well for us was that we played the expansions separately with the base game, so we could truly understand how they modified the game. I couldn’t choose a favorite expansion because they all added something to the game. With that said, the Glitterlings stood out the most to me. My brother was able to pull out some combos at the end of one of our games and I could not compete. The beauty of the expansion is that there’s still so much I haven’t played with yet. The expansion adds 127 new cards to the game and that takes time to see these cards pop up.

Doomlings: Imaginary Ends is $24.99 which is the same cost as the base game. In my reviews, I don’t usually bring up what something costs. Cost does matter though. If I’m going to invest in a board game, TTRPG, or a trading card game, I can’t always sink hundreds of dollars into that game. The fact that Doomlings costs $50 for both the base game and an expansion is a reasonable investment. I can see myself bringing out Doomlings at future board game nights along with Doomlings: Imaginary Ends.

In summary, Doomlings: Imaginary Ends was a fun and new addition to the base game. I was a Doomlings fan before playing the expansion and unsurprisingly, I’m still a fan of Doomlings. I am looking forward to seeing Doomlings dominating the board game market and if any expansions are released in the future.

Love And Other Conspiracies by Mallory Marlowe

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Image is a book cover for Love And Other Conspiracies by Mallory Marlowe. There's a shadow of Bigfoot behind the couple. The woman is holding on to the man as he supports her.

I’m biased. I see a romance book featuring cryptids and I’m intrigued. I discovered Love And Other Conspiracies by Mallory Marlowe last year and specifically asked for this book for Christmas. Once I received my physical copy, I prioritized reading this book this month. Love And Other Conspiracies was such a lovely, heartwarming romance book. I am obsessed and cannot wait for the sequel to come out later this year.

Hallie Barrett is a producer for a popular website that produces short web series. After her relationship ends, she’s left without a show to produce. After stumbling upon Hayden Hargrove’s Cryptid Hunting docuseries, she asks Hayden to sign on and become the new show she’s making. Hayden agrees but asks Hallie to step in as co-host. She’s never been a co-host before especially because she’s always been behind the camera. As Hallie starts to get to know Hayden, she realizes how great of a guy he is and while they may not find Bigfoot running around, she finds love instead.

This was adorable. Hayden’s love for conspiracy theories and his show is genuine. Hayden even has a cat named Cthulhu. Once I read that, I knew this would be a five-star book. There was no way this book would let me down, not even a little bit. Hayden and Hallie were cute together. Hallie was clearly crushing on Hayden for a while before they got together. I was rooting for her to make the first move. In most of the romance books I rate highly, the characters have to be good together or I have to believe they will be together after the book ends. I feel that way for them.

I liked the setting of this book. I could picture Hallie in LA, stuck in traffic, and rooming with her best friend. The production company she works for reminded me of Buzzfeed or Dropout. In the episodes that Hallie and Hayden filmed, they would film onsite. One of the scenes in the book features Hallie and Hayden in West Virginia at the Mothman statue. I went to see the Mothman statue several years ago, so it was fun to reminisce as they were there in the book.

There isn’t much else to say. Love And Other Conspiracies was cute and I can’t wait to read the sequel. I rated Love And Other Conspiracies five stars on Goodreads.

Blue Beetle (2023)

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Image is a movie poster for Blue Beetle. It shows a neon blue beetle highlighted in pink light. In pink it says "Only In Theaters" With a bolded 2023 and in blue #BlueBeetle

I remember Blue Beetle being released in theaters, but missed my chance to go. The DCU was kind of a mess with James Gunn trying to figure out what was canon or not. Blue Beetle, I felt got lost in that shuffle. When me and my husband were deciding what we wanted to watch, he encouraged me to watch Blue Beetle with him because he really enjoyed it. Blue Beetle was a solid movie from DC and I’d love to see Blue Beetle pop up in future DCU movies.

