715. Books, Wine & Nachos at Joie de Livres: A Conversation with Claire Trottier

[intro]

Sarah Wendell: Hello! And welcome to episode number 715 of Smart Podcast, Trashy Books. I’m Sarah Wendell, and thanks to Geoffroy in the podcast Patreon, my guest this week is Claire Trottier, owner of Joie de Livres, a romance and speculative fiction bookshop in Montreal, Canada. Hello, neighbors! We are going to talk about opening a romance and speculative fiction bookstore, wealth disparity, seeing the world premiere of episode one of Heated Rivalry at the Image+Nation Queer Film Festival in Montreal, and the overall effect of Heated Rivalry on Joie de Livres. We are also going to trade book recs, and then you get the scoop on a big even happening at the bookshop this September.

I will have links to everything that we speak about – there’s a lot of links in this episode – as well as the books that we mentioned in the show notes, never fear, and that’s at smartbitchestrashybooks.com/podcast under episode 715!

I want to say hello and thank you to our Patreon community, and I have a compliment for Kate:

You are currently the subject of three separate task forces in different animal communities, because chipmunks, robins, and earthworms are determined to make everything more colorful and vibrant just for you.

If you would like a compliment of your own or you would like to support the show, have a look at patreon.com/SmartBitches. Among the benefits are the most welcoming Discord community full of lovely human beings, bonus episodes, full PDF scans of Romantic Times, and other goodies! So if you’re interested, we would love to have you: patreon.com/SmartBitches.

Support for this episode comes from The Awkward Agenda, an open-door romance featuring friends-to-lovers, found family, and pirate cosplay from author Beth Morton.

Cali Barton is sick of playing a background character in her own life. Her plan to rock the world at her new job falls flat after she overhears her coworkers gossiping about her for being standoffish, and her boss decides to coach her on her “approachability.” Turns out that for Cali, being quiet and thoughtful somehow translates to “wrong.”

Enter Simon Goldberg, her upstairs neighbor. While Cali spent her childhood flying under the radar, Simon’s Tourette syndrome taught him to roll with the punches. Simon believed that he had made peace with his diagnosis, but when the company publishing his graphic novel wants him to go on tour to promote his work, Simon is panicked at the prospect. Television appearances? He’ll either make a fool of himself or – ugh – become an inspiring story.

When Simon comes across Cali, he offers to help her dismantle her social anxiety by taking her on a tour of the kind of awkward experiences she’s avoided. Helping her makes him realize just how closed-off his own life has become, and having someone to laugh with makes opening up far easier. They learn to see one another for who they truly are, but trusting themselves does not come easy, and letting go may be the hardest trick of all.

Reviewers are raving about the quiet depth of this romance:

>> The emotional core of this book rests in the small moments: shared laughter after something mortifying, quiet late-night conversations, the realization that someone is choosing you – not because you’re polished, but because you’re you. This is a romance about reclaiming your narrative, about realizing you were never a background character, and about how love can be the safest place to practice being seen. It’s soft, hopeful, and quietly empowering.

And as one reader said:

>> I wish I had a bigger audience so I could tell more people about this book. It feels criminally under-reviewed. I’m really hoping it gets the attention it deserves, because it is truly fantastic.

The Awkward Agenda by Beth Morton is available now digitally in Kindle Unlimited and in print from retailers everywhere.

 Thank you to Beth Morton and The Awkward Agenda for sponsoring this week’s episode, and thank you for supporting our advertisers.

All right, are you ready? Let’s go to Montreal, talk about books. Yeah? On with the podcast.

[music]

Claire Trottier: My name is Claire Trottier. I am the co-owner of Joie de Livres, which is a bookstore cafe bar here in Montreal that focuses on romance and speculative fiction. It opened this past June, so it hasn’t been open for a whole year yet, but we’re really excited about how it’s been doing so far and, and the response in the community.

And I’m a lifelong reader, but I discovered really romance, like, more recently, I would say? Like I, I had read romance before, I was really into fanfiction for a really long time, and I feel like that was partially a doorway into romance. But it was really, like, the pandemic that got me, like, hooked, like a lot of people.

Sarah: Yes.

Claire: And yeah, other than my, like, bookstore and my love of reading, I have a bit of an unusual background. I was basically, like, handed a winning lottery ticket in life? Essentially, my father founded a tech company that’s had a lot of success, and that gives me, like, really disproportionate wealth and, and, like, access to power that is like, you know, reflective of our very, like, unequal society. And so a lot of my work, aside from the bookstore, is focused on advocacy work and philanthropy, so work on things like climate change, democracy, human rights, and I do a lot of work around advocating for wealth taxes. So as a, as, like, a wealthy person, I go around telling people to tax me – [laughs] – and I’m the chair of an organization in Canada called Patriotic Millionaires Canada that basically is all about taxing the rich.

So that’s, that’s sort of it in a nutshell! [Laughs]

Sarah: I have so many questions, the first being, Would you like to bring all of this work to the United States? We’d be thrilled to have you.

[Laughter]

Claire: There’s, you know, there are some of us. There’s actually, Patriotic Millionaires was founded in the US, so there’s amazing people. Abigail Disney is one of the members in the United States and is absolutely incredible –

Sarah: Yep.

Claire: – from the Disney family, like the actual Disneys? [Laughs] And just a lot of amazing work on trying to get wealth taxes in place and lots of others. So yeah!

Sarah: Can I ask what kinds of advocacy do you do through Patriotic Millionaires? Do you –

Claire: Mm.

Sarah: – lobby other wealthy people? Do you, like, lobby, uh, Parliament? I’m so sorry; my brain just went completely – you have representatives, Parliament, Members of Parliament. What do you have?

Claire: We have Parliament; yeah, we have Parliament…

Sarah: Members of Parliament, thank you. My brain was like –

Claire: We’re –

Sarah: – what do –

Claire: We are still kind of a British colony in the sense we’re still part of the Commonwealth; we didn’t have a revolutionary war. [Laughs]

Sarah: Right. We did, but I’m really not sure that worked out too well for us in the current era? I have some questions about the, you know – but the, but the whole motivations back then. So what –

Claire: Yeah.

Sarah: – what do you, what, what does that work entail?

Claire: Yeah, on the wealth tax stuff, like, so, Patriotic Millionaires Canada was created quite recently? It was launched in May of 2025, but the American branch has been around for a while, and there’s one in the UK. There’s, there’s organizations all over the world.

A lot of our work is sort of public-facing: writing op-eds, giving interviews, trying to really make this idea of wealth taxes really like a, a, like a no-brainer. Like, this is not a radical proposition; this is actually essential, absolutely needed. We’re facing, obviously, like, massive threats to our democracy. We have huge, huge problems of wealth inequality that have only gotten worse and worse and worse over time, and we’re seeing, like, the direct result of it right now? So, like, I’ve been doing tax advocacy work since 2019, so it’s been a number of years –

Sarah: It’s been a minute.

Claire: – but I really feel like the moment that we’re in right now is like, this is it. Like, we have to, like, talk about, like, concentration of wealth and power and how danger it is, dangerous it is for democracies and the fact that so many people are struggling. Like, it is not okay for there to be like mega, mega, mega, mega, mega billionaires –

Sarah: Mm-hmm.

