Happy 8th Anniversary Smart Bitches: A Giveaway!

The Ladies - four eyeglass-wearing women on brightly colored backgrounds, the logo of the site.On January 31, 2005, Smart Bitches went live with two reviews, and the website was born. Eight years later, we're still here, and more readers find the community here to discuss romance, laugh at the silly parts, celebrate the awesome-y parts, and discover that there are a LOT of fellow romance readers out there in the wonder wily inter webs.

Thank you for being a part of Smart Bitches. Happy eighth anniversary to all of us!

The traditional gifts for an 8th anniversary are bronze, pottery, linens, and lace. I don't think I can do bronze or pottery (that would be a book titled His Lordship's Shipping Nightmare) but linen and lace? That I can do. Time to do fun and silly things!

I went a-looking for linen and lace things and thought…oh, ho ho! FICHU!

A creative commons image of a woman in a fichu, captioned,

 

Oatmeal colored linen and lace scarfOatmeal linen and lace scarf

 

I have four to give away – two of each style. They're on their way to me from Turkey, but I'm giving them away right now. Because the 8th Smart Bitch Anniversary gift is FICHU!

Each fichu comes with a $25 gift card to the bookstore of the winner's choice – linen, lace and books!  What could be better? You'll be warm, stylish, and entertained.

To enter, leave a comment below and tell us your favorite thing about reading romance – your very favorite. Is it the happy sigh? The potential for Good Book Noise™? The many things you learn? The lovely people you meet (and really, romance readers are among the best people, no question) online and off? Share!

I'll select four winners at random at noon eastern on Monday February 4th, 2013.

Standard disclaimers apply: I'm not being compensated for this giveaway, except for the opportunity to make bad jokes about fichus. Void where prohibited. Open to international residents to the extent permitted by applicable law. Must be over 18 and sporting excellent décolletage to win. Whereas, upon participation in the contest as aforesaid, said participant shall nonetheless deliver hereunto all such paraphernalia as reasonably necessary and appropriate.  Notwithstanding anything hereinafter to the contrary, the contest shall nonetheless be conducted as heretofore described thereupon. Or something.

Most of all: thank you for being here, and making our community worth celebrating every day, and every year. Happy Fichu Anniversary to us!

Categorized:

Fun And Games

Comments are Closed

  1. Nancy S Goodman says:

    When life sucks, you can always count on the HEA!

  2. Barb Lie says:

    I love knowing when you read romance, no matter what happens there will be a happy ending. Romance is the feel good genre.  Happy Anniversary, Sarah.  Well deserved.

  3. Vandy Jones says:

    My favorite thing about romance is the story, especially a good one that transports me to that world, even if only for a little while—it’s the best sort of travel. 

  4. Tarja says:

    Happy Anniversary! My favourite thing is the tingly feeling when the characters are getting attracted to each other.

  5. Tam B. says:

    Happy Anniversary! 

    My favourite thing about romance books – the dynamic between the characters.  I love banter, snark and humour.  More over, I love that I can visit with them any time I want!

    Here’s to the next 8 years of SBTB.

  6. SandyL says:

    My favorite thing about romance books is that reality disappears. No bills, no kids, etc. Pure escapism.

  7. Lenorej says:

    I like to live with interesting characters compelled by love and sex to do outrageous things in search of their happy ending. I love that SBTB let’s me do this with good company. I rip a lot of bodices and would be thrilled with a fichu!

  8. Jenny Dolton says:

    I love knowing from the very first page that there will be a HEA. =)

  9. PriscillaHC says:

    Yep, the HEA is the best!

  10. I’m sure my wardrobe doesn’t need a fichu (Now, if it were the 75th anniversary and you were giving away diamonds…) but I wanted to chime in and say “Mazel Tov!” I remember well stumbling across your first April Fool’s page, laughing my butt off, and asking myself, “Who are these women?” 

    The rest, as they say, is history.

  11. Patricia M. says:

    What I love about romance is that I can escape into another world for a while and read about the lives of other people and know that it will all work out well.  My life is stressful enough that I don’t want to take the chance that I will read something that will depress me. 

  12. Jae_Lee says:

    Happy anniversary!

    I know it’s a largely criticized aspect of romance novels but I love the comfort of knowing there’s a happy ending. And I love when the sexual tension rachets up and up over the course of the story. It’s why I prefer historicals over contemporaries.

  13. Tsuki Mew says:

    I absolutely love the fuzzy, warm feeling I get from reading about two people falling in love. 

  14. samalamadingdong says:

    Happy Anniversary!!!

    Favorite thing about reading romances: that all-over tingley feeling i get when i realize i’m reading an awesome story that’s going to touch me whether it’s with laughter, sweetness, or tears. Hardly anything beats that feeling.

  15. Beccah W. says:

    Honestly, I like the historical facts I’ve learned over the years from (mostly) Regency romances! It seems I’m a wellspring of factoids about what people wore, places they went, and proper manners.

