Smart Bitches, Trashy Books
Bringing you the famous and cheeky SBTB blog for romance enthusiasts. If you're into the romance genre, this is where you want to be. If you're not, avoid at all costs to preserve your sanity. Ha ha. We're just kidding. There are some good things happening in the genre. Stay Golden, Horny Girl!
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A Lady Awakened RECOMMENDED: A Lady Awakened by Cecilia Grant is $2.99! This book is often recommended in terms a sex-positive heroine. However, other readers found the heroine’s view of sex to be rather unromantic. I feel like this is one of the more divisive romances; people either seem to love it or hate it. In Cecilia Grant’s emotionally rich and deeply passionate Regency romance debut, a deal with a rumored rogue turns a proper young woman into . . . A Lady Awakened. Newly widowed and desperate to protect her estate and beloved servants from her malevolent broth…
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This Rec League comes from Noel. Thanks, Noel! I’ve been really into m/m romances lately of all shapes and genres and suddenly wondered if there were any in medieval settings? Knights and all that. Shana: My favorite medieval m/m is The Lion and the Crow by Eli Easton ( A ). I also liked In Shining Armor by E.L. Phillips ( A | BN | K ). It’s set in Wales and has an Asian-American hero who conveniently travels back in time to hook up with a very hot Welshman. EllenM: I have not personally read it but I think The Scottish Boy by Alex de Campi ( A | BN | K ) fits this! Who else has suggestions for this Rec League? Tell us below! …
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It’s Wednesday! Wow, this week is feeling like a slog. Does anyone else feel like that? I think it’s because I just got back from vacation and hopped right back into work. But there are some things I’m looking forward to! Don’t you worry! I’m kickstarting my cheese course. My friend and I are attended a red wine and cheese pairing class on Thursday. Dungeons & Dragons resumes on Sunday afternoon. My partner and I are touring an apartment over the weekend. Might be most excited for that one! Also, is anyone watching The Last of Us TV show? It’s definitely a good start and is hitting some major story beats from the game, while giving it a more narrative appeal (no hou…
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Hex Life: Wicked New Tales of Witchery Hex Life is $1.99! This is anthology with a witchy theme and some recognizable names. It looks like there are eighteen different stories. Brand-new stories of witches and witchcraft written by popular female fantasy authors, including Kelley Armstrong, Rachel Caine and Sherrilyn Kenyon writing in their own bestselling universes! These are tales of wickedness… stories of evil and cunning, written by today’s women you should fear. Includes tales from Kelley Armstrong, Rachel Caine and Sherrilyn Kenyon, writing in their own bestsel…
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After a bit of a rest, it’s time for season 27 of The Bachelor. Pudding, my 17-year-old (yes 17) Siamese cat has been enjoying a life of leisure, napping in her heated bed and eating Churus (on a plate, she will not lick it out of the package because she’s not a peasant). This was her expression when I told her what was on the docket for tonight. That is a face that says MURDER. Forty-five seconds in and we get our first reference to a “journey.” This season’s Bachelor is someone named Zach Shallcross from last season’s Bachelorette. I’ve already forgotten everything about that. Zach says he can’t believe he’s the Bachelor and says, “Why me?” Pudding: You fit t…
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C- The Reunion by Kayla Olson January 17, 2023 · Atria Books Contemporary Romance I love, love celebrity romance, so it was an extra bummer that The Reunion fell so flat to me. I would go so far as to say it doesn’t even really qualify as a romance. It’s more of a book about the heroine’s journey to navigate her second act in Hollywood with some strong romantic elements. Even then, the emphasis on physical details and not emotional ones, plus a stereotypical “villain” made for a tough read. Liv Latimer was once the…
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Never Fall for Your Fiancee Never Fall for Your Fiancee by Virginia Heath is $2.99! This is book one in the Merriwell Sisters series. I don’t mind an illustrated cover, but I’m not loving this one. Have any of you read this? The first in a new historical rom-com series, a handsome earl hires a fake fiancée to keep his matchmaking mother at bay, but hilarity ensues when love threatens to complicate everything. The last thing Hugh Standish, Earl of Fareham, ever wants is a wife. Unfortunately for him, his mother is determined to find him one, even from across the other…
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This HaBO comes from Elizabeth, who wants to find this romance. Content warning for abuse in the description below: A woman and her small daughter are living in a tiny shack in a small town after running away from her abusive husband. They are very poor. She writes down wishes on pink pieces of paper. She releases them outside where they find their way onto the hero’s farm, where he has chickens and a very large dog. The heroine has proof of abuse on a flash drive. Her roof collapses after a huge snow/ice storm. They move in with the hero, who helps her become her own person again. Sound familiar? View the full article
