Lose the Plot with Carla and Emily

Welcome to The 2025 Plotties - our wildly unofficial awards where we crown the best, worst, and most emotionally irresponsible romance and smut books we read last year. From gag-worthy sex scenes to Olympic-level pick-me behaviour, nothing escapes our judgment.
If you love BookTok recaps, spicy romance derailments, and brutally funny book chaos, this episode is your annual tradition. Grab a drink, brace yourself, and let’s honour the messiest moments in smutty fiction.
💌📚 Got a BookTok romance or smutty read we have to cover? Send us your spicy book recs at ⁠[email protected]⁠ or DM us on TikTok.
⭐ If you’re enjoying the chaos, hit subscribe and drop a 5-star rating on Spotify — it helps other romance readers find us! This podcast contains adult themes and the occasional colourful word.

This episode of Lose the Plot, Carla and Emily dive into Shield of Sparrows by Devney Perry - a romantasy situation involving cursed realms, forced proximity, marriage stress, and a man whose entire personality is 'stands guard and broods intensely.'
We’re unpacking princess survival mode, monster-infested road trips, and a slow burn so slow it qualifies as emotional edging. Expect spoilers chaos, feral commentary, and us repeatedly asking whether we understand the plot (answer: no, but we tried so hard).
Quick correction because we are unreliable narrators: despite what we said last episode, this is actually the last episode before The Plotties 2025. Yes, we lied. No, we don’t regret it.
💌📚 Got a BookTok romance or smutty read we have to cover? Send us your spicy book recs at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or DM us on TikTok.
⭐ If you’re enjoying the chaos, hit subscribe and drop a 5-star rating on Spotify — it helps other romance readers find us! This podcast contains adult themes and the occasional colourful word.

In this episode of Lose the Plot, Carla and Emily spiral over Window Shopping by Tessa Bailey - the festive workplace romance that boldly asks: what if retail was unhinged, HR was a suggestion, and Christmas miracles looked suspiciously like a corny rich man losing control?
We’re unpacking the department store tension, wildly questionable workplace boundaries, and a heroine who enters a CEO's life and immediately rearranges his window displays and potentially his gastrointestinal system (don't ask)!
💌📚 Got a BookTok romance or smutty read we have to cover? Send us your spicy book recs at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or DM us on TikTok.
⭐ If you’re enjoying the chaos, hit subscribe and drop a 5-star rating on Spotify — it helps other romance readers find us! This podcast contains adult themes and the occasional colourful word.

This episode we unravel Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney - a book filled with secrets, lies, memory gaps and suspicious women. Join us as we judge Grady’s chronic inability to make a good decision, Abby’s FBI-level secret keeping, and the island of Amberly, which is basically a yoga retreat if your wellness plan includes light murder and emotional manipulation.
We dive into unreliable narrators, mysterious manuscripts, cross-dressing and skeletal décor. Expect conspiracy theories, feral laughter, and a full roasting of every character who probably didn't even deserve better!
💌📚 Got a BookTok romance or smutty read we have to cover? Send us your spicy book recs at ⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠ or DM us on TikTok.
⭐ If you’re enjoying the chaos, hit subscribe and drop a 5-star rating on Spotify — it helps other romance readers find us! This podcast contains adult themes and the occasional colourful word.

Carla and Emily dive beak-first into Flock by Kate Stewart, the book that asked, 'Why choose one man when you can have… several questionable ones and multiple criminal secrets?'
We’re unpacking all the big questions: Why is everyone in this town allergic to honesty? How does a sawmill somehow become a front for polyamorous chaos? And at what point do we start a support group for readers emotionally blindsided by book two?
Expect feral laughter, secondhand heartbreak, and an in-depth discussion on whether you can workshop a plot together out of the material in this book! And yes, we definitely lost the plot.
💌📚 Got a BookTok romance or smutty read we have to cover? Send us your spicy book recs at ⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠ or DM us on TikTok.
⭐ If you’re enjoying the chaos, hit subscribe and drop a 5-star rating on Spotify — it helps other romance readers find us! This podcast contains adult themes and the occasional colourful word.