Sept. 20, 2026

2.8 ReelShort - Salt Kiss

Show Notes
Transcript

SaltKiss has the kind of chemistry that should set the screen on fire, but does the story actually give it room to breathe? Meghan breaks down the first installment of ReelShort's adaptation, from the explosive Tristan-Mark dynamic to the big emotional choices that shape the rest of the series.

If you are curious how Sierra Simone's novel translates to the screen, or you want a spoiler-light take on whether this adaptation earns its setup, this episode gives you the honest read. Meghan gets into what works, what feels rushed, and why the cliffhanger lands better when you know the next parts are already waiting.

You'll hear Meghan unpack:

If there are key differences she notices between the book and the series
Why Jake Lively and Nico Tortorella’s on-screen chemistry stands out
The moments where Mark finally shows up for Tristan and why that matters
How the show's family pressure, power dynamics, and forced choices raise the stakes
Why the cliffhanger works here, even for someone who usually dislikes them

Meghan hosts My Vertical Obsession and brings a thoughtful, fan-first perspective to the adaptation discussion, balancing enthusiasm for the cast with honest criticism about pacing and structure.
This is a great listen if you love romance adaptations, spicy drama, or watching a story click into place across multiple installments. If you're deciding whether SaltKiss is worth the watch, or you're already invested and want a sharp reaction before the next part drops, this episode is for you.

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Welcome to My Vertical Obsession. I'm your host, Megan, and

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today we are talking about Salt Kiss on Real Short.

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This stars Jake Lively as Tristan Thomas, Nico Tortorello as

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Mark Trevina, Caitlin Rose as Isdole Lawrence, Taylor Brooks as

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Ricker Thomas, and Ian Hummel as Father Mortimer. So the

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synopsis for this is based on the novel by Sierra Simone,

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ex-military Tristan becomes bodyguard to his uncle-in-law, a magnetic billionaire

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who runs an exclusive sex club. Despite his best efforts

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to stay professional, Tristan's drawn to his boss's dominance, breaking

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down his defenses until he finally submits. Under Mark's seduction,

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Tristan's pulled into a world of pain and pleasure he

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never imagined, but his lust for Mark unravels when he's

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set to retrieve Mark's fiancÃ©e and falls for her too.

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So now for the overview that I had for it

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was not wanting to be sent back to the war zone,

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Tristan takes a job as a bodyguard for the billionaire

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Mark Trevina. Tristan is told if he doesn't get it,

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he will be sent back. When Tristan goes to interview

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and is mistaken for a client, not wanting to be

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a part of that, Tristan leaves. But when he is

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told he will be sent back, Tristan goes back to

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get the job. Tristan gets the job, but it leaves

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Tristan and Mark slowly falling for each other. Mark tells

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Tristan that he doesn't do relationships or loves. but Tristan

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wants more. When Mark finally lets himself care about Tristan,

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the club is attacked and Mark gets hurt saving Tristan.

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When Father Mortimer tells Mark he needs to marry Isolde,

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Mark accepts it to save Tristan. Mark pushes Tristan away

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and tells him to pick Isolde up and bring her home.

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When Tristan goes to pick up Isolde, he has to

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save her and he wonders if he might fall for

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her too. So now to the talking points. One of

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the things that I'm very interested about is just how

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much changed between the book and the series. Like what

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might have been left out and what might have been

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brought in and if anything was completely changed type of thing.

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So I'm kind of curious to know the difference between

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the two. So I might kind of like check out

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the book just to see what the difference is. The

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next thing I had said was how Jake and Nico,

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they had really good chemistry. I really enjoyed seeing them

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on screen together. It was really fun to watch them

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kind of play off each other in these roles. So

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it was very fun. They had great chemistry and very

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well paired for this series. So I was very happy

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about that one. One of the next things I said

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was how I liked that Mark stood up for Tristan

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against his dad. Tristan finally had someone that was in

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his corner and would stand up and pick him first

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because his dad was always kind of seeing him as

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lesser or not as good. So it was nice to

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see that Mark came and stood up for Tristan against

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his dad. So I really, I really enjoyed that. that

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moment and one of the other things I had said

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was you can definitely see with Mark's history why he

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pushes Tristan away and why he agreed to the marriage

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he just he didn't want to hurt Tristan or he

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didn't want Tristan to get hurt or Tristan killed like

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the last person that Mark had loved so you can

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definitely see why he did what he did and why

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he was so closed off and it made perfect sense.

