268. Rec Reqs with Sarah and Amanda, Part the Second!

[music]

Sarah Wendell: Hello there, and welcome to episode number 268 of Smart Podcast, Trashy Books. I’m Sarah Wendell, and with me today is Amanda, and both of us are from Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, and both of us have recommendations. It’s time for part two of RecReq time, as I’m calling it – recommendation requests. I asked the Patreon supporters what types of books they’re looking for more of and what they’d like to read next, and we got some really interesting requests, and here is another set of awesome book recommendations. Seriously, if last week’s was expensive, I apologize in advance for this one.

This week we are talking about sexually inexperienced characters, pseudo-virginity, the presence of nuts in baked goods – and we are divided on this very important topic, and Amanda is incorrect – romances with food porn, big families, trains, science fiction and fantasy with excellent worldbuilding, plus you get to hear the very strange way in which my brain works when I’m trying to remember something. It’s so embarrassing, and I just left the whole thing in there, so I hope you enjoy it as much as, well, Amanda did laughing at me.

This is a multi-part conversation. Last week we talked about a whole bunch of historical recommendations, so if you like historical romance, don’t miss that episode.

And if you would like to make a suggestion for one of the people who requested recommendations or you would like to request some recommendations for yourself, please do! You can email us at [email protected]. You can call and leave us a voicemail at 1-201-371-3272; that’s 1-201-371-3272. Or if you’re, like, running or washing something or dyeing wool – hello again! – or, you know, walking the dog or exercising or you’re on the treadmill and writing a number down is not going to happen and you’re like me and you don’t remember phone numbers, just record a voice memo and then email it to me. You will sound awesome. Please don’t be scared; I promise you’ll sound great. But if you would like a recommendation or you’d like to recommend a book to one of the people who asked for a recommendation, well, I really love hearing from you ‘cause you’re all really awesome and smart and brilliant and have excellent taste. Have I mentioned? Excellent.

You can find all of the books we talk about – all of them, ALL, all of them – at smartbitchestrashybooks.com/podcast, and you can find us on iTunes. We have our own iTunes page at iTunes.com/DBSA.

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And now, on with the podcast.

[music]

Sarah: So before we get started on our next round –

Amanda: Yes.

Sarah: – of recommendations, I need to tell you that I have discovered I have sound effects –

Amanda: Ooh!

Sarah: – that, that are built in, so I have [rim shot], which I’ve used –

Amanda: [Laughs]

Sarah: – and I’ve also used this one with Elyse: [stadium organ CHARGE fanfare], but I went out and I found one that is specifically for when we record. Are you ready?

Amanda: Yeah.

Sarah: [ice cubes clinking into glass]

Amanda: [Laughs]

Sarah: Ice cubes –

Amanda: Is it ice?

Sarah: – ice in a glass, in a cocktail glass specifically. [Ice cubes clink]

Amanda: Oh, man, that’s great. I’m kind of bummed that it’s, like, ten o’clock in the morning. [Laughs]

Sarah: Listen, in all of the authority that I have in this situation, I think you can have a drink!

Amanda: I have this awesome peach sour beer that is so amazing.

Sarah: Those are not words that work together for me?

Amanda: Re-, I know

Sarah: Like, those three, I, I also just don’t like drinks that end in the word beer. Like, I don’t – beer and I, beer is like just drinking bloat for me. Like, I drink a beer and it’s like, and I feel like I’ve gained six thousand pounds.

Amanda: Well –

Sarah: BLERB.

Amanda: – I wasn’t a beer drinker, but then I discovered sour beers, and those are my jam, and I remember –

Sarah: Ooh.

Amanda: – I went out to this place, I don’t know, in Gainesville where my brother used to live when he went to college, and it specialized in all these different beers, and I ordered something, and he ordered something, and we did the, oh, you want to try mine? I’ll try yours, and we did the old switcheroo with beers, and we both drank each others, and we made the most disgusted faces at –

Sarah: [Laughs]

Amanda: – at the other person’s choice in beer. And my brother was like, that’s too sour! I was like, this is too hoppy! And then we switched back. So. Yeah, maybe I’ll crack one of those open for lunch.

Sarah: Hey, I think beer over lunch – if you work at home, you should absolutely not wear pants with actual buttons, and you should be able to drink over lunch.

Amanda: Oh, it’s awesome! I have an old high school drama club T-shirt on, no bra, and –

Sarah: Nice!

Amanda: – some, like, dry fit workout shorts. [Laughs] That’s what I’m working with today.

Sarah: Nice! I have the problem where I actually have to leave my house in the morning and go be around other adults who live on my street –

Amanda: Bummer!

Sarah: – because we walk our kids to the bus stop, so, and, and I have two bus stops. I have a 7:30 bus stop and an 8:30 bus stop –

Amanda: Mm-hmm.

Sarah: – so I walk up a, with my older son, to the 7:30 bus stop because I can just take my coffee and walk up the hill with him, and it’s like nice, quiet time; he’s not awake, I’m not awake, but, you know, every now and again I learn something crucial, and –

Amanda: [Laughs]

Sarah: Eleven-/twelve-year-olds are not really into telling you about their inner landscape or anything that they – well, he’s not, anyway. My eleven- and, slash twelve-year-old is not interested in telling me about his inner landscape, so I walk up the hill, and I, even though it’s just people who are going to work at the hour, I still feel like I can’t be, like, clearly in my pajamas and bathrobe, although when I, when I’ve been ill, I’ve been like, I have no fucks to give, and I have a fever, so I’m going to stand here in my pajamas. But then with the other parents, at the 8:30 bus stop, like, most of them have showered?