Claire: – with so much power. And, like, the, that gap is – and just, like – anyway. It’s, it’s completely unacceptable. So something needs to be done. Yeah, so we do, like, yeah, we, we write letters; we, we do media work. We definitely are in recruitment mode for, like, finding other wealthy Canadians who are willing to participate in the movement. And we do events, you know, in Ottawa, and, and we have participated in meeting with government officials in the past to try to advocate for different forms of progressive taxation. Yeah, we do it in, like, lots of different ways.

Sarah: That’s very cool! I know one habit in the US that always makes me angry is that a lot of very wealthy people, millionaires and especially billionaires – billionaires, by the way, being a policy failure – their, their solution to problems is, I’m going to start a foundation and I’m going to fix it. Or I’m going to give money and start my own foundation – which is a tax write-off – to fix this problem, and I’m going to, this is going to be my cornerstone – ignoring all of the work that’s already been done and sometimes overshadowing that work, because they’re also going to bring in a big media presence, because it’s really just PR. It’s not actually just charity.

And I’m fascinated by the idea of taking a sort of, you know, thirty-five-thousand-foot view of this and saying, no, the actual solution is taxing us! Tax us; tax, tax us, please. That is –

Claire: Yeah.

Sarah: – that is fascinating. How did you get connected with this organization?

Claire: Yeah, in around 2019, I read an article in, I want to say, like, the Washington Post or the New York Times, like, one of these big American newspapers, that was profiling an American organization called Resource Generation, which is a group of young, wealthy folks in the United States who are interested in, you know, disrupting the, the economic system and, and all of that. And I was like, Wow, that’s incredible. I wonder if there’s anything like that in Canada. And I started asking around people that I knew, and I got connected with somebody who’s a dear friend called Jon McPhedran Waitzer,  and they were involved in a group in Canada called Resource Movement, which is kind of like the Canadian counterpart of young wealthy people trying to use their, their, their privilege to transfer wealth and power, redistribute wealth and power? And it’s through them that I then subsequently got connected to Patriotic Millionaires.

So it’s kind of like, I read an article and I was like, Wow, there are people like me who are in this, like, very weird class position that are really deeply questioning the system and want to fundamentally address the root causes, and, and not just through philanthropy. Like, I’m engaged in philanthropy –

Sarah: Of course!

Claire: – I do a lot of philanthropy work, and you’re correct that it is, like, often, you know – first of all, it’s not the solution. Generosity is not a substitute for justice. You know, we have to go well beyond philanthropy?

Sarah: Mm-hmm.

Claire: I think philanthropy can do some really good things, but really, if you want to address, like, the massive problems we face as a society, wealthy people need to contribute their fair share, and, and that can only happen through changes to the tax code.

Sarah: And that is so cool? Like, I mean, we can be done now, ‘cause I’m super inspired. Thank you. [Laughs]

Claire: We also have to talk about romance!

Sarah: Oh no!

Claire: All your listeners are probably like, What is this?

Sarah: Believe me, they’re, they’re, they are, they’re into this as much as the next question, trust me. I know my, my community is lovely, and I think this is fascinating, which is why I’m like, I have to, I have to ask more about this.

So turning to your bookstore, first of all –

Claire: Yeah.

Sarah: – most amazing name ever. Did you come up with this? Because it is top shelf.

Claire: Thank you. It was my sister Sylvie. Like, Sylvie and I are, are basically partners in crime for all the things. We work together on the tax justice stuff, on the philanthropy, the advocacy, et cetera, and the bookstore as well. And she is great at puns. She is, like, such a talent.

Sarah: Amazing.

Claire: [Laughs] So, this is her.

Sarah: I’m like – please tell her I owe her a very large cocktail because it has given me so much joy to just talk about this.

Claire: …amazing.

Sarah: So what was the impetus for founding a bookshop focused on romance and speculative fiction and also wine and snacks in Montreal?

Claire: Yeah! I mean, I think that, you know, my sister and I are both, like, elder Millennials, and like – [laughs] – elder Millennials, we had this dream of, like, opening a bookstore that also sells coffee and also sells nachos. Like, for us, we love nachos. It’s like a very weird combo, okay, but we love a nacho. And the original pun that Sylvie had come up with was “Nacho Average Bookstore.” Anyway, just –

[Laughter]

Claire: – to get a sense of her, her sense of humor.

Sarah: I mean, what are nachos except crispy poutine with cheese?

Claire: Yeah, fair! Sure! Yeah!

Sarah: Yeah, I mean, no gravy, just liquid cheese?

Claire: Well, I, I see that; I see that.

Sarah: You take a solid carb and you put a thing on top. This is all winning.

Claire: Melted cheese –

Sarah: Yes.

Claire: – there’s a sauce there.

Sarah: Precisely.

Claire: Totally!

Sarah: Yep.

Claire: One hundred percent, one hundred percent. Yeah. Now I’m thinking like, Should we try to make a, like, nacho poutine kind of – I don’t know; going to –

Sarah: Yes.

Claire: – going to consult with our kitchen manager on that one. [Laughs]

But yeah, we had this, like, lifelong dream and, you know, it’s kind of like a running gag that we would talk about every so often. And then it started becoming, like, more of a thing; like, we started thinking about it more seriously. I had like, kind of like, a, a detour in my life in 2022; I was diagnosed with breast cancer –

Sarah: Oof!

Claire: – and I went through the whole kind of like surgery, chemo, radiation trifecta. It was not a good year for me.

Sarah: Not good.

Claire: And coming out of that, I think I had a, a real, like – like, first of all, like, realization that the work that I do is, like, absolutely essential and important; I need to keep doing it, in terms of all the advocacy work and all that stuff? And also, it’s important to make time for joy and things that, like, fill your cup. You know, the world is, like, a really dark place. Part of the reason I love reading romance is that it, it, it feels, like, soothing to the soul –

Sarah: Yes.

Claire: – in so many ways, right? And so Sylvie and I started talking about it more seriously. We went to New York for Climate Week in 2023.

Sarah: Mm-hmm.

Claire: And we had one night off, and we decided that for our one night off, we would go to this place that I was like, I saw on Instagram; I was like, I have to go there. It’s the Book Club Bar? I don’t know if you’ve been to the Book Club Bar in, in New York City. Shout-out to the Book Club Bar. And it just so happened that the one night that we were going to go was their monthly romance book club?

Sarah: Oh!

Claire: And it just so happened that it was going to be a book by one of my favorite authors, Sarah MacLean, and she was there. I was like, my, my mind was completely blown, and on the drive back up to Montreal we were like, That’s it. We’re doing this. Like, we’ve got to do this: bringing community together; books; food; like, cocktails; like, community. People need that! People want spaces to meet and, and talk about the things that they love?

Sarah: Yes.

Claire: So yeah, after that we were like, Sold. So we started, we started working on it that fall.

Sarah: That’s incredible. And you’re so right, that these spaces are needed. I know in so many places in the US, there are not third spaces that welcome you to just hang out. Like, we don’t have malls anymore, which was where I would hang out when I was a kid. But we are lacking spaces to go and be and connect with the, the people who love the same things we love. Those opportunities, especially after the pandemic, those opportunities became smaller and smaller. And now we have active efforts to keep us from assembling in any way, at any time, in any place. So creating a place where there’s books and food and community, I mean, it seems obvious, but it is, it is a massive undertaking! And it’s very heartening that there are now so many romance-focused bookstores in the world, and I’m very excited that you’re one of them.