Blue Beetle follows Jaime Reyes (played by Xolo Maridueña) as he flies home to see family after graduating college. He gets a job cleaning a rich mansion belonging to Victoria Kord (played by Susan Sarandon). Jaime overhears an argument between Victoria and Jenny Kord (played by Bruna Marquezine). After standing up for Jenny, Jaime and his sister, Milagro (played by Belissa Escobedo) are fired from the job. Jenny promises Jaime she can get him a job at her father’s company, Kord Industries. Jaime arrives at Kord the next day where he bumps into an anxiety-ridden Jenny. She gives Jaime an enclosed package and tells him not to open it. Jaime shows it to his family revealing that he has a blue scarab. The scarab attaches to Jaime which freaks out his family. Victoria realizes the scarab is gone and will do everything to retrieve it.

The DCU’s track record is not great, so it’s nice that Blue Beetle is a good movie. I liked Xolo as Jaime Reyes. I think he embodies the character and brings a Spider-Man-youth to the role. Jaime’s family is easily the best part of the film. George Lopez plays Jaime’s Uncle Rudy and is hilarious. There’s a scene where Uncle Rudy explores the original Blue Beetle’s stuff and he is thrilled. Nana, played by Adriana Barraza, has her time to shine and shows up to protect her grandson. Jaime’s connection to his culture and family is a core feature of this film.

Regarding the villain, I think it’s easy to say that Susan Sarandon is not a memorable villain. However, I think Victoria has her moments. She is shown through flashbacks of going to foreign countries and how the weapons she helped create would destroy countries. Her righthand man, Carpax (played by Raoul Max Trujillo) is a victim. He was saved but forced to participate in Victoria’s experiments. Victoria violates many human rights violations, but because she’s rich, she gets away with it. Victoria being a villain is almost too real. She may not be able to go hand in hand with Jaime, but I’d argue that what Victoria does is even scarier.

The real question worth addressing is whether Blue Beetle is canon in James Gunn’s DCU? According to a quick internet search, the answer is yes. Although, it’s not clear how Blue Beetle as a character will fit into his future projects. It would be a dream to see Blue Beetle show up in a live adaptation of Young Justice as that was my first introduction to Blue Beetle as a character.

Blue Beetle is well worth the watch. I thought the movie has character and life to it which is something the DCU needs.

A Thousand Miles by Bridget Morrissey

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Image is a book cover for A Thousand Miles by Brdiget Morrissey. This coer shows two people on the opposite side of the road. There are mountains ahead of them.

A Thousand Miles by Bridget Morrissey wasn’t a book I included in my February TBR post. I have a list of audiobooks I want to listen to this month, but I didn’t want to set a firm goal regarding how many I would finish. A Thousand Miles has been on my TBR for way too long. This book was written for me, I mean a romance taking place while the two main characters are on a road trip together, adorable. A Thousand Miles was so cute and was my favorite audiobook I listened to.

Dee Matthews is the cohost of the podcast “Did I Forget To Tell You” which is primarily an interview show. She speaks with friends and family and frequently talks about her experiences, often referring to one person as “Redacted”. Redacted is known as Ben Porter, a science teacher who used to date Dee when they were in high school. While they dated, they buried a time capsule in Ben’s grandma’s backyard. Presently, Ben turns up at Dee’s door asking her to come with him on a road trip to his grandma’s house to dig up the capsule. Dee agrees to accompany him because it’s not like anything would happen between them anyway. As the miles fly by, Ben and Dee quickly reignite their chemistry from all those years ago.

The road trip aspect of the book was so fun. As someone who has driven to Colorado several times, I could easily picture where Dee and Ben would stop on their adventures. The adventures they have are over-the-top, to say the least. I found myself looking forward to the moments when I could listen to this on my commute home or when I cleaned the house. I was glad I listened to the audiobook because the narration differs from Dee’s podcast transcripts to another audiobook narrator reading Ben’s point of view. It was easier to follow along as I listened to each chapter.