Amanda: Mm.

Sarah: And put on real clothes. Now, I have showered, but I don’t really have a need for real clothes if no one’s going to see my all day, so I have to at least put on a bra, and let me tell you, that’s a bummer.

Amanda: If I have to run out somewhere just quick, I’ll just throw –

Sarah: Yeah.

Amanda: – a hoodie on, and I’ll be fine. I won’t, I won’t deal with a bra situation. I won’t try to wrangle those puppies into boob jail.

[Laughter]

Sarah: Yeah, I’m, I’m with three, possibly four other people, and, and I need to put on a bra in the morning. Yeah, it’s a problem. [Sighs] I’m, I’m envious. But I still say you can have a beer over lunch.

Amanda: Okay, I’m going to do it then.

Sarah: You should. I, I fully expect –

Amanda: ‘Cause my boss said so. [Laughs]

Sarah: Yeah, I expect a full report here! Better drink over lunch. Encouraging bad habits: it’s my job. All right, let’s move into recommendations. I have a cat still on the desk. He’s going to kick the mouse any minute; it’s going to be great.

Okay. I have another set of podcast Patreon recommendation requests, and they’re all awesome, so. The first one is from Marta:

Thank you so much for the podcast.

You are so welcome!

Any recommendations for contemporary romance novels with virgins, either male or female. As my catnip is small-town romance, I’m also looking for some new recs with somebody new, somebody who hasn’t been in town for very long, coming back. Thanks a lot!

All right, yes. Virginity is a popular concept in romance. And then there’s the actual virginity, where you haven’t ever been to Bone Town, and then there’s the pseudo-virginity, where you haven’t had anal, or you’ve never dressed in a costume, or you’ve never done BDSM, or, you know, banged a dragon. There’s always some form of pseudo-virginity.

[Laughter]

Sarah: So we have several recommendations, all from Amanda, who knows things.

Amanda: Hi!

Sarah: She drinks, and she knows things about books.

Amanda: I do. So, some will meet both of your requirements, and some will only meet one.

Sarah: No!

Amanda:  First, Victoria Dahl’s Jackson: Girls’ Night Out series is set in a small town, Jackson Hole, Wyoming – the name always makes me laugh because I’m a child – and the third book in particular, Taking the Heat, has a sexually inexperienced heroine who runs a sex relationship column. She moved out to New York City to kind of make that work, but she’s back now in her small town of Wyoming, and everyone thinks she’s this big hotshot, but she’s hiding a secret that she really doesn’t know that much about sex. And the hero is a rugged librarian. In my notes I put, a rugged library! That’s not –

[Laughter]

Amanda: He’s a –

Sarah: Wait, wait! Pseudo-virginity could be you’ve never banged a library.

Amanda: Never banged a library!

Sarah: Isn’t there a whole series of documentaries about people who fall in love with buildings? The –

Amanda: Yeah, and cars!

Sarah: Yeah, I Married the Eiffel Tower? Maybe that’s the next –

Amanda: Yeah.

Sarah: – that, maybe that’s the next subgenre of romance where people are going to be like, no!

Amanda: Well, it’s got books! We like books!

Sarah: Like, banged a library. I mean, banging in the library is also probably –

Amanda: Yeah.

Sarah: – pretty rare.

Amanda: The hero’s –

Sarah: Of course, now I’m going to get email: oh, no, Sarah; here’s a list of six hundred messages, or six hundred romances –

Amanda: It’s been done.

Sarah: – where people banged in a library.

Amanda: Yeah.

Sarah: I’m sure.

Amanda: And he is a bit of an adrenaline junkie, I would say. He likes to go climbing, which sounds like a snooze fest, personally.

Sarah: You don’t want to climb things?

Amanda: No, not at all.

Sarah: It’s true, you’d probably have to wear a bra.

Amanda: Side note – [laughs] – my boyfriend does go climbing at a gym, like a climbing gym – the hero in this book climbs actual, like, rocks and cliff faces – but he just bought his own climbing harness, and so –

Sarah: Your boyfriend?

Amanda: Yeah. And I’m trying to convince him to just wear it nude, and –

Sarah: [Laughs]

Amanda: – I haven’t gotten him on board yet. [Laughs]

Sarah: Oh, my God! That would be the worst blackmail picture! Oh, my God!

Amanda: With just him wearing a climbing harness with nothing else on. [Laughs] Not into it, but maybe, maybe –

Sarah: It’s like a, it’s like a strappy diaper without the, the, with the crucial parts cut out.

Amanda: Yeah! Essentially.

Sarah: It’s like a, it’s like a loose pair of pants made of straps.

Amanda: Yeah. [Laughs]

Sarah: That would be pretty amazing naked. I, I hope you can make this – I don’t need to see these pictures, mind you –

Amanda: No!

Sarah: – but I, I, I hope you can make this happen.

Amanda: [Laughs] The next one is Bittersweet by Sarina Bowen. There is no virginity in this one. Well, there is vir- – nope, there’s no virginity? Or there is virginity? How do I phrase that? No one is a virgin in this book I guess is what I’m trying to say. It’s small town. It’s been reader recommended so many times. Someone brought up this series during our Reader Rec Party at RT this year. The hero finds his former hookup’s car stuck in a ditch, and it’s awkward because they don’t really want to see other again. It’s set in a small town in Vermont, and the hero owns an apple orchard, which is kind of great.

Sarah: That is kind of great.

Amanda: Yeah! I love foodie heroes and heroines in my books.