I know that the, the why, the values of your bookshop are extremely important. Could you tell me what they are and why they’re the foundation of, of Joie de Livres?

Claire: Yeah, so I think, like, for Sylvie and me, it’s really important that in, in, in the work that we do that we’re always, like, staying true to our core values and working in a way that’s as aligned as possible across, like, all of the different things that we do?

Sarah: Mm-hmm?

Claire: So when we were working on the, the concept for the store and really, like, developing the business plan and the idea, first of all, we brought on two amazing people who really helped us build the store with us. So Carrie-Ann Kloda, who’s the director of the hospitality side of the business, and ​​Mathieu Lauzon-Dicso, who’s our bookstore manager, and together, the four of us actually did, like, a full day kind of retreat where we worked on, like, what do we want our core values to be as, as, as a business that we want to see reflected for, like, the client experience, but also for our staff –

Sarah: Mm-hmm.

Claire: – as well, like, in, in, in kind of all of the areas of the operations? And we landed on five values. So Joy, obviously, in our name – [laughs] – that’s very important – Community, Well-Being, Integrity and Curiosity are the five core values.

Community, for us, like, is absolutely essential. That is one of the key reasons why we opened the store and why we created it in the way that we did. We wanted it to be a gathering space for lots of different communities. You know, obviously for fans of the, the main genres that we have in the store, so, romance, sci-fi, fantasy, and horror that all have, like, these really dedicated readers that love those genres so much; we wanted to create a space for them?

You know, for, like, the Well-Being piece, I think that that’s also about, like, making sure that everybody that works at the store feels good about going to work; feels respected; is, you know, participates in, like, you know, some of the decision-making. We really want to bring forward ideas from our amazing staff and, and put them as part of, like, our offerings?

Sarah: Mm-hmm.

Claire: And we want people who come in to feel good! Like, to feel like a sense of, like, relief almost – and that’s what we hear from people a lot of the time: they come in; they’re like, Wow, this is beautiful and, like, Whoof! You know, I can kind of arrive and, like, breathe?

Sarah: Yeah. This space is for me and people who like what I like. And going into a space that has been designed with you in mind is incredible.

Claire: Yeah, one hundred percent. Anytime I walk into a romance bookstore I’m like, I’m home, you know? [Laughs]

Sarah: Yes.

Claire: So definitely, creating that is, is super important.

And then, like, Curiosity, I think, is really an important and, like, maybe underrated value of like, you know, like, I’m a romance reader. I don’t really read horror? We sell horror? But I was like, I have to be, like, open and curious about all these other genres that have, like, these immense followings and vice versa. So it’s about, like, we don’t, like, yuck people’s yums. It’s like, we want to celebrate all of these genres that are often, like, you know, similarly dismissed –

Sarah: Mm!

Claire: – you know, by, by, like, powers that be, I don’t know –

Sarah: Yeah.

Claire: – literary, literary community. I don’t know. So like, remaining curious to different genres, curious to understand people’s experiences, curious to learn more about each other.

And then Integrity is really like making sure that we’re, we’re staying aligned in our values and we’re re-evaluating things as we’re working. Like, we’re still a new business; so we only opened in June, so there’s been a lot already of like, Okay, this, is this working? Is this not working? How do we readjust? How do we make sure that we’re really being true to our values as we move forward and to constantly be, like, in an iterative way, thinking about what we’re doing as well?

Sarah: Right. How do those values play out for your staff?

Claire: For staff? [Laughs] Well, one of our amazing staff actually is the reason I’m on this show today.

Sarah: I know!

Claire: Shout-out to Geoffroy. They are incredible! What an amazing person, and super knowledgeable about romance.

Sarah: Oh, yes.

Claire: So I think for staff, I think remaining really open to feedback; being very, very genuine in listening to how things are landing for our staff –

Sarah: Mm-hmm.

Claire: – the workflow – lots of things to work out when you open a new business in terms of, like, managing all these, the book deliveries, the food side, all of these different things. So I think it’s really like trying to be as open as possible to –

Sarah: Mm-hmm.

Claire: – hearing feedback from our staff and responding accordingly when staff make recommendations or if staff say, Hey, this isn’t working really well for me.

Sarah: Yeah.

Claire: Lots of our, like, our different kind of approaches to, like, you know, sick days and things like that –

Sarah: Yes.

Claire: – where we’re, like, not – people have lives – [laughs] – and –

Sarah: What?!

Claire: – things happen –

Sarah: What?!

Claire: – and we need to, you know, be aware of that and, and be accommodating, right?

Sarah: Totally. Now, please –

Claire: Yeah.

Sarah: – help me with my French pronunciation: it’s Geoffroy?

Claire: Geoffroy [jeh-fwah], yeah.

Sarah: Geoffroy. I’ve been saying, well, it’s, in English it’s Jeffrey; I thought it was just Jeffrey [zheh-free]. Okay, thank you.

Claire: Geoffroy; also GG.

Sarah: GG? Oh, this is going to freak this poor person. Now he’s going to be like, Stop talking about me! [Laughs] They’re going to listen and be like, “Aagh!”

So, Geoffroy, a mutual friend of ours, posted pictures of your bookshop hosting a Heated Rivalry after-party with some special guests –

Claire: Yeah.

Sarah: – and my jaw hit the ground when I saw these pictures. I will, of course, put them in the show notes, if that is okay with you –

Claire: Yeah.

Sarah: – so everyone can see them.

Claire: Yeah, yeah, of course.

Sarah: The interior is gorgeous. The space is so – like, the lighting! The lighting in your space, you could rent it out for people to do headshots. Like, it’s just gorgeous. Everybody looks beautiful. It’s like that one show in France where everyone is lit gorgeously and you’re like, Who are these beautiful people? Like, it’s, it’s beautiful inside.

Then you have the, you know, the Heated Rivalry element, which is just such an incredible image to see just the actors just chilling there. Please tell me how this came about.

Claire: So that was wild. Honestly, I, I cannot get over it. I don’t think I’ll ever be over it, and obviously now that it’s been like such a completely, like, unhinged success, it’s, like, even more wild to me. But yeah, basically, we, Montreal hosted the world premiere of Heated Rivalry. And on November 23rd, it was during a queer movie festival called Image+Nation. And, you know, I feel like we found out about the premiere with only a couple weeks notice? Like –

Sarah: Oh!

Claire: – I feel like it happened very, very fast? And as soon as we found out that it was going to premiere in Montreal, first of all, I was like – [laughs] – I must get tickets to this premiere! Oh my God! What do I need to do to get tickets to this premiere? They were being sold for like fifteen dollars? That’s what they were being sold for. I was like, Damn, okay.

Sarah: And this was the –

Claire: But –

Sarah: – the, the first, like the first two –

Claire: – we had, we had hosted an –

Sarah: – it was like the first two episodes, like, premiered in the States?

Claire: No, it was just the first episode.

Sarah: Just the first, just the one.

Claire: Just the one.

Sarah: Oh my stars.

Claire: Just the one.

Sarah: Fifteen bucks. I love it. I love it!

