The book of the moment for today’s episode is If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio. Just a forewarning for those of you listening, this is NOT a spoiler-free zone. We will be discussing this book in all of its glory, which of course includes revealing the ending. M. L. Rio was born in Miami and raised in North Carolina by parents from California, and has never known how to answer the question, “Where are you from?” Her writing career began in elementary school with Reading Rainbow’s Young Writers and Illustrators Contest and a story about a girl with a pet dragon and the problem of how to hide it from her parents. She picked up a pen to write her first novel at the much more judicious age of twelve. Half a dozen ‘drawer novels’ later, she is represented by Arielle Datz of Dunow, Carlson & Lerner Literary Agency, Inc. Her debut novel, If We Were Villains, was published by Flatiron Books in 2017, and has since become an international bestseller, published in ten countries and six languages. Her music writing is published in The Vinyl District. In addition to her work as a writer, she is a recovering actor turned academic. She holds an MA in Shakespeare studies from King’s College London and Shakespeare’s Globe, and is currently pursuing her PhD in early modern English literature at the University of Maryland, College Park. Her research explores representations of madness and mood disorder on the early modern stage. She lives in Washington, D. C. with too many books, too many records, and a mutt called Marlowe. If you enjoyed this episode, I encourage you to leave a review on whichever platform you are listening on, if applicable. If you have any further questions regarding topics discussed throughout the episode feel free to join our Hardcover Hoes Discord Server via the link in the show notes, or send us an email at [email protected]. Feel free to recommend books to cover in future episodes as well! Discord Server: https://discord.gg/zpvW4FyuPF  TikTok, IG, Twitter: @HardcoverHoes  Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/993967071461813/