Ben is the best guy. He’s a science teacher and loves baseball. He adores Dee. While Ben is laid-back, Dee is the opposite. She’s opinionated, flirty, and stubborn. Out of the two, I felt Ben was more established and Dee came off as immature. I didn’t mind that though since a core theme of the book was that Dee and Ben dated in high school. Throughout the book, I felt that Ben and Dee reuniting was meant to be.

A Thousand Miles was the road trip, baseball, rom-com I needed in a book. This was one of my favorite audiobooks I have listened to and part of me wants to buy a copy of this book to have on my bookshelf. I rated A Thousand Miles five stars on Goodreads.

Star Wars Outlaws Review

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Image is my copy of Star Wars Outlaws. It shows a woman with a creature on her shoulder. To left left is ND-5, a big robot carrying something on its back.

Spoilers for Star Wars Outlaws

Last weekend, we had a snow day. I had nowhere to be and while I don’t always love snow this time of year, I like having relaxing days at home. It was the perfect time to sit and devote myself to finishing Star Wars Outlaws. I had been chipping away at the game for a month or so. I was distracted by all the side quests and other odds and ends. Star Wars Outlaws is an immensely fun game and while I have my grievances with the game, it’s worth playing.

Star Wars Outlaws takes place after The Battle of Hoth in Episode V. Kay Vess is trying to survive in Canto Bight after her mother abandoned her when she was little. Kay agrees to break into crime lord, Sliro Barsha’s, vault. Kay is unfortunately betrayed after she learns that the crew is a part of The Rebel Alliance. Kay escapes with her companion, Nix, but Sliro puts a death mark on her meaning assassins from several of the crime factions are trying to hunt her down. After recovering from the failed job, Kay gets another shot at breaking into Sliro’s vault and she can’t pass up the opportunity of robbing Sliro and getting revenge.

There were several things I loved about the game. The first is the nostalgia I felt while playing the game. One of the planets Kay visits is Tattoine and I liked being able to roam around the planet on her speeder. Mos Eisley was realistic and it gave me flashbacks to playing Star Wars: Battlefront II with friends on Xbox. Another interesting planet choice was Akiva. I read Chuck Wendig’s Aftermath book which takes place on Akiva. It was neat to see the planet brought into more Star Wars lore. One of Kay’s contacts is Temmin Wexley who appears in the books and eventually flies with Poe Dameron. As a Star Wars fan who reads the books and comics, it’s cool to see so many references throughout the game.

I can’t write a review of Star Wars Outlaws without talking about Nix. Nix is adorable! There was a moment when Nix was kidnapped and sold to Jabba The Hut and I was enraged. It was sweet karma when the individual responsible for this was killed in the story. Besides being a cute companion, Nix is helpful to Kay. Nix can steal items while Kay is in a firefight. I unlocked an ability where Nix can pull the pin on a grenade if a Stormtrooper has one on their person. I started doing this all the time. There was one Imperial base where I ended up killing five Stormtroopers this way, it was satisfying.

I was honest when I said there were things about the game I didn’t enjoy. The first would be the lockpicking piece. Kay has a device that she uses to pick the locks on doors or containers. How this works is Kay pulls out the device and as the player, you have to listen to the beeps of the lock. From there, you click the button on the beat of the beep. This was aggravating. I had to turn on a feature in the game that provided a visual cue which made this easier, but still annoying. Kay picks a lot of locks, so this kept coming up time and time again. There were several moments where Kay had to pick a lock fast before she was discovered. I would have to repeat this multiple times because I could not figure out the sequence. The lockpicking aspect of the game could have been designed better as that was the worst part by far.

I wouldn’t call this a grievance, but a gameplay preference. Star Wars Outlaws is a primarily stealthy game. I don’t have the patience for stealth. This comes from my love of first-person shooters. I want to go in, kick ass and take names. In Star Wars Outlaws, you can’t go into the Imperial base guns blazing. Kay will get a Wanted status and be hunted down by The Empire. One thing other players pointed out that I also agree with is how stealth could be better. For example, when Kay hides behind cover, she never is fully hidden. I was discovered once by a Stormtrooper when Kay was hidden behind a crate because her head was poking out. Additionally, when Kay is in a firefight, she gets shot at because she isn’t fully behind cover. An easy fix for this would be to have a button to press on the controller when Kay approaches and when players press the button, Kay would fully get behind the cover and be hidden. For a game that’s primarily stealth-based, I think this could be improved.