Claire: Yeah. And we had hosted, Rachel Reid had come to the store in October already and had done an event with us previously that had been, like, amazing. We had, like, fans from really, like, all over the world that came in for that event in October. These are, like, all of the, like, hardcore book fans. I’m a hardcore book fan; I, I read them like many years ago, and I reread them, and I live like, I’m like a – [laughs] – like an OG kind of a fan, you know? So we had, like, all these book fans who had come in in October before all of the, like, super hype?

So yeah, when we found out that the premiere was happening in Montreal, I was like, Okay, first of all, like, I think the actors are coming. Like, Rachel is coming. So I knew Rachel was coming, so I approached her and I was like, I would love to have like an after-party at the store. Like, would you be open to that? Like, we could throw like a, like a celebration in your honor, essentially, is how I, I framed it. And she was like, Yeah! Sure! [Laughs]

Sarah: I mean, why not?

Claire: Sure! [Laughs] So, so we, we went ahead and we planned it as, like, really, like, after, after the premiere for whoever, like, bought the tickets to our, our events that were coming to the premiere, which, like, included, again, people from, like, Europe; people from all over the US came in for this premiere and came to the premiere party. And of course, like, I wanted to see if I could get like, Jacob Tierney or some of the actors to come. They’re all very busy, like, and hard to get ahold of, but I told Rachel like, Invite them! Like, if they want to come – She’s like, I’m going to see; like, I don’t know? So it was literally that night.
You know, we did the event, we had a lovely Q &A with Rachel. She signed people’s books, and we were all hanging out.  You know, when we have events, we have, like, food; we have drinks; it’s like a whole thing? And I guess she was texting with Connor and Hudson and she managed to convince them to come! So they showed up – [laughs] – at like, we were supposed to finish at like midnight. They showed up at like 11:50 or something. I got to tell the staff, I was like, Look –

[Laughter]

Claire: – I’m real sorry.

Sarah: I’m real sorry.

Claire: This is, like –

Sarah: We’ve got to go –

Claire: – extenuating circumstances. [Laughs]

Sarah: – we’ve got to go late here. We’ve got to, we’ve got to keep going. Yeah. [Laughs]

Claire: Yeah. Yeah, so they came and they hung out. They had, they had cocktails. They signed a bunch of stuff; they took pictures. They did the iconic, like, it’s all over the web of them, like, recreating the, the original cover of The Long Game on our stage.

Sarah: Yup! They’re, they’re just, they’re just so cute. They’re just so adorable.

Claire: They are!

Sarah: The vibes are so good.

Claire: They’re so nice, and they were so excited. Like, you know, we had just watched it all together in this, like, university auditorium. That’s where the premiere happened, at, like, Concordia University, the biggest auditorium they’ve got. And, you know, people were clapping, and – I think it was like, my sense is, like, the first time they had experienced, like, the, the first inklings of, like, the fan reaction, they would eventually –

Sarah: Oh, gentlemen!

Claire: Yes!

Sarah: [Laughs] Just you wait.

Claire: So we, we warmed them up, you know? We were like sixty people in like a, like a little, like, kind of cozy bookstore to get them ready for, like, you know, Jimmy Fallon and SNL.

Sarah: Right? And, and, you know, Fashion Week and everything else that they’ve done.

Claire: Yeah!

Sarah: It’s so funny to think that was, that was November.

Speaking just for me personally, so I’m pretty familiar with the romance genre, I’m pretty familiar with the popularity of well-done adaptations, and I’m very familiar with Jacob Tierney’s work because I love Letterkenny and I love Shoresy. And I figured out pretty – at some point we were talking about it on the podcast, and my, my sometimes-co-host Amanda was like, You know, it hasn’t been picked up by an American distributor. I’m like, It will be. I thought it would be Hulu, because that’s where all of Jacob Tierney’s work is now, but then when HBO bought it I went, Ohhh, that means, that means it’s really, really good. But I didn’t want to say anything ‘cause, you know, didn’t want to jinx it. And then it went kaboom! And it was like this huge, massive, international obsession. When you were hosting this party, did you have any idea that it was going to turn, that the show and that their careers were going to turn into what has happened in three months?

Claire: Yeah. I mean, okay. So I will say, like, I, there’s no way I could have predicted this.

Sarah: No, this is a lot. Yeah.

Claire: This is beyond, okay? This is beyond.

[Laughter]

Claire: But I was, I was convinced it was going to be huge. I was convinced it was going to be massive. I was like, you know, we ordered tons of books in the summer, first of all, like, because I’m like a legit, like, long-term friend of Rachel Reid. Like, we had all of her books for opening; like, she had an entire shelf in the store.

Sarah: You know those were –

Claire: And I was lucky; I knew the show was coming. I was like, Listen, everybody –

Sarah: Those were rare!

Claire: – just get ready! And people were like, Okay, Claire. O-, okay, Claire, like, you know, we get it! You love this stor-, this story about these, like, two hockey players, but, like, chill. Now I’m like, Ya see? [Laughs]

Sarah: See? You, you see? Don’t doubt me. And paperback copies of these books were actually quite difficult to find for months after this came out. So you had them!

Claire: We should have ordered like a thousand copies?

Sarah: [Laughs]

Claire: Like, we, we, we did sell out on a number of occasions, and actually we are currently selling out, and I am assured that our next batch is arriving this week, and I’m literally like, Hello! Where are her books? [Laughs] So we sold out multiple times. It was like, it’s a situation where we just couldn’t keep them on the shelves, and, you know, we’re still a fairly small bookstore, so we, we can’t, like, take a one-thousand-book delivery; there would –

Sarah: No.

Claire: – be no place to put them.

Sarah: Where you going to put them?

Claire: But they’re, yeah, they’ve been selling like, you know, a lot obviously? But I was feeling pretty vindicated at the beginning that, like, when everybody else didn’t have them, we had them. [Laughs]

Sarah: Yup! Oh, you sure did!

Claire: But then they sold out and I was like, Well, now I’m in the, in the same boat as everyone else. [Laughs]

Sarah: It will never not astonish me how there weren’t just paperback copies, especially with a tie-in cover, everywhere. I will never understand.

Claire: I know!

Sarah: How is there no tie-in cover? Like, most of the time, romance readers get all mad if there’s an adaptation cover. Oh, we know what the original – this is, you know, this, I don’t picture this actor. I don’t picture – you have the hottest images! I could think of like ten off the top of my head. How is there not a tie-in cover? What –

Claire: I –

Sarah: – on earth?

Claire: You and me both and like every single person listening to us. [Laughs]

Sarah: Have you seen these men? They are very hot. Put them – I mean –

Claire: I know!

Sarah: Even just the cover of them, like, shirtless with them big old hockey pants, and they’re, like, sort of studying each other’s nipples, like they’re looking down.

Claire: Well, that’s, that’s like a recreation of the original cover!

Sarah: Right! Like, even that, even that could have done it! But, like, what, where –

Claire: I know.

Sarah: I don’t understand.

Claire: I don’t, I don’t get it either. But listen, I mean, I, I still have hope that they’ll have some kind of tie-in cover; like, who knows? But, like –

Sarah: God, I hope so.

Claire: – I really want one for sure, for sure.

Sarah: Poster size. But…

Claire: I think they were completely caught by surprise, which is unfortunate.