Sarah: I like just food and foodie people.

Amanda: Yes.

Sarah: Like, I like it when they’re, even if they’re not, like, super obsessed with food, when the characters are cooking, especially if they’re making food for each other, I love that. Like, there is a particular scene in, which of the, it was one of the Crusie/Mayer books where Jennie Crusie was writing with Bob Mayer, and I want to say it was Agnes and the Hitman? Oh, I –

Amanda: That’s my favorite.

Sarah: – am the shit! Look at that, I remembered it.

Amanda: [Laughs]

Sarah: But there’s a, do you remember the scene where she’s making pancakes and there’s, like, a kitchen full of, of, like, mob people and a hitman, and some random people are in the house, and she just starts making pecan pancakes, and part of the dialogue is her talking while adding things, and everyone’s paying attention to what she’s making, food-wise? I remember that sequence so vividly. I don’t like pancakes with nuts in them. I want to eat those pancakes.

Amanda: Pancakes with nuts in them?

Sarah: I think they’re banana pancakes with, with nuts in them. I think anything with nuts that is a soft baked good is a wrong decision. Soft baked goods –

Amanda: You don’t like banana nut, banana nut bread?

Sarah: No, any kind of – well, I don’t eat carbs generally, but any kind of soft baked good that has nuts in it? No.

Amanda: I love banana nut bread. Oh –

Sarah: No nuts. Banana bread? Fine. Nuts? No. Nuts in bread are, it’s like, no. It’s just not okay. Nope, nope, nope.

Amanda: [Laughs] Well, we’re clearly not going to come to an agreement on this debate.

Sarah: Yes, that’s ‘cause you’re wrong.

[Laughter]

Amanda: Well, speaking of nuts –

Sarah: Speaking of nuts –

Amanda: – my next recommendation is Nuts by Alice Clayton!

[Laughter]

Sarah: Well played!

Amanda: The hero has been celibate for a while. It’s definitely small town. He was married previously, and everyone kind of, like, gossips about, like, is he, you know, keeping someone on the side that we don’t know about? Is he not seeing anyone? They’re all up in his business, pretty much. So much food porn.

Sarah: [Laughs]

Amanda: The heroine returns to the small town, which is called Hudson Valley in upstate New York, after getting fired from being a personal chef in Los Angeles, so she kind of comes crawling back home to run her mother’s diner while her mother competes on The Amazing Race. [Laughs]

Sarah: As you do.

Amanda: And the first time she meets the hero, he’s got walnut trees on his farm, so he’s delivering some, like, produce and, like, green beans and stuff like that to the diner. She, the heroine slips and falls and, like, a handful of nuts goes everywhere. It’s really funny; all the books in that series are really great. Huge food porn. Highly recommend it.

Sarah: Nice!

Amanda: Then the last rec I have is All I Am by Nicole Helm.

Sarah: Before you go on, you liked –

Amanda: Yes.

Sarah: – most of the, you liked most of the Alice Clayton series, the Hudson Valley series.

Amanda: Oh, yes. I loved all of it.

Sarah: There’s Nuts, there’s Buns, and then there was one with milk.

Amanda: Cream of the Crop!

Sarah: [Laughs]

Amanda: I did a cocktails post for that. I made a salted caramel White Russian for that book.

Sarah: Which of the cocktails that you’ve made for Covers & Cocktails have you liked the best? Like, the one that you’ve made and then keep drinking?

Amanda: My, I think it was the last one I did for Disorderly Conduct by Tessa Bailey. It was a chocolate raspberry martini, and since I’ve made it, I just buy, like, little things of chocolate milk, pour vanilla vodka and raspberry liqueur in it, give it a shake, and – [laughs] – drink it out of, like, the little Nesquik bottle. It’s so good!

Sarah: [Laughs] So you, like, take a Nesquik plastic bottle, add vodka and liqueur, shake it up, and start drinking?

Amanda: Yep!

Sarah: That’s brilliant.

Amanda: [Laughs] You don’t need a fancy glass or anything, so.

Sarah: Well, I mean, I did send you a flask that looks like sunscreen, and you opened it and thought it was sunscreen. Like, oh, yay!

Amanda: I was, I was like, how thoughtful! Sunscreen for the summer! And you’re like, look again. And I’m –

Sarah: [Laughs]

Amanda: – like, oh.

[Laughter]

Sarah: I mean, who’s going to think you’ve got liqueur and vodka inside your Nesquik?

Amanda: No one!

Sarah: Nobody.

Amanda: People are just going to think that, you know, I’m trying to keep my calcium up.

Sarah: [Laughs] Yeah! Or you like rabbits, either way.

Amanda: Yeah!

Sarah: So anyway, you were going for All –

Amanda: That’s my favorite.

Sarah: Okay. Good, I think that’s a good choice.

Amanda: [Laughs]

Sarah: So All I Am by Nicole Helm.

Amanda: The hero is a virgin. He is a veteran as well, and he makes organic dog treats that he kind of sells at a local farmers market. How cute is that? [Laughs]

Sarah: Aww!

Amanda: And the heroine is a party girl, she’s trying to shake her image, and so they, like, pair up together to help with the hero’s business. It’s really sweet, and it’s been super recommended. I know Elyse really loves Helm’s writing. She does some great small-town romances.

Sarah: Mm-hmm.

Amanda: She reviewed the first book in this series that takes place on a dairy farm or has, like, a dairy farmer –

Sarah: Mm-hmm.

Amanda: – hero, I believe. So I would say check that one out as well.

