18: Trope We Hate/Book We Love - Kissing Tolstoy by Penny Reid - First Dates & Soulmates: A Romance Podcast

We all have tropes we hate with the burning passion of a thousand suns — and then, every so often, a book comes along that breaks our own rules. This week kicks off a new recurring bit: Trope We Hate, Book We Love. Nikki's pick is student/teacher, a trope she says she "actively hates" and "wishes didn't exist" — and yet here we are, talking about Kissing Tolstoy by Penny Reid for a full hour. Starting with the world's least convincing blind date, by way of a typo'd email, some leather pants, and 46,000 words that were somehow expanded from a newsletter serial originally titled Nobody Looks Good in Leather Pants (a better title, honestly).

In this episode we chat about:

* the emotional plights of leather-pants wearing heroes & Russian-lit reading heroines

* why Nikki hates teacher/student dynamics with a burning passion but somehow can stomach this one

* Meg’s ideas around the layers of power and privilege NOT discussed in this book (which honestly, could have made it better)

* what flowery language gives us the ICK

From the book, read aloud by Meg — Anna, on choosing to fail rather than be ignored:

"I refused to be ignored. I deserved better. It was my desire for respect, control of my own destiny, and the sensibilities of my tender heart that ultimately made the decision. I guess I'll take the F, I said."

From the book, read aloud by Meg — Anna, on being a patron of the arts instead of an artist:

"I love to read, but I'm not a writer. I love philosophy, but I'm not a philosopher. I love art, but I can't paint, draw, or sculpt. I love movies, but I'm a terrible actor. Therefore, I'm a patron."

From the book, read aloud by Nikki — Luca, at his most overwrought:

"You infect me, body and soul, with primitive thoughts of claiming and conquering. I do not know who I am when I touch you. I am no longer civilized. I am blood and heat and lust. I barely recognize myself."

Nikki, on the one thing that actually made the trope work for her:

"I love clear expectations of people having a fucking conversation up front."

I'd also swap "View the full show notes on our Substack" (still a dead loop back to the platform) for a link to whichever review or rec page this connects to, if one exists yet — same fix as the last two episodes.

Books & Media We Mention:

By Penny Reid:

* Kissing Tolstoy

* Kissing Galileo

* The Knitting in the City Series

* The Winston Brothers series

* Secret Service by Tal Bauer

* The Necessary Evils series by Onley James

* Love is Blind UK

Wheel of Power & Privilege

Other Recommendations For This Trope (or similar vibes, in Nikki’s case):

* Hold Me (Cyclone Book 3) by Courtney Milan