Sarah: Well, nobody asked you was the problem. No one was like –

Claire: Nobody asked me! That’s why I was like, just, you know – [laughs] – I’m not the oracle. But no, like, I really was so convinced, and I, when we had that event in November,
I remember asking Rachel, we did like a Q &A, and I had asked her, like – ‘cause they were going to be going to Toronto the next day to do like the –

Sarah: Right.

Claire: – Toronto premiere, and they did a bunch of press in Toronto and everything.

Sarah: Mm-hmm.

Claire: And I, I was like, How do you think things are going to go for you? Like, how do you –

Sarah: Yeah.

Claire: – see yourself, like, moving through this experience of, like, the show being released every week and this and that? And she was like, Well, when in Toronto that we’re going to do some press, and then I’m going to go home, and –

Sarah: I’m sorry, no.

Claire: – just write, and it’s going to be the holidays; I’m going to chill. And I’m like –

Sarah: Girl? Girl, no! [Laughs] I know for Rachel Reid it was life-changing on several important levels –

Claire: Yeah.

Sarah: – which, I mean, just gives me so much joy?

Claire: Yeah.

Sarah: Especially because she is just as engaged with her readers as you are with your community! Like, your community is very important to you. And you can tell that with her as well, which I think is such a – it’s a lovely thing to meet an author that thinks in terms of the people who read their books, which, of course, makes it harder to be a writer.

Claire: Yeah, she’s amazing. She’s like the nicest, most chill, and funny person. Like, really.

Sarah: Oh, she’s hilarious.

Claire: And her humor comes out in the books, so it’s, like, not surprising? But, yeah.

Sarah: Yep. What has the effect of Heated Rivalry and the success of the show been for the shop? What has the fan response been to the sorts of things that you’re doing? And tell us about some of the sorts of things that you’re doing, please.

Claire: Yeah. I mean, it’s been amazing. I, I feel like for any bookseller, it’s been incredible. Obviously, when you have all of this excitement around a book and people are coming into the store looking for a specific book and people who, you know, aren’t really readers! Like, I’ve spoken to countless people who maybe used to read a lot and don’t anymore or, or, or have struggled to find books that really grab them and who are now hooked! Like, I, I’ve had multiple, like, return customers come in to, like, ask for other recommendations now that I’ve read all these books. And they’re like, I’ve never, like, I didn’t read much before, or I was trying to read this other genre and it just, like, wasn’t grabbing me, and now I’m like – I’m like, Yes, welcome!

Sarah: Yep!

Claire: [Laughs] Welcome to the cult!

[Laughter]

Sarah: And it helps.

Claire: Yeah. Obviously, we sold a lot of books. There’s been a lot of interest in, in the shop and in, like, us as, like, kind of representatives of the romance genre in Montreal and Quebec, our province, as well. Like, we’re the only bookstore that focuses on romance in the province? So we’ve, like, all of a sudden become like the go-to people for, like, radio and sometimes TV shows who are like, We want to talk about this phenomenon. What is romance? Like –

Sarah: Yes.

Claire: – all of these things. Why is this so popular? Why do women like this? Like, all of those questions. [Laughs]

Sarah: Oh! All of questions. Yes, yes.

Claire: We’ve done a lot of media, which has been wild.

Sarah: Which is good, though!

Claire: And then we’ve had events!

Sarah: So what kind of events have you held? And by the way, I, I completely empathize with the Why is this popular question, and Why do women like this? I’ve been, first of all, I’ve been dealing with Why do women like romance for literally my whole career? I, we’re never going to be able to answer this question, ‘cause people keep asking it no matter what I say. So I just, I just accept that the question is there and it’s no longer relevant to me? But also –

Claire: I, sometimes, I’ve answered a couple of times, just because I’m like, Okay, seriously? I’m like, Why don’t men read it? Hmm. Have you ever thought of that? [Laughs]

Sarah: Right? That is a good answer. Do you ever ask this about stuff that men like?

Claire: One hundred per-

Sarah: Any time a marginalized group, something that, likes something that men, white men especially, don’t also like, everyone’s like, What is this weird thing?

Claire: Like, why do men love superheroes? Tell me!

Sarah: I don’t know.

Claire: Why do you like Iron Man?

Sarah: Oh my God. He is such a douche of a fuckboy, my God. Anyway.

[Laughter]

Sarah: Iron Man aside – what other, what other programs have you been hosting? And what have some of, what have some of the most, like, popular ones have been? I’m fascinated by bookstore programming because, I’ll be honest, it, I think that the biggest uphill battle when you’re planning something is getting people to put on their shoes and leave the house. Especially ‘cause –

Claire: Oh yeah.

Sarah: – it’s really cold outside? I mean, you’re in Canada. It’s, like, extra cold. [Laughs]

Claire: Yeah. Yeah, it’s cold. It’s cold. It’s cold today. But anyway, yeah, no, I we’ve been having, actually, we just concluded our kind of, like, big Heated Rivalry, like, winter events. We did a rewatch series –

Sarah: I love this.

Claire: – where we, every Sunday for six weeks, aired one episode at a time. We had kind of thematic nights for each of those nights where our kitchen manager designed a menu around the food in each episode, which was amazing! Like episode six, we had spaghetti with parmesan and burgers, you know? [Laughs]

Sarah: Of course!

Claire: And obviously we had tuna melts for episode four, and anyway –

Sarah: Obviously, yep.

Claire: So it was really amazing. So we did, you know, like, food and, and, and themed drinks, rewatching of an episode at a time, and then we would do kind of Q &A with, with the folks who came! So it was really like the idea in terms of, like, community building and engaging people who are literally coming, and we were doing these things Sunday nights. So it’s like Sunday night in the winter –

Sarah: Ooh!

Claire: – in Montreal, people are coming. It sold out in like no time at all.

Sarah: Amazing.

Claire: People were coming to the store. So we’re like, Okay, we’ve got to make sure we’re, like, engaging folks, so it was like a conversation where, you know, you would ask a question, and then people would, like, get into groups with, with, like, the people that are sitting nearby and, like, talk about the question amongst themselves, and then we would kind of hear back what the groups were talking about? So everybody had a chance, even, like, the introverts, you know, that, like, you 5can talk in a group of like four people. Maybe you’re not going to get on a mic and ask a question in front of sixty people, but you’ll actually, like, share your thoughts in a smaller group.

Sarah: Yeah, like a book club.

Claire: And it was amazing! And we had so many people who came, like, who bought a ticket by themselves and came by themselves –

Sarah: [Gasps] That’s amazing.

Claire: – and made friends! So we have people who’ve made friends, like for real, for real, from these events, who, like, went out for drinks at the bar, like, down the street after the event and are now, like, legit friends. They’re, like, you know, they’re, like, asking us to plan other things so they have other chances to see each other? So that’s really great.

And then we concluded it all with a Trivia Night. So Sunday night, this past Sunday was Trivia Night, which was a blast.

Sarah: Oh, that sounds difficult!

Claire: Yeah, it was really, I had to create the questions, so I – [laughs]

Sarah: Oh man!

Claire: …pressure. I was like, How hard do I need to make these questions? I don’t know!

Sarah: I’ve done that! That’s hard! It’s very hard, ‘cause you think, Oh, this is obvious. And then you ask the question; everyone’s like, What are you talking about?