Sarah: Cool! All right. So Elena is requesting romances about big families:

I have enjoyed reading about big families, not only siblings but cousins too. Second-chance romances are my favorites. I read one book recently where the couple had lost a child, and the grief, or apparent lack of it, tore them apart. I thought that is a good reason, a very human reason, to break up. I also like to read about strong heroines who for once say hell, no: no to blackmail or kidnapping or threats to discredit reputations or what-not.

All right, so we have a couple of things in this request.

Amanda: Yeah.

Sarah: In terms of big family with siblings and cousins, Bella Andre’s Sullivans series is an incredibly fascinating and gifted family. They’re all, there’s, there’re brothers and cousins and, and best friends and whatever, but they’re all, like, extraordinary in some way. One’s a professional basketball player, one’s a baseball player, one’s a chef –

Amanda: You said BASEketball! [Laughs]

Sarah: That’s a movie; I recommend you watch it. You’re excited. No, this nipple! You should watch BASEketball because it is gross and because it makes, it has Bob Costas making fun of himself, which was the most satisfying part of that terrible, terrible movie that is very enjoyable. So anyway, I don’t think anyone in Bella Andre’s series was in that movie, but I think one of them is a movie star, one of them is a musician, one of them is a chef. There’re so many extraordinary people in that family. I think there’s at least one professional athlete, possibly two, but the series revolves around this massive, massive family.

And then there’s also the, the fam-, the historical family where one of them is named, like, Rannulf or something, and,, well, there’s the Cynsters with Stephanie Laurens. She’s got historicals with non-stop families, and there’re siblings and cousins, and there’s a bunch of second chances in the whole series.

And then – oh, my God. Okay. This is how sad my memory is. There’s a historical series with a bunch of siblings, and they all have sort of Viking/Norse names, and the brother is the one who’s all in charge of them, and he’s super controlling and annoying, and they all sort of get out from under him, but he’s very caring in his icy kind of way, and his name is like Ulfric or Rannulf? I think it’s Ulfric, romance hero. I’m going to find this now.

Amanda: Well, Wulfric is a real popular historical romance name, I feel like.

Sarah: Now I’m getting Ulfric Stormcloak from the Elder Scrolls wiki. That’s not who I’m looking for.

Amanda: No!

Sarah: All right. Oh, my God, historical romance, Ulfric? Wulllll – God! No, I’m still getting Ulfric Stormcloak. Oh, this is going to make me nuts. Whoever is listening to this right now is screaming out loud the series that I am sadly trying to remember. Oh, my –

Amanda: It’s not, like, it’s not the Highland Guard series.

Sarah: No, it’s much, much, much older historical romance. Oh, my God. Shit, and it’s by a big name, and people love it, and – I’m stuck on Ulf-, Ulfric, and –

Amanda: Are you sure it’s Ulfric, not Wulfric?

Sarah: It might be Wulfric.

Amanda: ‘Cause I, that’s popular.

Sarah: I did it. I did it! I DID IT, I DID IT!

Amanda: What is it?

Sarah: I’m so excited! Oh, my God, I’m the best! It wasn’t Ulfric, it was Wulfric; you were right!

Amanda: Yeah!

Sarah: It’s the Bedwyn Saga by Mary Balogh! I am the greatest! Okay. So, so the, the Bedwyns have this thing where the, you delay, you have a lot of adventure, you marry really late because you have to marry for love and you have to stay faithful to your spouse, and you can’t be a complete jerkwad. So – I am so excited that my brain, oh, I’m so, I’m actually patting the top of my head right now. Good job, brain; very good.

Amanda: [Laughs]

Sarah: So there’s Slightly Married, Wicked, Scandalous, Tempted, Sinful, and Dangerous, and there’s Aidan, Rannulf, Freyja, Morgan, Alleyne, and Wulfric. I am the shit. They are all very, very smart and sort of a little bit snarky in their, in their relations, but they’re also a, a family that works, that works and annoys each other at the same time. It’s fabulous. Yes, so that is the series that I was – I’m just going to sit back and bask in my brain’s hard work. All right, you can make recommendations now, because I’m so proud of my sad brain. Good job, brain! I’m going to pat my hell, pat myself on the head. Okay, you go.

Amanda: I found, or I –

Sarah: Did you see, by the way, that I remembered that series?

[Laughter]

Sarah: I’m so proud of myself! I don’t know if you noticed, but I just remembered something?!

Amanda: You don’t have to remember anything for the rest of the week after that.

Sarah: Damn right! [Laughs] Okay, I’m actually going to shut up now. Go ahead.

Amanda: So I came up with two more recommendations while we were sitting here.

Sarah: Oh, did you actually remember the title?

Amanda: Yeah!

Sarah: Shut up!

Amanda: So, the ones I originally suggested all have to deal with the loss of a child.

Sarah: Ooh, not reading that. That is not for Sarah.

Amanda: Yeah. Not usually my thing either. One is Hot Finish by Erin McCarthy. The hero and heroine were previously married. I love this series, and –

Sarah: That series is so good!

Amanda: It’s a sports romance, and it takes place essentially with NASCAR. I’m not a NASCAR fan, but I loved these books. The first book, Fast Track, has an older heroine and a younger hero, and it’s great.

Sarah: I love that book. Oh, it’s so good.

Amanda: But this one –

Sarah: I think I might need to reread it now.

Amanda: You should. It’s so good!

Sarah: It is so good!

Amanda: But Hot Finish, the hero and heroine were previously married, and they married because the heroine, Susan or Suzanne, got pregnant, and she thought that he only married her because she got pregnant, and it turns out there’s, like, a snafu with their divorce paperwork, and it turns out they’re not really divorced! But that whole series is great.