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Booked on a Feeling Booked on a Feeling by Jayci Lee is $1.99! This is book three in the A Sweet Mess series, though I think all work fine as a standalone. This one has a friends to lovers romance. Jayci Lee’s romcom Booked on a Feeling features an overachieving lawyer. A failing bookstore. A childhood friend. And the chance of a lifetime… Lizzy “Overachiever” Chung, Esq. has her life mapped out neatly: * Become a lawyer. Check. * Join a prestigious law firm. Check. * Make partner. In progress. If all goes to plan, she will check off that last box in a couple yea…
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Squee Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett January 10, 2023 · Del Rey Fantasy/Fairy Tale RomanceRomance This Guest Review is from Brigid F. Brigid is a Queer fantasy and romance reader who believes fantasy and romance make the perfect book cocktail. She reviews at Grimdark Magazine and loves writing fantasy and romance recs for blogs and media sites. They love curses, faeries, cozy witches, and wicked characters. … Here’s the thing. I will read anything with faeries in it. I will take sexy Du…
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Welcome back, all! We’re quickly approaching three dozen of these. Any time I go to compile Get Rec’d, I wonder if I’ve run out of good recs, but the answer is always nope. This time, I have a couple mysteries, some historical fiction, and a nature-focused picture book. How about you all? Get any good book recommendations lately? Have a title you want to shout about? Little Witch Hazel I’m such a sucker for Phoebe Wahl’s art style. This picture book actually features four stories about the seasonal changes in the forest. An earthy and beautiful collection of four stories tha…
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http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/WP/wp-content/themes/smartbitches/images/posts/hide-your-wallet.jpg Welcome to Book Beat! Book Beat aims to highlight other books that we may hear about through friends, social media, or other sources. We could see a gorgeous ad! Or find a new-to-us author on a list of underrated romances! Think of Book Beat as Teen Beat or Tiger Beat, but for books. And no staples to open to get the fold-out poster. A Masc for Purim Author: Roz Alexander Released: March 5, 2022 Genre: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA, Novella, Romance …
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The transcript for Podcast 546. Love and Mayhem with Ali Hazelwood has been posted! This podcast transcript was handcrafted with meticulous skill by Garlic Knitter. Many thanks. ❤ Click here to subscribe to The Podcast → View the full article
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You Sexy Thing RECOMMENDED: You Sexy Thing by Cat Rambo is $2.99! Carrie read this one and gave it a B+: I recommend this for fans of Farscape, Firefly, complicated relationships, and cooking shows. If found family and food are your thing, you will like this book, although please be aware that the lighthearted tone takes a temporary swivel into scary and sad when the pirates get involved. Just when they thought they were out… TwiceFar station is at the edge of the known universe, and that’s just how Niko Larson, former Admiral in the Grand Military of the Hive Mind,…
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A | BN | K Ali Hazelwood has a new anthology in print, Loathe to Love You, and she joins me to talk about becoming a full-time writer and the development of the novellas in this anthology. And then I hit her with a series of silly questions. Woo hoo! Bring on the mayhem. Music: purple-planet.com Listen to the podcast → Read the transcript → Here are the books we discuss in this podcast: You can find Ali Hazelwood on her website, AliHazelwood.com, and on Instagram at AliHazelwood. If you’re wonder…
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If the Shoe Fits If the Shoe Fits by Julie Murphy is $1.99! This came out in August and is a Cinderella-inspired retelling. It also has a reality show element. I’m very excited about this updated Disney princess series. The next one will be written by Jasmine Guillory and is a Beauty & the Beast retelling. After having just graduated with a degree in shoe design, and trying to get her feet on the ground, Cindy is working for her stepmother, who happens to be the executive producer of America’s favorite reality show, Before Midnight. When a spot on the show needs f…
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Jeevani Charika writes romcoms and women’s fiction about smart women and nice guy heroes, some of whom happen to be South Asian. She also writes romcoms as Rhoda Baxter. Her latest is Picture Perfect. Jeevani can be found on her website or on Twitter (@rhodabaxter). … I asked ChatGPT to outline a Christmas romcom – here’s what happened. There’s been quite a lot of interest in ChatGPT and some talk about how it’s going to replace writers. Someone has even self published a picture book using text and images entirely generated through AI bots (ChatGPT and DallE). The AI uses what was written before to work out structure, tropes and common elements and then spins them int…