Claire: Part of my life story is I, I’m a former professor, so –

Sarah: Oh, you’ve got –

Claire: I used to teach immunology. Anyway, I’m a science nerd, actually, in, like, my background? So I was like, Okay, like, is this like an immunology exam? Like, how am I approaching this? It was like, no, Claire. [Laughs] This is Heated Rivalry trivia…

Sarah: Yeah.

Claire: [Laughs]

Sarah: I mean, nothing goes with Heated Rivalry like immunology.

Claire: No! I mean –

Sarah: They are so very much in common. [Laughs]

Claire: …closely linked.

Sarah: Could you gauge the popularity of each episode based on the turnout for each replay night, or were they all sold out and everyone was invested for whole thing?

Claire: They were all sold out, but I can tell you, like, based on how quickly they sold out –

Sarah: Yes!

Claire: – the popularity, for sure. I mean, episode five.

Sarah: Yup!

Claire: Clear favorite; sold out first.

Sarah: Oh yeah.

Claire: Right, like, understandably. And actually, that was the only one I missed. I missed one, and I had – anyway, it was just like one of those things where I had –

Sarah: Bummer.

Claire: – a meeting out of town that I could not get out of? So I missed that one.

Sarah: Bummer!

Claire: It’s okay.

Sarah: I need to ask you about another program that you have. You have something called Sapphic Saturdays. Please tell me everything. Like I said, I am so curious about the behind-the-scenes of bookstore events, the logistics behind them, and the motivation between the different ones that you’re hosting, ‘cause you have so many cool events at the store.

Claire: Yeah. Yeah, Sapphic Saturdays are amazing, and actually, this is a, an amazing example of a staff idea. So this was really an idea that came from our staff, and we were like, Yeah, let’s try it! So the first time we did it, we were like, I don’t know what to expect, and it was extraordinarily popular, and now it’s a monthly event. It’s every second Saturday. And essentially it’s an open invitation to, to women who love women to come to Joie de Livres to have a drink, to have some food, to meet other women. And we have, always, like, a special thematic drink. We always test out our new desserts on Sapphic Saturdays, so if you want to get, like, a sneak peek of our new dessert –

Sarah: [Laughs]

Claire: – we’ll have some dessert.

Sarah: I, I don’t, that, okay, that would get me out of the, out of the house. In a minute. Do you want to sample desserts?

Claire: Yeah.

Sarah: Yes! It’s – I’m now mad that I don’t live closer to Montreal. [Laughs]

Claire: Yeah. So test out a new dessert, and we obviously, like, you know, like, like, make sure we have a lot of sapphic romance available – [laughs] –

Sarah: Mm-hmm.

Claire: – to, like, you know, as recommendations. And this month, actually in February, because on Sapphic Saturday, the second Saturday of the month was Valentine’s Day, so we did, like, sapphic Valentine’s Day, and so it was like a bit of, like, an extra-special event where we sold tickets for that one? Usually, it’s just like a just show up kind of thing, but for, for the Valentine’s Day edition, we sold tickets, and the, the price of the ticket included a, like, date with a book –

Sarah: Oh!

Claire: – all sapphic books from all of our genres. So, like, romance, fantasy, sci-fi, and horror, like, sapphic, okay? [Laughs]

Sarah: Oh, that sounds so cool. Like, I’m mad I don’t live –

Claire: Yeah.

Sarah: – closer to Montreal. I would really –

Claire: Yeah! Oh, and the other thing we do, I almost forgot! We do free tarot card readings on Sapphic Saturday as well, yeah. So Carrie-Ann, who’s our hospitality manager is like an incredible tarot reader, so she does free tarot readings? Which is super popular.

It’s great because, you know, I, like the Heated Rivalry events, we have people who come, like, show up on their own who’ve told our staff, like, I felt so nervous coming here. I’m here on my own; I didn’t know what to expect. I, I’ve been trying to get out there more. And so, like, gathering the courage to go and then, like, finding your people and finding ways to connect with others, it’s incredible! Like, we want to have events that speak to different types of people so that all these folks who, like, want to build relationships, want to build community, want to find people who are interested in the same things as them. That’s, like, a really good way to, to connect! If you like the same type of book, you have something to talk about, right?

Sarah: Oh, absolutely.

Claire: So take some of the pressure off when you’re, like – whether it’s for, for, like, meeting somebody like, for, like, romantic purposes or for just friendship and connection, which everybody wants, right?

Sarah: Yes, for sure. And it, and it’s much less intimidating to go to a bookstore about sapphic books when you’re, the bar of entry, unless it’s a ticketed event, is Do you like sapphic books? Yes? Go here, like, and other people who like sapphic books will also be there. That’s a much less intimidating proposition than I have swiped right, and now we will meet to evaluate each other to determine – it’s like a job interview! And it’s like, oh! I, I don’t know how people who are dating do it, because it is just, I could not! [Laughs] I just, I would be –

Claire: Yeah.

Sarah: – so bad at it! But, like, Hey, let’s go drink things and talk about books? I’m in, every day. Let’s go. It sounds great.

What do you think are the essential elements for bookstore gatherings that engage the community? In addition to really hot hockey shows, which help everyone.

Claire: [Laughs] That helps for sure! No doubt. I think that what people want is to have that piece of, that connection –

Sarah: Yeah.

Claire: – and feeling welcomed. I think, like, when I’m at the store for an event, I’m in, like, hosting duty –

Sarah: Mm-hmm.

Claire: – in the sense of, like, I am there to welcome people, to talk to people, to introduce people to each other. It’s like hosting a big kind of dinner party almost? Like –

Sarah: Yes!

Claire: – in the sense of, like, you know, you invite a bunch of people to your house who don’t necessarily know each other, and you want them to feel comfortable and welcome? So I think that there’s something about that social element of, of, of welcoming and, and talking to people that helps kind of get the juices going and gets people opening up to speak to each other?

Sarah: Yes!

Claire: Rather than just, like, you arrive at a, at an event, and you, like, sit in your chair and you don’t talk to anybody and you just wait for, like, a Q &A or something like that. Like, having that, opportunities to, to, to meet and, and discuss?

Sarah: Mm-hmm.

Claire: Before an event and after an event, and especially after the event, actually, because I think for a lot of people, like, once you’ve, like, attended the same thing, it’s like if you go to a movie, like, after the movie, you have something to talk about, right?

Sarah: Right.

Claire: So I think after the event, having built-in time to have conversations with the people who are there for the events, so they’re included in the event, that, I think, is also, like, something that people really, really love, and it, it facilitates those connections between people. So I think that there’s that – obviously having cocktails and food doesn’t hurt.

Sarah: Always helps.

Claire: And we have, like, a full liquor license, we have a kitchen, so we, it’s easy for us to, to do that because, you know, we have the setup for it. It was –

Sarah: Yeah.

Claire: – part of the conception of the space?

Sarah: Yes.

Claire: We have, like, amazing non-alcoholic cocktails, so it’s like, you know, you don’t have to drink alcohol to enjoy, you know, a beautiful cocktail at Joie de Livres and have delicious food. And so there’s that element too. I think it, it also lends itself to, like, people, people chatting more when they’re having something, you know, yummy to eat at the same time.