And then I had to do some digging, and I haven’t read either of these, so I’m sorry, but Suddenly You by Lisa Kleypas and Lady Isabella’s Scandalous Marriage by Jennifer Ashley both deal with couples breaking up due to a miscarriage.

Sarah: I have read Suddenly You. I have read it –

Amanda: Yeah.

Sarah: – several times ‘cause I love the older Kleypas books. There are some things about the hero in that book that bug me, but it is, I mean, it’s a Lisa Kleypas book, so it is automatically going to be like, yes! Wow, super, super good reading. Yeah, that’s a good recommendation.

Amanda: And then for large families, Brenda Jackson’s Grangers series. It was just picked up by PassionFlix to be made into, I’m hoping, it could be movies or shows; I don’t know what they’re doing with it yet. But I believe all of the Grangers are brothers, and they’re all kind of talented. One’s a CEO of an aeronautics company; another’s a musician. And they really work and try super hard to win over the heroines in these books, so I recommend that series. I think there’re four books right now.

And then if you like the concept of a large found family, Kate Meader’s Hot in Chicago series is really amazing. It’s a contemporary series set around firefighters. Essentially, this entire family works at the same firehouse. Some of them –

Sarah: Which I think is pretty common.

Amanda: Yeah! Some of the – and it’s not just, you know, like a bunch of brothers. There are adopted members of the family. There’s, I think the second or third book, the heroine is the firefighter, and she has, like, this antagonistic relationship with the mayor of Chicago. Playing with Fire is the one with the firefighter heroine.

Sarah: You liked that one?

Amanda: I did! I think I gave it a B on the site. She’s snarky, and she doesn’t really like the mayor that much, but she’s forced to, well, she’s doing her job and she saves him from a burning building, and it has a fake relationship aspect because after she rescues him, he sees it as a great opportunity to get re-elected. So I liked it. If you like fake relationships as well, that one’s really good.

Sarah: Cool. Well done!

Amanda: I think that’s all my, all my recs for that one.

Sarah: All right. Now, this is one of my favorite recommendation requests. It is also from someone named Amanda, and Present Amanda, you have hit this out of the park.

Amanda: [Laughs]

Sarah: I am so impressed.

Amanda: This one is just some Googling. This one was –

Sarah: I am so impressed! So impressed! This is so cool. I’m just going to, just going to get to it. Amanda P. writes:

Sarah, you are awesome. Just had to get that out there.

Thank you for the compliment, but you’re about to recognize true awesome, ‘cause I cannot do this.

Amanda: [Laughs]

Sarah:

As for a recommendation, my two-year-old has joined my five-year-old in adoration of Thomas the Train and the Island of Sodor.

Girl, I have so been there.

So it will be several more years before I can escape the imaginary Tidmouth Sheds or until my husband and I can hoard all the wooden railway pieces to construct our own fantastically complex track.

I like you guys!

Would you have any recommendations for historical romance books that feature trains or railway journeys? I loved Jennifer Ashley’s Mackenzie books and Lisa Kleypas’s Ravenels series. There are bits in those books, but I’m looking for something more to completely indulge the really useful crew vibe we have going.

Okay, first of all, as a parent you are awesome! Second of all, as I was reading that I realized that the first book in Beverly Jenkins’ Destiny trilogy, Destiny’s Surrender, the heroine does take a train ride across the country at the beginning of the book, and it doesn’t stay on the train, but there is a train ride. [Destiny’s Embrace]

However, however, Amanda is here to inspire considerable amounts of admiration. Take it away.

Amanda: Choo-choo!

[Laughter]

Sarah: Wait a minute! Now I have to find a – you, you do your thing; I’m going to go find a railway sound effect.

Amanda: So, I was amazed when I found this anthology called The Rails to Love Romance Collection: 9 Historical –

Sarah: Amazing!

Amanda: – 9 Historical Love Stories Set Along the Transcontinental Railroad.

Sarah: That is incredible!

Amanda: [Laughs] So, I figure if trains are in the, the tile and the subtitle, what more can you ask for? I found, there’s a novella in the Snowflakes and Stetsons anthology. Unfortunately, the novella isn’t published alone, so you’d have to get the entire anthology, hit up your local library, but it’s called A Magical Gift at Christmas by Cheryl St. John, and people are stranded on a train during a blizzard.

Another historical one is Behind His Blue Eyes by Kaki Warner; I’m hoping I’m pronouncing her first name right – K-A-K-I. The hero is an architect who works for the railroad, and he wants to extend the tracks onto the heroine’s property, and she wants no part of that whatsoever.

And then the last one, which I find fascinating, it’s not technically historical, but it sounds bananas. It’s called Big Boy by Ruthie Knox, and the heroine has a monthly hookup date with a stranger on a train where they role play from different time periods, complete with costumes and everything. [Laughs] I’m going to read that book, most likely.

So, those are all the train, train romances I found. You might find, you might plumb the depths of Amazon and find some romances between trains even. Chuck Tingle might have you covered; who knows?

Sarah: You might get pounded by a train is what you’re saying here?

Amanda: Yes.

Sarah: All right, well, I have something for you. ‘Kay, here we go: [long train whistle and chugging sound effect] [Laughs] Okay –

Amanda: That is the longest sound effect I have ever heard in my life.

Sarah: That was a serious commitment, but I love that it, like, it has a climax and everything. [Laughs] And it moves across my headphones; it went right to left and – or left to right – and every- – I’m very impressed.