Is Star Wars Outlaws a perfect game? No, but does every video game need to be the best game ever? I don’t believe Star Wars Outlaws deserves some of the harsh criticism I have seen online. If there’s ever Nix merchandise that is released, I would buy it in a heartbeat.

State of the Role & Campaign #4 Predictions – Critical Role

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Critical Role uploaded their “State of the Role” in which they share what’s coming up next. In this State of the Role, Critical Role made some big announcements specifically the end of Campaign #3 (also known as Bells Hells) and a new series that will air after the Campaign #3 finale. While I’m behind on Bells Hells as I’m still watching Mighty Nein, this is still big as it leaves a question unanswered, what will Critical Role’s fourth campaign be? I wanted to break down everything that was revealed in the State of the Role in more detail.

Campaign #3 Finale on February 6th

Bells Hells will conclude on Thursday, February 6th. The finale will be over eight hours in length. In the State of the Role video, there was a discussion that filming had to conclude temporarily due to the fires in California. As a side note, the California fires are devastating, to say the least. My heart goes out to anyone impacted or who lost their homes in the fires.

I’m curious as to how Bells Hells will wrap. While I have fallen behind, it’s clear from what I have read about the campaign, that this might be world-ending which could impact the previous campaigns and the fate of those characters. I would be sad if the ending of campaign #3 were to kill off Vox Machina for example in an apocalypse type of event.

I would like to see campaign #4 taking place hundreds of years in the future. It would be nice for fans to get a fresh start and to be able to follow along without having to watch the other campaigns.

Exandria Unlimited: Divergence

After the finale airs, Critical Role’s next mini-series will be called Exandira Unlimited: Divergence. Brennan Lee Mulligan is the DM with Matthew Mercer, Liam O’Brien, Jasmine Don, Alex Ward, and Celia Rose. Alex Ward is coming back to Critical Role!! I could not be more excited. Alex Ward is one of my favorite TTRPG players in this space. He specifically is in Vampire: The Masquerade live plays and I like that Alex brings focus to other TTRPG systems. I will watch the heck out of this series even if I have not seen or watched any of the other Exandria short series. I may not understand everything, but I will be here for it. This was easily the most exciting thing that came out of State of the Role.

Campaign #4 Predictions

This leads me to the final discussion point, what will Critical Role’s 4th campaign be? The big question is whether Critical Role will do another Dungeons & Dragons campaign or will they highlight their system, Daggerheart? I would watch campaign #4 regardless of the TTRPG system. If Critical Role were to use Daggerheart, I think it would be smart from a business perspective. TTRPGs remind me of trading card games in the sense that for them to be successful, you need players to play them regularly. If players aren’t playing Daggerheart, books won’t be bought and the system could fade into obscurity. However, if Critical Role does use Daggerheart, will they isolate fans who aren’t interested in Daggerheart at all?

As mentioned, I would watch Critical Role whether they use Dungeons & Dragons or Daggerheart. I like the chemistry of the cast and I want to put my Beacon subscription to good use. As a side note, whatever happened to Candela Obscura? I’d love another Circle or Candela mini-series. If I had to predict, I think Critical Role would utilize Dungeons & Dragons still, but I could see Daggerheart popping up again as it gets closer to its full release and Gen Con specifically.

I’m curious to see what happens and how everything unfolds. I will be waiting for Exandria Unlimited: Divergence to drop on Beacon in the wake of Bells Hells and their choices made in the grand finale.