Sarah: Yes, and I love the idea and all of the stores that have started, especially the romance bookstores, that combine with a bar or some sort of, like, food or beverage, because it gives you even more of a reason to stay.

Claire: Mm-hmm, yeah. We’re open late, or you can come and buy a book at the store at like, you know, 10 p.m.

Sarah: I mean, yes, please. That’s when I need a book, ‘cause I just finished my last one.

Claire: [Laughs] Yeah.

Sarah: I mean, I was at a romance bookstore in Denton, Texas, called The Plot Twist, and it’s, all of the stores at the old – it’s a very old town? I mean, old for America. And it’s just a long, narrow space, but they have a bar, a huge art deco bar in the corner, and then the back room is their reading room, which is like dark and moody and comfortable with all the plush furniture, and I’m like, I love the idea of a bookstore that includes spaces for you to just be. You bought your book; stay here and read it! It’s comfy. Like, that, that makes it into like an extra living room for people. I mean, it makes sense for welcoming people, too. It creates a place where people, like, Oh, I want to go be there again. I like that feeling.

Claire: Yeah. Yeah, we have like one, one customer who, one of the weekdays, she’s a, a young new mother, and wanting to, like, get out of the house and meet other young moms, so she’s like, you know, anybody who wants to join me to talk about books and have a drink like Wednesday at seven, I’ll be at Joie de Livres: join me. You know, so there’s, like, stuff like that happening because we have the space for it, and people are like, Yes, this is a place where I can go and hang out and talk about books and have something to drink, something to eat. You know.

Sarah: Yeah, and something you said earlier, that you’re in host mode and you want people to feel welcomed. And you’ve created this space where, like, No, we want you to not only be welcome, we want you to have a drink, we want you to chill, we want you to make friends. If you’d like to move in, you know, go, go, go see the bar manager. It – the, the, the change from, of independent bookstore into gathering space for book people is like my favorite thing that’s happened in the last like five to ten years. Have you always –

Claire: Yeah.

Sarah: – wanted to run a bookshop?

Claire: I mean, we had this dream, like –

Sarah: Right?

Claire: – you know, there’s this idea. I didn’t, I didn’t quite understand what was involved.

[Laughter]

Sarah: It’s a, it’s a bit weird. The whole –

Claire: Now I’m like, Oh, okay! This is what it is! Uh-huh! Right!

Sarah: Yeah, the whole business of publishing is really weird.

Claire: It’s very weird, and you know, we’re also bilingual, because we’re in Québec, so –

Sarah: Yes, of course!

Claire: – we have books in English and French actually, and they’re shelved side by side. So that’s another thing, like, if you’re not Canadian, it might not be like – but no, it might not seem like a big deal, but actually having the French and the English books together is actually quite a big deal?

Sarah: That is a big deal.

Claire: Most of the, every, every place else is like, see, there’s an English section and a French section. It’s like, no, no; there’s like a contemporary romance section, and the English and the French contemporary romance are together.

But yeah, the French and the English publishing industries are like hermetically sealed separate industries.

Sarah: Yes!

Claire: …operate differently. It’s, it’s like a whole, it’s a whole thing.

Sarah: The publishing industry is very weird, and when I try to explain it to people, they’re just like, No, that’s not really how it works. I’m like, Oh yeah, a lot of it is like consignment. A lot of publishers sell you books like on consignment.

Claire: Yeah!

Sarah: And you’d rip the cover off and send it back for credit and chuck the rest, and people are like, No, they do not. I’m like, Yes, they do! That’s how it’s worked –

Claire: Yes!

Sarah: – for dozens and dozens of years. It’s a –

Claire: Yeah.

Sarah: – weird business. I imagine food and beverage and hospitality is like a thousand times easier with all the problems that it brings.

Claire: I mean, it’s, it’s, it’s got its own challenges! You know, it’s got its own challenges.

[Laughter]

Sarah: So what is coming up at Joie de Livres that all the Canadian and American listeners should road-trip for?

Claire: So, okay, originally it was planned as an Unrivaled release party, and actually Rachel Reid just announced that the, the release date’s been pushed for lots of really good reasons. So I’m like really one hundred percent supported, supportive of that decision; I think it’s really, really great? And we had already started the planning, and I’m like, We’re going forward because it’s just too good.

So Monday, September 28th – [laughs] – in Montreal, we are doing a collaboration with a, a music festival called Pop Montreal, which is like the biggest indie music festival in the city. They’re celebrating twenty-five years today –

Sarah: Oh!

Claire: – this year, rather.

Sarah: Awesome.

Claire: And we are throwing a, a concert with musicians from the soundtrack of the show.

Sarah: Oh my God!

Claire: Pop Montreal –

Sarah: Oh my God!

Claire: – and some of your favorite artists from the soundtrack live in concert.

Sarah: Oh my God! Oh my God. I got to go charge up my car. Ho boy, that’s amazing! Because one thing –

Claire: Yeah.

Sarah: – Jacob Tierney and the people that he works with are, are good at is picking the music.

Claire: One hundred percent.

Sarah: Ohhh –

Claire: I’m a huge music fan, and I’m a massive indie music fan. Like, that is my genre; that is my jam. I love that soundtrack so much. It was so exciting, like, watching the show and hearing these, this music. I was like, Feist, Wolf Parade –

Sarah: Yes!

Claire: – you know, all of the francophone artists? For me, also, like, there’s so much francophone music in the show. So yeah, really excited. And it’s also like, because he’s clearly, like, an indie music fan, like Pop Montreal is just like the perfect, perfect group to organize this. I know Dan Seligman, who’s the creative director there, and we, we cooked up this idea together. There’ll be more information soon in terms of, like, tickets and who’s playing and all of that stuff, but really, really jazzed about the, this event. [Laughs]

Sarah: I know that right now someone will be listening to this and they will be like, Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod, I’m going, I’m going, I’m going. When do tickets go on sale?

Claire: So we don’t know yet. That’s – [laughs]

Sarah: So –

Claire: …be announcing on our, on our socials. We’ll be announcing, like, the date and time of the ticket sale. It’s going to be one of those things where it’s like –

Sarah: Okay.

Claire: – tickets are on sale Friday blah-blah-blah at whatever!

Sarah: Right.

Claire: Like, that kind of a thing? It’s not going to be at the store; it’s going to be at a, at a, a much bigger venue in our neighborhood.

Sarah: Mm-hmm.

Claire: But I, I expect that it will sell out – [laughs] – I think?

Sarah: Oh, oh!

Claire: Safe to say.

Sarah: Oh, yes, yes, it will. And so –

Claire: Yeah.

Sarah: – if people want to stay informed, they should follow you on social, and they should check out the website, and do you have a newsletter as well?

Claire: We do have a newsletter; we do have a newsletter. You can sign up for it. We send it out once a month, and obviously, like, our Instagram: @joie.de.livres.mtl is the, is the handle, and that’s where we post like all of our events, announcements, and all of that kind of stuff.

So, so stay tuned, and you can also, if you want to follow me on Instagram – [laughs] – I have my, I have two accounts, actually! I have a book account, and I have, like, a politics advocacy account. For books, I am @docreads, representing my former life as a, as a scientist and professor. [Laughs] It’s like, I got a, I got a PhD, damn it, so I’m going to keep using the doctor.