Amanda: That was great.

Sarah: Wow! That’s incredible! Wow. I’m so excited. I love, I, I don’t know if you know this, but I really love my sound effects collection, and this is, this is a great feature for me.

Amanda: [Laughs] It was awesome.

Sarah: I know! I’m pretty pleased! That was a very long sound effect, but that was a very significant number of excellent recommendations, so, go you!

So we have two more. We’re going to do science fiction and fantasy recommendations, and then we’re going to end with one for urban fantasy, because you and I need to squee about a book.

Amanda: Yes, we do.

Sarah: Yes, we do. Elizabeth writes:

Hi, Sarah. This episode idea sounds awesome!

We hope so, ‘cause we’re, I’m having a really good time.

I’m currently searching for really good sci-fi and/or fantasy romance because I read a lot of sci-fi and fantasy. I’m really picky about the worldbuilding and the plot. I find it really hard to get into science fiction/fantasy romance that is sort of just contemporary painted over with a thin veneer of science fiction or fantasy.

That’s a really good description of a problem I have too.

Amanda: Yeah.

Sarah: Very cool.

I’m currently reading A Promise of Fire and enjoying it.

Amanda: Damn right, you are.

[Laughter]

Sarah:

The worldbuilding seems really solid, the heroine is sassy, and the hero’s pretty hot! More like that would be awesome. But more like that, but more science fiction would be even more awesome. Thanks for everything you do. You are the best, and I love the podcast and the website and the series on organizational packing. I’m pretty much an all-around Smart Bitches fangirl.

Well, thank you!

Amanda: Yay!

Sarah: Isn’t that the nicest thing to hear?

Amanda: It is.

Sarah: Yay! I mean, the website does not happen with all of Amanda’s effort, so it’s really her as well.

Amanda: [Laughs]

Sarah: I just sit around and forget the names of books; that’s pretty much my role. And –

Amanda: But then you have one bright shining moment.

Sarah: I know! I’m so proud of myself!

Amanda: [Laughs]

Sarah: And you know what, Bedwyn is going to, the word is going to sit in my head for a couple of months, and then it’s going to disappear deep into the ether, and then I’m going to have to remember it again and go through that whole Ulfric, Wulfric, Rannulf –

Amanda: Yep.

Sarah: – Freyja thing. Yeah, nice job, Sarah. Okay, you are all about this; this one and the next one are all you.

Amanda: This, this is my jam!

Sarah: This is entirely your jam! And I love her description of a contemporary painted over with a thin veneer of science fiction or fantasy.

Amanda: Yeah.

Sarah: That is, that is a frustration that I had not articulated in that way, but yes, I know exactly what she means.

Amanda: We’ll start with fantasy first, and then we’ll end with sci-fi, ‘cause she wants more sci-fi, but –

Sarah: Yes.

Amanda: – if you like heavy worldbuilding in your fantasy, Terri Brisbin has the Stone Circles series. Lynn Kurland has a long-running fantasy series called the Nine Kingdoms; the first book is the Star of the Morning. Both of those series are on my to-read list. I haven’t read them, but I have read C. L. Wilson’s The Winter King and The Sea King. I will warn you, The Sea King has some major mullet action going on on that cover.

Sarah: Hell, yeah!

Amanda: [Laughs] But the worldbuilding is –

Sarah: I’m in favor!

Amanda: – so good in The Sea King. The hero comes from this island kingdom. It’s a matriarchal society, and all he wants to do is kind of get married. That’s all he wants. Because in society, men have to serve as mercenaries and protectors before they can earn the right to get married. So I really loved The Sea King; The Winter King is also pretty good. It’s the, The Winter King is the first book, but you can read The Sea King without reading The Winter King, ‘cause that’s what I did; I read the second book first.

Sarah: You, oh – I told my husband and my older son that Elyse started with book forty-five in a series, and they –

Amanda: I can’t believe that!

Sarah: – they both stood there just, like, horrified. Like, my older son was so angry he couldn’t speak. [Laughs] It was so funny! And then we all got into, had an argument about it, so the fact that you started with book two is, is, that’s not like you.

Amanda: No, it’s not! I didn’t know – I mean, it was sent to me to read, so I read it and I liked it.

Sarah: But it’s not clearly marked as book two of a series, which is good, ‘cause it means you get they’re related world but not sequential.

Amanda: Yeah, and the heroine is a princess of a neighboring kingdom, and, like, her magic really hasn’t manifested that strongly as her sister’s, so everyone thinks she’s kind of weak and not marriageable material –

Sarah: Right.

Amanda: – and obviously she is the one that the hero likes. So it’s –

Sarah: Is this series connected to the Lord of the Fading Lands series? Did you ever read those?

Amanda: I have no idea, because I’ve never read them, but they’re –

Sarah: Okay.

Amanda: – also in my to-read list.

Sarah: I think there’re six Tairen Soul books? Looks like there’re six. Or –

Amanda: There wasn’t any mention of, of that, I don’t think, so, I mean, it could be –

Sarah: Yeah, it’s probably a separate season.

Amanda: – like The Winter King or something like that.

Sarah: Yeah, this is different.

Amanda: So –

Sarah: Very cool! If nobody’s changing into a panther, then it’s not related.

Amanda: [Laughs] No, there was no shapeshifting.

Sarah: Okay. Or at least connected to panthers or in some – I, it’s been a while since I read that book, but that was one of the first fantasy romances that I read, ‘cause I’d never really experienced them prior to reading Lord of the Fading Lands. The heroine’s a bit of a Mary Sue, but wow, is that book fun to read.