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To why he never fully loved or let Tristan in completely.

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And why, in the end, when he was told he

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needed to marry Isolde, he said yes. It was just

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a simple yes because he knew it was the best

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way to keep Tristan safe and keep him from being killed.

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And the last thing I had said was... While I'm

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not the biggest fan of cliffhangers, I did like that

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this one ended on one because we had the next

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two installments already scheduled and ready to drop. It gave

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you the reason to come back. to see what happens next,

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where the next part goes. So had it given us

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a cliffhanger and we had to wait like a year

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or two or wait forever for the next part, that

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would be different. But because the next two parts were scheduled,

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it gave you that, oh, okay, now I need to

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see what happens next moment. Kind of like how winter

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and season finales for TV shows act. Where they give

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you that big cliffhanger where you're like, okay, now I

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need to tune in next season or the second half

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of the season to see what happens next. So it

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gave you that type of cliffhanger where it was, okay,

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where does this go next? So now I got to

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watch when the next series drops. So it was enjoyable.

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So now onto my overall thoughts. I will be honest,

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I wasn't the biggest fan of this particular one. So

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I was waiting for the second one to drop and

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it helped kind of make this one, this first one better.

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I don't really know what. didn't like about this one

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but it was just one of those ones where I

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was like it just didn't catch me in the way

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that some of the other ones did but being able

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to watch the second part kind of helped make the

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first part better so being able to see it in

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first second and now we'll get the third part being

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able to watch it as a whole will make it

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that much better I feel so I did say that

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I really did want to like this one I wanted

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to like it so bad because I was so excited

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for it especially since I really enjoy Jake's work and

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all his series so I was really excited about this

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but I just, I don't know. I said, I think

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maybe it was the story. It just didn't work well

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for me maybe, but I wasn't sure. And I said,

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it might be that the book is better and maybe

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reading the book will help me enjoy it a little

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bit more. So I might do that. I know I

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had mentioned that earlier because I wanted to see the differences,

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but it may also help me kind of understand and

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see see the series in a different light if i

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read the book or read the series for this so

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i also said that maybe if there was a little

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bit more added to the series in the story that

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maybe it might have been better because i feel like

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there was a lot jammed into the series that could

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have maybe been spread out i know we only get

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a certain amount of time and there's only a certain

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amount of episodes but i think maybe we could have

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done it a bit more than the standard 60 episodes

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Maybe that might have helped. I don't know. But I

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still did enjoy Jake and Nico together. And as I said,

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I still feel that there was good chemistry between Jake

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and Nico. I was really excited for them to have

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this series and all the love that people are giving

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this series. So really excited for that. And I'm excited

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to see what the next parts bring. I know I've

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already seen the second part to help. Really excited to

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see what the next part brings and where the story goes.

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It's definitely interesting once you put all the pieces together

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and all the series together. Kind of gives it a

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little bit of a better flow and a better story

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in the end, I think. And I'm sure this can

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be big and really loved from both the fans who

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have read the series and who are just finding it now.

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So I'm really excited to see what this brings, especially

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once the third part drops. So I am super excited

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about So those were just kind of my overall thoughts.

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For my rating, I did give it a 6.5 out

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of 10. Again, just wasn't a big fan of this

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first installment on its own. Once you add it to

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the second installment, and I'm sure once you add it

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to the third, it will make it that much better

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because like I said, once I saw the second one,

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it did make it that much better for me. But

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As the first part, I wanted more. Maybe that's what

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it was. I just kind of wanted more and I

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felt like there was too much and not enough time

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in what we were given. Maybe that's kind of where

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the disconnect was for me, but I am still very excited.

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The third series, super excited. But anyways, so this has

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been Salt Kiss on Real Short. As always, love to

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hear your thoughts on the series, what you liked, what

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you didn't like. And if you are enjoying this podcast,

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please be sure to give it a review. Love to

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hear your thoughts. This is My Vertical Obsession. I'm your host, Megan.

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And until next time.