Sarah: Yes!

Claire: Even though I – [laughs] –

Sarah: No, do not –

Claire: …books.

Sarah: – do not ever give that up! You, you got that DR: use, you use that! Heck yeah.

Claire: [Laughs] So @docreads is my book account, and then I have, @clairetrottier_ is my more, like, advocacy political account if you want to hear about taxing the rich.

Sarah: What books are you reading that you want –

Claire: Yeah, okay!

Sarah: – to tell people about?

Claire: [Laughs] So, I feel like I really am influenced by what I watch. So obviously I, I watched Heated Rivalry, and then I was like, I need to read more hockey romance. So I went through like a whole hockey romance kick. I really loved all of Ari Baran’s book, books. I read all four of their books in the Penalty Box series? I found them incredible. They’re only available in E, and I, and they’re published by Harlequin, and I’m like, Harlequin, do you not see the success you have gotten with Game Changers and Rachel Reid? You have this incredible author writing, like, this, such exceptional queer hockey romance in your roster. Like, can we have paper copies, please, so I can sell them to people – [laughs] – and just, like, hand them out? So yeah, I looove those books. And the fourth one actually takes place in Montreal.

Sarah: Oooh, yay!

Claire: And I don’t know if, like, they, they, what their connection is to Montreal, but it really felt like either they’ve been here, they’ve lived here, or they did a lot of research. Like, I really felt the Montreal connection in that fourth book, Goaltender Interference, which was my favorite, I think, of the four?

And then I also watched, you know, Bridgerton season four. [Laughs] So then I went into, like, also like a, like a historical romance kick, and I actually decided I was going to reread one of my all-time favorites, The Luckiest Lady in London by Sherry Thomas?

Sarah: Yes!

Claire: Which is just. Like –

Sarah: So good.

Claire: – even better than I remember? [Laughs] Somehow.

Sarah: She is so good! [Laughs] Like, just –

Claire: She’s incredible.

Sarah: – In. Credible. Well, if you’re on a historical kick, can I give you a recommendation?

Claire: Yes, please!

Sarah: Literally anything by Alexandra Vasti, V-A-S-T-I?

Claire: Yes!

Sarah: Oh, you have read her?

Claire: Oh yeah!

Sarah: She’s –

Claire: Oh, I’ve read, like, the Halifax Hellions and Earl Crush and – my gosh, I’m trying to think. I haven’t read, you know what I haven’t read yet? I haven’t read yet Ladies in, Ladies in Hating?

Sarah: Ladies in Hating.

Claire: Her, her sapphic one? But I have it!

Sarah: Oh, it’s so –

Claire: I have a copy of it.

Sarah: It’s just – [sighs] – it’s just frustratingly charming. Like you just, even if you’re –

Claire: Yeah.

Sarah: – in the worst mood, that, that, that book is going to be like, Heeey! You can’t be in a bad mood now!

Claire: Yeah, she’s amazing! I love –

Sarah: She’s incredible.

Claire: – the way she writes. There’s, like, always such humor. The characters are always so well written. She’s so talented.

Sarah: And she grounds the history in such very specific elements, because she’s a history teacher. Like, she knows all of these pieces of history. The fact that she grounds each book in such realism makes it feel so much more complete. You’re getting a whole world.

Claire: Yeah.

Sarah: Her next one is coming out in June; it’s called Scandal of the Summer. The original working title was The Great Cornish Fake-Off. And I just, I just want to say to the universe, whoever decided that that wasn’t a good title is wrong? They’re wrong. That, that, that is a good title.

[Laughter]

Claire: I am very intrigued!

Sarah: Oh yes. Yes, there’s a smuggler and there’s a debutante, and yeah, Alexandra Vasti, so talented.

Claire: Ooh. I love a smuggler in a romance. I feel like, you know, KJ Charles has – [laughs] –

Sarah: Oh!

Claire: – a lock for me on the smuggler.

Sarah: Oh, my gosh. If you ever meet a KJ Charles character, check their pockets before they leave you, ‘cause they will have smuggled something. [Laughs] It’s just the rule!

Claire: Well, I mean, the only other books I would mention is more like what are my most anticipated reads of the year? So I have one in my possession that is –

Sarah: Please tell me.

Claire: – probably my most anticipated read? And it is Father Material by Alexis Hall that’s coming out in June. I love that series so much, and I am so excited. And I feel like, really, I got an ARC of it, and I’m just like –

Sarah: Oh!

Claire: – Wow, this is like a perk of having a bookstore, right? Like, I got an actual physical copy of this book –

Sarah: Oh yeah.

Claire: – and now I’m stressing out like, I think I need to reread Boyfriend Material and Husband Material before I, like, dig in? But I, all I want to do is start it. [Laughs] And so I’m just, like, asking myself, What do I do?

Sarah: Yup!

Claire: I don’t know! It’s a very, it’s an amazing problem to have, obviously.

My plan before I got this ARC was to read Cat Sebastian’s newest, Star Shipped –

Sarah: Mm-hmm.

Claire: – which is also one of my most anticipated reads of the year. I love Cat Sebastian; really excited to dig into that.

So those are, like, what, what’s, like, on my immediate TBR, like, fighting for – [laughs] – who’s going to get read first.

Sarah: I love when there is a book where I am just so excited to read it, and it’s like, Is it time? Is it time? I think it’s time! Yes! You just, like, clear the schedule.

Claire: Yeah.

Sarah: Like, nobody talked to me. Nobody, nobody speak to me. I am guessing that one of the major perks of having a bookstore is the advance copies that you get. I mean –

Claire: Yeah, but it’s also like, I also, I, I don’t want to only read the advance copies, ‘cause I also want to experience, like, the community aspect of reading a book with everybody else, so, like –

Sarah: With everyone else, of course!

Thank you –

Claire: Totally.

Sarah: – so, so much for doing this interview. It has been such a delight!

Claire: Thank you! It was a really joy – so much fun.

Sarah: Oh, the next time I’m in, I am in Montreal, I shall, I shall be moving in. You will see me at the bar.

Claire: Sounds good.

Sarah: So –

Claire: We’ll prepare a corner for you. [Laughs]

Sarah: Oh! I would be so grateful.

[outro]

Sarah: And that brings us to the end of this week’s episode. Once again, merci, Geoffroy, for connecting me with Claire. I hope you enjoyed our conversation. I will have links to the bookshop and everything that we mentioned – do not worry – in the show notes.

Alas, due to some technical difficulties in that both Claire and my tracks recorded on the same file, which is not what’s supposed to happen, I don’t have a video for this week’s episode, and I apologize for that. I’m still trying to fix it; I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to. But for the time being, I don’t have a, a video of us talking. My apologies.

I end every episode with a bad joke, and I would never leave you hanging, because why would I do that?

Why should you never say that quilts are better than duvets?

Why? Why should you never say that quilts are better than duvets?

Because you should be careful when making blanket statements.

[Laughs] I just finished the top of a quilt this week, so I was very charmed by this joke. Blanket statements!

On behalf of everyone here, we wish you the very best of reading. Have a wonderful weekend, and we’ll see you back here next week. And in the words of my favorite retired podcast Friendshipping, thank you for listening. You’re welcome for talking!

[end of music]