“No good day had ever started without breakfast. And no bearable one had ever started without a cup of tea” – Not Quite a Witch. The highest compliment I can pay Not Quite a Witch was that it felt like a wonderful trip into Disney’s Haunted Mansion Ride. It’s giddy, well-written and wonderfully witty. I loved the romance, the worldbuilding and the characters here – it’s one of the best spooky season reads I’ve encountered … Continue reading Not Quite a Witch by Anna Stockings →
RECOMMENDED: Earls Trip by Jenny Holiday is $1.99! This is a standalone historical romance and was described as Ted Lasso meets Bridgerton for a 19th century spin on The Hangover. We ran a guest review of this one and it earned a B+.
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Hey y’all! The transcripts for the following episodes are live! 742. Writing Recent History with Lea Vale – published October 30, 2026 741. RT Rewind: June 2007 Ads & Features – published October 23, 2026 The visual aids for the RT Rewind episode are in the link above. Thanks for your patience, y’all!
It’s a classic for a reason, and the reason is, it’s a classic! This is perfectly logical logic what do you mean. It’s Halloween Eve! Soon the candy will be either on sale, or in your house, or a little of column and and b! So, of course, we need a spooky video. A classic spooky video. From 2006. It’s the KXVO Pumpkin Dance! Now, this will spoil some of the mystique, but if you’d like … Continue reading Friday Videos Love a Pumpkin Classic →
Lea Vale is the author of Blue Sky Black, a dual-timeline recent history romance that takes place, in part, on 9/11/2001. We talk about writing recent history, especially recent traumatic history, into romance, we also discuss the power of the HEA, and we chat about her NHPR show, Check This Out! So I want to be clear here that we discuss 9/11 on and off throughout the episode. Both of us witnessed the attacks on … Continue reading 742. Writing Recent History with Lea Vale →
The Once and Future Queen by Paula Lafferty is $1.99! This is book one in The Lives of Guinevere series. I think I remember Elyse talking about this one.
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What the Smut? ain’t got an ounce of class, sugar. It was like reading a romance novel written by Dee Reynolds from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. I got a lot of enjoyment out of it, but some uneven moments — and a ridiculous saccharine ending – kept me from giving it more than a high C. I had a hell of a lot of fun reading it: it’s delightful for what it is and … Continue reading What the Smut? by C. Hallman →
This Rec League came from Amelia in the SBTB Podcast Patreon Discord. It arrived because of a bonus episode discussion between me and Sarah on grumpy/sunshine pairings. This Bone-Us grumpy/sunshine convo brought me back to THE BOOK I imprinted on as a baby romance reader: Too Hot To Handle by Victoria Dahl. Hero goes into a perfunctory grovel thinking ‘she’s too nice not to forgive me’ and the heroine says, “who the fuck do you … Continue reading The Rec League: Spiteful and Stubborn Sunshines →
Dolores Huerta passed away today, 28 October 2026. We are resurfacing this post to celebrate her life. This post was originally published on 8 June 2019. … This month in Kickass Women, we raise a glass to Dolores Huerta, the labor and civil rights leader who became nationally known for her work with the United Farm Workers in the 1960s and who continues to kick ass today. It was Dolores who coined the slogan “Si … Continue reading Kickass Women in History: Dolores Huerta →
Fabulous Bodies by Chuck Tingle is $2.99! Carrie reviewed this one and gave it a B-:
This story by Chuck Tingle is a gory horror-thriller that I absolutely ate up, but be prepared for a high body count and a lot of implausibility.
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This piece of literary mayhem is exclusive to Smart Bitches After Dark, but fret not. If you’d like to join, we’d love to have you! Have a look at our membership options, and come join the fun! If you want to have a little extra fun, be a little more yourself, and be part of keeping the site open for everyone in the future, we can’t wait to see you in our new subscription-based section … Continue reading After Dark at the Movies: Frankenhooker →