    I love, love, love this site! It makes my day 🙂

  16. Happy anniversary,  you smart bitches rock. I love romance novels for the happy ending. No matter what happens in the story, in a true romance you know that HEA is just a few pages away.

  17. AJ says:

    Escaping into a world with a guaranteed HEA.

  18. Anna says:

    I love meeting shiny new characters and watching them find happiness.

  19. Castiron says:

    My favorite thing about romances is the couple’s gradual realization that they’re a good match for the long haul.

  20. Kellianne says:

    I love two different people somehow finding their way to each other.  And fichus.  And the Smart Bitches.  Congrats on 8 years!

  21. katrina fast says:

    I love the happy throat bubbles that accompany truly happy endings!

  22. Laura says:

    My favorite thing? That’s tough.  But I think it’s watching two people discover each other – learn their foibles, admire their attributes – and still fall in love.  Yeah – so the happy ending is what I’m for. 🙂

  23. Lostshadows says:

    Most of what I enjoy about romances is what I like about most fiction, but I sometimes just like going in knowing things are going to have a hea. (I’ve learned the hard way that not even a first person narration guarantees that at least the protagonist will make it safely to the end in other fiction.)

  24. Asymmpiano says:

    I always love a happy ending, but in the best romances, the ones that make me love the genre, the hero and heroine “earn” their happiness because their relationship has helped each to grow and become a better person in a variety of ways. One of my favorite examples is Pride & Prejudice, where Lizzy (book, not vlog, spelling!) and Darcy grow out of said pride and prejudice and their temperaments balance each other.

  25. Flo_over says:

    The quality and the HEA or the promise there of.  Sometimes you just want a happy!  And escape, it’s always nice to read about some poor chickie being swept away to a Dukedom.

  26. Katie Marie says:

    My favorite part of reading romance is… knowing that it still exists, even if I haven’t seen it too much in the real world. Seeing other people (even if they’re fictional) be happy. The laughs when it gets a bit ridiculous. And, of course, the IDEAS.

  27. Sarah says:

    Congrats on 8 years! I’m a librarian, so I like reading romance in order to better serve my patrons. Sometimes I’m pleasantly surprised by a book and love it wildly, and sometimes I laugh so hard at just how bad it is- and that range is what endears me to the genre.

  28. jenniferk66 says:

    I like —very technical term here—the warm ‘n’ fuzzies.

    (Thanks for the years of discovery of new authors and fun discussions!)

  29. Renee D says:

    My favorite thing about reading romance is the moment when they stop making excuses as to why they shouldn’t love the other and be in love. That and the hot sex 😉

  30. Happy 8 years. There are so many things I love about romance but, the thing I love the best, is that romance books brought me together with my best friend 28 years ago. Whenever I read a romance novel, I remember that.

  31. Lil' Deviant says:

    Happy Anniversary!

    There are so many things I love about romance, the HEA, the laughs, the WTF, the tingly feeling when you have finished a really good story and you have a hard time letting the characters go.

    But I really love when I have that really good book I couldn’t put down.  Its one or two in the morning,  Mr Deviant has gone to bed.  The house is all quite.  I am sipping on beverage of choice and the puppies are curled up with me on the couch.  I had to finish this book and I know I will be slammed tomorrow because I am tired.  But it was worth it.  All is right with the world.  *sigh*

  32. Aspiring Librarian says:

    happy anniversary!

    My favorite thing about reading romance is that even when I’m in the midst of the most angst-ridden story ever, I know that there will be an HEA. Sometimes it is nice to have something as simple as confidence that things will all work out (even if it is fiction).

  33. Tracy Faul says:

    I love everything about a good love story, but mostly I love being able to stop being a far-too-close-to-middle-age mom of three, and remember the heady early days of falling in love before it was intruded on by morning sickness and dreading homework assignments…

  34. Jdalrymple says:

    I love reading romance for the interactions between the characters…and the belief that love will conquer all.

  35. Erin Curry says:

    Thanks! My favorite thing about romance novels are the happy endings. Nice to at least read about them!

  36. Laylapalooza says:

    My favorite part of reading romances is watching authors make potentially crazy-ass plots (amnesia! secret twin! marriage contracts!) work.

  37. Bijou243 says:

    I have told so many people about this place!  I can’t believe it’s only been 8 years.  Happy Anniversary!  Besides the happy feelings I get from the HEA, I’m with Katherine O’Grady – I learn from romance novels.  Especially things I’d like to hear my partner say and things that are red flags (very useful when I was still dating.)  And, I will admit, I learned some things that I can use during sexytimes.  🙂 

  38. Lynda Hartup says:

    The HEA!

  39. Sami says:

    The cathartic moment with ALL THE FEELINGS (or in others, the warm and fuzzy slow slow build love.)

  40. sg says:

    I love finding a good story.

Comments are closed.

By posting a comment, you consent to have your personally identifiable information collected and used in accordance with our privacy policy.

↑ Back to Top