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Hello, everyone! It’s time for Wednesday Links! By the time you’re reading this, I’ll be on my way home for Orlando. I built a lightsaber at Galaxy’s Edge on Monday and my partner and I ate and drank our way around the world at Epcot on Tuesday. I’m sure there are photos on my instagram account (I’m writing this ahead of time! Hello from the past!). I also mentioned in a previous podcast that I’m striving to take cheese classes this year to learn more about one of my favorite things. I’ve book my first two classes! January is about red wine and cheese pairings (the Switzerland cheese class I wanted to attend as my first choice was sold out) and well…February’s class is …
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Cowboy Come Home Cowboy Come Home by Carly Bloom is $1.99, and includes a bonus novella. We mentioned Carly Bloom in our most recent Rec League about books with funny or silly sex scenes. This is book 2 in the Once Upon a Time in Texas series, and it has a 4+-star average on GoodReads. Have you read this one? Welcome to Big Verde, Texas, where a love-’em-and-leave-’em cowboy faces his greatest challenge yet—the woman he left behind. Perfect for fans of New York Times bestselling authors Lori Wilde and Carolyn Brown. Some cowboys aren’t cut out to be Prince Charming—…
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Rant Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake by Mazey Eddings September 6, 2022 · St Martin's Griffin Romance TW/CW TW: horrible stereotypes regarding women who get abortions Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake is a classic example of how a book that is otherwise OK can be utterly ruined by a few sentences near the end. If this review seems compartmentalized, it’s because the book has a lot of compartments, some of which are filled with great stuff (hot sex, self-actualization) and some of which are terrible (unfortunate implicatio…
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It’s time for another edition of Stuff We Like! This month: a few things that have made my life easier, including one I bought in 2011 and is still going. Want to see? Just click that image above or click right here, and come shop with us! And if you’d like to browse some more, we have a complete Stuff We Like archive, including past Gift Guides and other posts of our favorite items. View the full article
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Black Boy Joy Black Boy Joy: 17 Stories Celebrating Black Boyhood, edited by Kwame Mbalia, is $1.99 as a KDD. This book was an immediate NYT bestseller, and is an anthology of stories with an intended audience of ages 9 and up. There are fantasy stories, comics, and poems from 17 Black male and non-binary authors. It has a 4+ star average on Goodreads, and I have just purchased a few copies as gifts. THE INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • FIVE STARRED REVIEWS Celebrate the joys of Black boyhood with stories from seventeen bestselling, critically acclaimed Black a…
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This HaBO request is from Tara, who hopes to find this contemporary romance: I read this book in the early nineties. (I know!) It’s one of those books that’s always stuck with me, and I’d love to reread it again. What I remember: – It was a contemporary romance. – The heroine lives in an old house that she loves, but the house costs a lot of money to maintain. Her father and two siblings also own a portion of the house, and they want to sell, but she does not. – The hero is a developer of some kind, I think? He makes an offer for the house, but for various plot reasons, he shows up at the house, pretending to be the heroine’s sister’s boyfriend. – Hero and heroin…
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Night Broken Night Broken by Patricia Briggs is $2.99! This is book eight in the Mercy Thompson series, which is a re-reading favorite among many, including people in my house who aren’t me. This book has a 4.4 star average (wow!) on GoodReads, too. If you’re looking to fill in your Mercy collection, here’s a great opportunity. An unexpected phone call heralds a new challenge for Mercy. Her mate Adam’s ex-wife is in trouble, on the run from a stalker. Adam isn’t the kind of man to turn away a person in need—and Mercy knows it. But with Christy holed up in Adam’s house…
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B+ The Boxing Baroness by Minerva Spencer October 25, 2022 · Kensington Books Romance To my great delight, The Boxing Baroness is about a female prize fighter in Regency England, and yes, that was a thing. This sumptuous historical romance has great characters and a swooping, gorgeous romance. The plot gets a little wonky but overall I enjoyed this book. Marianne was adopted as a small child by her uncle who owns a small traveling all-female circus. It has the fabulous name ‘Farnham’s Fantastical Female Fayre.’ Mar…
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