Amanda: [Laughs] Sci-fi now? Sci-fi is what we’re moving on to.

Sarah: All right.

Amanda: So one book that I haven’t read but sounds really cool, was nominated for a RITA this year, is The Champion of Barésh by Susan Grant. The heroine disguises herself as a guy so she can compete in fight clubs – [laughs] –

Sarah: As you do.

Amanda: Yeah. That one looks really good. It is science fiction. The hero is a prince, so if, like, royalty stuff is your, your jam, that’s it. He recruits the heroine to play for his team, so I’m not sure if that’s when he discovers that the star player of this fight club game is actually a woman, but it sounds kickass.

Sherrilyn Kenyon has the League series. It’s kind of a bit space opera-y. There are a lot of assassins, a lot of space politics. I would say the first book is a bit tough to get through because the heroine is Mary Sue-ish and the hero is super alpha, but it’s a series that gets better with each book. You –

Sarah: Those are the best kind.

Amanda: Yeah. So –

Sarah: If you can keep at it.

Amanda: – I liked that one a lot.

Sarah: Oh, I have one to add for you –

Amanda: Yeah, go ahead.

Sarah: – that I just realized. I am currently reading a novella called Temporary Duty Assignment by A. E. Ash, and it’s funny because, you know, I’m sitting here thinking, oh, yeah, science fiction romances, not necessarily my thing, which is exactly the reason why I’ve been struggling with this, with the romance: the characters are so interesting, and the, the setting, the science fiction aspects of it are the part where I’m just sort of like, okay, it’s not, this is not my genre –

Amanda: Yeah.

Sarah: – you know what I mean? But the setup, which is, which is terrible, because the actual characters are very, very interesting, the heroine is a woman named Samantha, and she’s an elite, high-level soldier, and she’s, in the beginning of the story, she’s recovering from a terrible incident that isn’t explained right away, but it’s, it’s struggling for her. It, it’s, it’s a struggle for her to, to do a lot of things emotionally, because she’s still trying to get over what, all of the things that went wrong. She’s handed a temporary duty assignment, which to her is insulting, and she’s supposed to go to a, take, take care of this guy who is inspecting the technology during an evaluation of the colony where they live. They’re one of the corporate sponsors, and right before she goes, she gets a warning, or she remembers a warning, that things aren’t what they seem and to be, be careful. So she knows that she’s not, she knows something’s not right, she doesn’t know what it is, and she’s not sure if she can trust her judgment, so there’s all of this emotional tension and tension in the world around the characters, plus there’s this sort of daily rou-, the sort of daily routine things that she has to do, ‘cause she’s a soldier; she’s got things she has to take care of. There’s a good amount of competence porn as well. The thing that I am struggling with the fact is that is, it’s sci-fi, and that’s not my genre, but the story itself is very good. So Temporary Duty Assignment, A. E. Ash – caveat: I have not finished it yet, but I am going to keep reading it because the characters are really interesting.

Amanda: Heck, yeah.

Sarah: Yeah! All right, go ahead.

Amanda: There’s dystopian sci-fi, which might sometimes feel more like contemporary with a veneer of sci-fi. Kit – I can never figure out if it’s Rock-a or Roe-sha or – [Rocha]

Sarah: I think it’s Roe-sha. I always said Roe-sha in my head, but I could be wrong.

Amanda: Who knows? So it’s a, a writing team, and they have the Beyond series and the Gideon’s Riders series.

Sarah: That’s the new series, right?

Amanda: Yeah, the new series is Gideon’s Riders. It begins with Ashwin and then Deacon is the next one. Great cast of characters in both series, great elements of found family. Lots of sex in the Beyond series. I would say that one’s more erotica; Gideon’s Riders not as much sex.

Radio Silence by Alyssa Cole is also dystopian. I think that’s the first book in the series, and it just kind of is a group of people figuring out once there’s this huge blackout, like, what they’re going to do.

Sarah: Carrie reviewed this series.

Amanda: Carrie reviewed that one, and Redheadedgirl also has recommended that one on the site. She didn’t write a review.

Sarah: I remember that Carrie was saying that it’s almost like a very cozy dystopia. There’s no gore or violence or, you know, immediate peril, but they have to figure out how to get around without technology, which adds tension to the world that the characters are in.

Amanda: Yeah. And then Vivien Jackson has the Tether series. It’s pretty new. I’ve read the second book – as well, I read out of turn. [Laughs]

Sarah: [Gasps!]

Amanda: I know. Perfect Gravity I think is the second book, but the heroine is this, in – I believe in this, Texas has become its own country, if I remember correctly – and the heroine is this kind of badass, very manipulative senator trying to get shit done in Perfect Gravity, and she reunites with her childhood crush, who has accidentally killed her husband. So talk about awkward.

Sarah: Oops!

Amanda: Yeah. If you want really good sci-fi, I consider Linnea Sinclair to be, like, the queen of sci-fi romance!

Sarah: She has so many, too.

Amanda: Yes.

Sarah: There are so many, there’re so many books to choose from, and they pretty much unilaterally have good reviews.

Amanda: My favorite is Games of Command. There are two romances happening at the same time. One romance is enemies to lovers, I believe –

Sarah: Uh-huh.

Amanda: – and the other one – I’m trying to think – I can’t remember. I remember, like, one of them is –

Sarah: Did you just say you can’t remember something?

Amanda: I know, I’m trying – [laughs] –

Sarah: Oh, my God, I’m contagious! I’m contagious! This is bad, this is very bad.

