Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

Sizzling Book Club Pick: Indigo by Beverly Jenkins

Time to announce the February Book Club Pick! If you tuned into the chat Tuesday night, you heard this already, but it's worth repeating with MORE WORDS!

The February book club pick is: Indigo by Beverly Jenkins. This book is so well-reviewed everywhere you look, and there's a very good reason for that. It's amazing. It's also a classic and one of the best historical romances. 

Here's the summary: As a child Hester Wyatt escaped slavery, but now the dark skinned beauty is a dedicated member of Michigan's Underground railroad, offering other runaways a chance at the freedom she has learned to love.

When one of her fellow conductors brings her an injured man to hide, Hester doesn't hesitate even after she is told about the price on his head. The man in question is the great conductor known as the "Black Daniel" a vital member of the North's Underground railroad network, but Hester finds him so rude and arrogant, she begins to question her vow to hide him.

HaBO-Thon: This is Some High Grade Crazysauce

This request is from Cathy, who remembers so much crazy from this book, it's just amazing. 

I'm looking from the first romance I ever read, which I'm pretty sure I
stole off my older sister. It was a category M&B (I remember it was a skinny
book) and the more I think about the plot the more I realise how WTF batshit
crazy it was.

Now I don't remember any names, but I reckon publication date would have
been 1978-1983 ish.

So without further ado, here's the crazy I remember...

Our heroine is a young stage actress about to break into the big time when
she suffers a terrible accident (or maybe the attack of a vicious rival?)
that leaves her with horribly disfiguring scars all down one side of her
face.

HaBO-Thon: It Was in the High School Library?

This request comes from Keisha, who has been hunting for this book for a long time:

I'm waxing nostalgic about a romance novel published before 2007 that I read
in high school and I hope you can help me. I haven't been able to find this
particular novel on Amazon. I found one that I thought was the right book
but it turned out to be a dud, a poorly written dud. I can remember some key
plot points of the book but cannot remember the hero's name, the author's
name, or the title of the book itself. Oddly enough, I do know that the
cover involves a misty forest scene in shades of purple or blue.

The heroine is named Angela (or some variation of "angel") and the story
plays up the whole Devil & Angel, Beauty and the Beast, Phantom of the Opera
quality.

HaBO-Thon: He’ll Be There With Bells On. Really.

This Help a Bitch Out request comes from Megan, who describes a book I would swear was erotica, but she says is not: 

Hero had long hair. He may have been sent from an alternative dimension.
Turns up on the heroine’s doorstep searching for some sort of artefact. He
loved the taste of coffee. There was a fight in a car park when he kicked
the pants of some bikers who were giving him rubbish about his hair.

He wore an anklet with bells. They (the hero and heroine) ended up travelling to
search for some holy grail type artefact. This was definitely romance and
not erotica, it may have even been a Harlequin which doesn’t seems very
likely but stranger things have happened.

Long hair and bells. Seriously, someone has to remember this book. Anyone? 

HaBO-Thon: A Memorable Book For Many Reasons

Cleo is looking for a book that was truly memorable for her, for a number of reasons, including the context in which she read it. Honestly, this book sounds fascinating. 

I have an HaBo.  I read this book in the late ‘80s, during my freshman year at college, and of course I don't remember any names or titles.  I borrowed it from one of my roommates, who borrowed it from someone down the hall, who borrowed it from someone else in the dorm.  I’m looking for it because I think it was ahead of its time - the heroine had several lovers and no dire consequences.  She didn’t die, or get raped, or shamed, or shunned.  I’m sure you’re imagining the earnest conversations we budding feminists and young liberal arts scholars had about the ramifications of this radical plot, but no. Pretty sure everyone read it for the same reason I did – the sex.  And I’m only pretty sure, not absolutely sure, because I barely talked about it with my roommate and I was WAY too embarrassed to talk about the sex in it.  Or the social ramifications thereof.

Habo-Thon: Her Name Might be Christmas

Lillie is looking for this book, which she has been trying to find for awhile. 

I need your help! I've been searching for a book for a few months and I'm coming up empty.

It's an older Harlequin or Silhouette, and I believe it was published in the 90s. It's a Christmas reunion story. The hero is a cop (last name may be Knight?), very ba-humbug and a neat freak. The heroine loves Christmas, is a free-spirit and her name has something to do with the holiday. I think it might actually be Christmas, nicknamed Chrissy. Heroine saw her boss commit a crime, went to the police, and met the hero. They hooked up during the trial, then she disappeared.

HaBO-Thon: Mirrors, Lots of Em

It's HaBO-Thon time! HaBO stands for "Help a Bitch Out," and is a segment wherein folks write in looking for books that they cannot find, usually becuase they remember many details about the plot, but not the title or author. This is, by the way, how I remember most books. 

Our first request comes from GoldenDarter:

After the latest round of HaBOs, and another fruitless internet search, I have decided to ask the Bitchery if they might know of this book... I read it several years ago, in the infancy of my romance obsession, but I have no idea when it was actually released.

I believe it is a historical, and if I had to guess I would say it is set in England (really, where else could it be?). I am certain he is a lord of some kind or at least obscenely rich (could he be anything else?). There is really only once particular scene I remember, and it bothers me to not remember the whole story behind it. It takes place near the end of the book and the H/H have been sleeping together for a while, though I have no idea if they… read more »