Mothman, Curses and Baseball – Romance TBR

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It’s February which means it’s my annual romance reading month. I have big reading goals for this month as I’m going to attempt to read four books in a month plus audiobooks on top of that. It’s ambitious for sure, but I think it can be done. The books I have chosen for this month are roughly 350 pages each, so they aren’t long books. I have to aim to read a book a week and if I’m good with my time management, I can achieve this. I’m going to summarize what I read last month and what romance books I will read this month.

In January, I wanted to read three thriller books. In total, I read four books and listened to two audiobooks. They are as follows:

  • The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James 2/5 stars
  • The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley 5/5 stars
  • Critical Role: Bells Hells – What Doesn’t Break by Cassandra Khaw 3.5/5 stars
  • What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall 4/5 stars
  • All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson. Unrated
  • Nurture: A Modern Guide to Pregnancy, Birth, Early Motherhood – And Trusting Yourself and Your Body by Erica Chidi. Unrated.

The two books that stood out to me from last month were The Hunting Party and All Boys Aren’t Blue. I love Lucy Foley and while The Hunting Party is my least favorite thriller she’s written, I still enjoyed it. All Boys Aren’t Blue was an interesting memoir. I like when the authors read their own audiobooks. I found it engaging to listen to.

Here are the four books I’m going to try to read this month:

Image is a stack of four books on top of each other. From top to bottom they are, Love and Other Conspiracies by Mallory Marlowe, The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang, Do Your Worst by Rosie Danan and The Art of Catching Feelings by Alicia Thompson.

Love And Other Conspiracies by Mallory Marlowe

Hallie Barrett is a producer working for a company similar to BuzzFeed. Hallie is tasked with producing a new web series that will gain popularity online. Hallie finds Hayden Hargrove’s podcast which is dedicated to conspiracy theories and cryptids. Hayden agrees to partner with Hallie to turn his podcast into a live show. After several stays at haunted locations throughout California, Hallie and Hayden may not find Bigfoot, but they do find that they have feelings for each other.

I started this book already and I’m obsessed. Hayden has a pet cat named Cthulhu, how cute is that. Is this book cheesy? Yes. Am I loving every bit of this book? Also yes.

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

Stella Lane builds algorithms to predict how customers will spend their money. While Stella has had success in her professional life, dating has not been working well. Stella is on the Autism Spectrum and she decides to hire an escort to help her find a date. Michael Phan is smitten with Stella from the get-go and she pays well, so he has nothing to lose by helping her. While their partnership is innocent at first, once they learn more about each other, are they compatible together?

This is a re-read as I read The Kiss Quotient several years ago. I have been trying to re-read more books from my collection and I remember loving this book when I originally read it several years ago. I rated The Kiss Quotient four stars which feels too low. This book has stuck with me and I tend to compare the romance books I have read to this one. It wouldn’t surprise me if I were to re-read this and bump up my rating.

Do Your Worst by Rosie Danan

Do Your Worst follows Riley Rhodes, an occult expert, who is hired to investigate a curse at a Scottish castle. She meets Clark Edgeware, an archaeologist, who has had some career bumps. Clark doesn’t want Riley stealing his thunder, but he also has no right to chase her away from the castle. Riley and Clark are forced to work together to break this curse.

Do Your Worst has a 3.48 average rating on Goodreads which feels low. However, I can’t pass on the premise of this book. I don’t need every book I read to be a masterpiece.

The Art of Catching Feelings by Alicia Thompson

Daphne Brink loves baseball and it’s been a good distraction as she finalizes her divorce. Daphne heckles baseball player, Chris Kepler during a game. Feeling bad, she reaches out to Chris to apologize although she fails to mention that she was the one to heckle him in the first place. Chris responds and finds that it’s easy to make conversation with Daphne. Daphne feels bad for not telling Chris the truth. There’s no way that Chris won’t find out about this, right?

I listened to With Love, From Cold World by Alicia Thompson last year and I liked it a lot! The audiobook narration was cringy, so I wanted to physically read Alicia’s other books. I’m looking forward to reading this one, it looks cute.

Am I going to be able to read all four of these books? It will be a lot of reading, but I’m sure that I will manage.