Amanda: Like, where did I read this? Oh, my goodness, it’s been, like, probably five years ago at least. The other one I think is, like, a mercenary and the, like, spaceship’s doctor, I think. But, yes, it’s definitely sci-fi. Things happen on a ship, a spaceship, so, there’s that. [Laughs]

And then if you want some lesbian sci-fi, Carrie has reviewed Deep Deception by Cathy Pegau [Peh-gow], maybe?

Sarah: Yes. Puh-go.

Amanda: Puh-go?

Sarah: Peh-go, I think, yeah.

Amanda: Carrie loves this author. She does a lot of great sci-fi stuff, but we’ll link to the review, and you can give it a peek. But if that doesn’t work for you, check out her other stuff, because it’s not, it’s not the only one she’s done.

Collision Course by Zoe Archer is another good one. She also writes as Eva Leigh, if you’ve read any of her historicals. And then lastly – so many recs in this one – Elusive Radiance by Aidee Ladnier. It’s a diplomat/bodyguard, lesbian romance set in space. So hopefully you’ve got a couple books in there to try.

Sarah: Also, the Jeffe Kennedy series might be of interest, too.

Amanda: Which one? The Mark of the Tala –

Sarah: Well, there’s –

Amanda: – or –

Sarah: There’s the Twelve Kingdoms –

Amanda: Yeah, that’s The Mark of –

Sarah: – which starts with The Mark of the Tala –

Amanda: Yep.

Sarah: – and then there’s the new one that starts with The Pages –

Together: – Pages of the Mind –

Sarah: With un-, the Uncharted Realms, but it’s also related to the Twelve Kingdoms.

Amanda: It’s –

Sarah: I know this because I looked it up. I don’t actually have these things in my brain.

Amanda: [Laughs]

Sarah: My brain is used for other things, like remembering the lyrics to songs from 1982.

Amanda: I mean, we all have our priorities.

Sarah: Right? I mean, my, my brain has a, a very specific job set that it has assigned itself, and remembering things like, like book order, even though I am a professional bookie person, does not help.

[music]

Sarah: And that brings us to the end of round two of RecReq time. I’m really enjoying the recommendation request abbreviation I’ve come up with; can you tell? Thank you again to Amanda and to my cat and to her cat and to all of the people who wrote in for recommendation requests. These are so much fun! We have one more next week with some recommendations, and then, as a special bonus, Amanda and I squee for, like, twenty minutes about a book that we loved, I have an update about book two in that series, and then I have a really cool listener email about BDSM and chronic pain. So if you’re curious about that, you can find out more next week.

If you would like to email us or leave a voicemail or record a voice memo and you want to ask for a recommendation or you want to recommend a book to someone who asked us for a recommendation, please do! You can email us at [email protected]. You can leave a voicemail at 1-201-371-3272, or you can record a voice memo and email it to us. I promise you will sound awesome; do not be scared. It is so great to hear from you, either by text or with your voices – it’s awesome.

In the podcast entry for this episode, we will have every book we discussed. It’s a long, long list, but they will all be there, and we also have an iTunes page at iTunes.com/DBSA where you can find latest episodes and links to some of the books in the iBookstore.

This episode is brought to you by Organization Academy. Organization Academy is the home of my series of online courses about using Google Calendar to declutter your schedule and organize your life. Over the past year, I have developed a step-by-step instructional program that outlines the method I use for meal planning using Google Calendar, and I’m about to launch my first online course, “Meal Planning Mastery.” It is all about saving time and energy and money by using Google Calendar to manage your meal planning. If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by the question “What’s for dinner?” when you don’t necessarily know the answer, this course will be great for you. If you’d like more information, please head over to organizationacademy.com. You can sign up for my newsletter, which provides free weekly tips on how to use Google Calendar, organize your world every Friday, and you will be the first to know when the course opens up. You can find out everything you need to know at organizationacademy.com.

The music you’re listening to is provided by Sassy Outwater. This is Caravan Palace. This is one of my all-time favorite tracks from their double album including Caravan Palace and Panic. This track is called “Dragons,” and I really like dragons, and I really like this song! I will have links to the music in the podcast entry if you would like to purchase this double album. It is really nice music to work to, I must say.

If you are a fan of the show or you would like to find out more about how to support this fine, fine, semi-professionally done podcast, have a look at our podcast Patreon at patreon.com/SmartBitches. I have begun commissioning transcripts for episodes in the archives because of the supportive community of people at Patreon who have backed the podcast with a monthly pledge, starting with a dollar! Thank you, thank you, thank you. They also helped me put together this episode, and I am deeply, deeply thankful. I get so excited every time I receive an email that there has been a new pledge, so thank you, thank you so much for your support. You can have a look at rewards, pledge levels, and all of the other behind-the-scenes silliness at patreon.com/SmartBitches.

And if that’s not an option for you, that is totally cool! Just by telling a friend, subscribing, or even leaving a review, you help the podcast grow, and as more and more podcasts are debuted and launched, there’s so much wonderful stuff to listen to, I’m very thankful that you hang out with me each week, so thank you so much for that.

I end each podcast with a terrible joke, and this is no exception! It’s horrible; are you ready? Here’s your horrible joke:

What’s orange and sounds like a parrot?

Give up? What’s orange and sounds like a parrot?

A carrot!

[Laughs] Yes, it’s horrible! I love this part so much!

Okay, I’m going to stop being amused by myself.

On behalf of Amanda and all of our animals and everyone here, we wish you the very best of reading. Have a wonderful weekend! We will see you back here next week!

[super cool music]