It’s been 11 years since the first reviews from the hot pink palace of Bitchery went live, and every year, we like to celebrate with merriment, traditional and modern anniversary gifts, mayhem, and possibly also shenanigans.
Lucky for us, the traditional gift for the 11th anniversary is steel, and the modern gift is jewelry. I thought, hey, this is awesome! STEEL JEWELRY ahoy!
Then RedHeadedGirl said, “Wait. SWORDS.”
Swords?
And everyone else said, “YES. SWORDS.” So this year, we’re giving away jewelry and swords! Happy anniversary to everyone!
Here are the prizes:
Yup, it’s a sword! The Timber Wolf sword is perfect for this giveaway since we’ve got plenty of shifters in romance, plus men and women wielding swords, and who doesn’t need a deep blood groove in their sword, right? And if you’re thinking, “Well, that’s not jewelry…” SURE it is! It’s Jewelry for ALL OF YOUR SELF!
More steel! And more jewelry!
And of course, some steel jewelry for your pocket or purse:
Want to enter? Easy! Just leave a comment below and recommend a romance you loved. You’ll be entered to win one of the prizes. Comments will close around noon eastern, and I’ll select the winners at random on Friday, 5 February 2016. If the item pictured above is not available at time of announcement, a similar alternative will be provided.
Standard disclaimers apply: Void where prohibited. Open to international residents where permitted by applicable law. Must be over 18 and full of steely determination to read. I’m not being compensated for this giveaway except for the opportunity to go sword shopping, which is compensation a-plenty! Crumb coats make the icing look very smooth, but icing is just as good straight from the bowl. Icing is also a legitimately delicious food group. Blanket forts may be constructed for purposes of reading; no prior warning is required.
Thank you for spending time with us. Smart Bitches wouldn’t be as much fun without you, so thank you for being part of our celebration!
ETA: 5 February 2016
Thank you so much for all the anniversary wishes! I am honored that you all come hang out with us each day, and I’m so happy to celebrate our anniversary with you. It’s winner announcement time!
The winner of the sword: L
The winner of the typewriter bracelet: Giddypony
The winner of the reading & tea bracelet: Cerulean
The winner of the reader pendant: Jill B
The winner of the flask: Alaina Keener
Thank you to everyone who entered, and thank you for celebrating with us!
One of my favourite romances is “The Road to Kaluga” by Dinah Dean, pub London Heinemann 1974.
“Major Lev Orlov is in charge of a band of wounded Russian solders retreating from the advance of Napoleon’s Grande Armée in the wake of the battle of Smolensk in 1812. In an isolated inn they discover a young woman left alone with her dying aunt and take her under their wing.”
I have the rare and expensive first edition (acquired from an aunt – unsure if she knows this!) but it was published in an abridged version as “Flight from the Eagle” in paperback form in the 1980s, which you can buy for a lot less.
If you do find “Flight from the Eagle”, don’t be put off by the histrionic blurb on the back, it is actually a slow growing and touching romance between an army officer and a sensible young woman, with some interesting supporting characters and historical detail.
I will recommend any of the military romances by M. L. Buchman. Even better than Suzanne Brockmann!
Oh malevolent gods of my childhood, I really need a sword.
I really loved the Lady Darby Mysteries. I can’t wait for the next one to come out.
One of my favorite romances is Sugar Daddy by Lisa Kleypas. If you like contemporary romance, you should definitely check out her Travis series.
Congratulations!
I still go back to Nora Robert’s Key trilogy when things get ugly around here. I’m pretty sure I heard about them from the Bitchery!
Happy Anniversary!
I’d been in a bit of a reading slump, and decided to try a re-read of Courtney Milan. Slump over! 🙂
Pick just one??? OK – Julie James’ FBI series, It Happened One Wedding.
Happy Anniversary!
The last romance I loved was The Bourbon Kings.
Thank you for existing, I have fallen in love with this site.
There’s so many good options for naming a romance I loved!! I think I’m going to have to go with the Suffragette Scandal by Courtney ourtney Milan. Or maybe the Countess Conspiracy. Or maybe Steel’s Edge by Ilona Andrews…
I love Just one day by Gayle Forman <3 🙂
Romancing Mr. Bridgerton remains my favorite.
The first romance I read as an adult (back when I was college) was Scandal, by Amanda Quick. I was hooked on historicals from that point on. Probably the first contemporary that got me into those was The Next Best Thing by Kristan Higgins.
Congratulations on the anniversary!!
I love all the jewelry! The first romance I remember reading that really hooked me on the genre was “The Passions of Chelsea Kane” by Barbara Delinsky.
I would recommend 9 rules for romancing a rake. It was the first romance I read and reread in a short space of time. Definitely recommend it.
Not the first romance I read, by a long shot….but one of the first that ever really moved me was What I Did for a Duke by Julie Ann Long. Still some of my favorite characters ever!
Oh goodness, recommend just one? I’m a series type person so anything written by Kathleen Brooks, Kate Angell, Katie MacAlister, Joan Johnston, Lynsay Sands, Robyn Carr, Jill Shalvis… I could keep going on. I love a happy ending of course but I love a story that can make me laugh. I love the series type books because I love the minor characters that get developed throughout.
I’m currently re-reading Laura Florand’s Amour et Chocolat series. I started when the flakes began to fly last Friday. Her books are my ultimate comfort reads!
I love Sherry Thomas’ books. Among my favorites: Not Quite a Husband and Luckiest Lady in London. Also Susanna Kearsley’s books–there are no duds here, but my favorite: Winter Sea.
Congratulations! Your site is almost old enough to start middle school :). A book I really loved is Shield of Winter by Nalini Singh.
Happy anniversary! You’ve never led me wrong in a romance and always made me laugh!
I discovered romance via LaVryle Spencer and I now read historical and contemporary mostly. I love Tessa Dare, Eluzabeth Boyle, Kayla Cross and Katie Reus, Shannon Stacey and Jill Shalvis.
I’m recommending “The Captive Prince” because it’s fabulous and the sequel will (finally) be out in a couple of days. Yeah!
Happy Anniversary and thank you for being here every day!
My rec is The Wallflowers series by Lisa Kleypas. Those books became my comfort read and they work every single time.
Thank you so much for this amazing giveaway!
Happy Anniversary! I wish people would rediscover Lavyrle Spencer! Hummingbird, Separate Beds, Morning Glory to name a few.
Happy anniversary! I have so many romances I love, but one I finished recently & thought was great is The Countess Conspiracy by Courtney Milan. And I’m in the process of reading Forbidden by Beverly Jenkins right now & am thoroughly loving it!
I’ll have to go with WHITE ROSE ENSNARED by Juliet Hastings. While there are plenty of trigger warnings needed for this book, it’s also quite wild and my favorite bit of erotica. Woot!
Happy Anniversary Smart Bitches! Thank you for always adding some brightness to my day!
The latest book to completely blow me away was The Laird by Grace Burrowes. Definitely delving into her backlist after that one, she is an awesome writer.
And this is an awesome giveaway! Thank you, ladies!
Happy Anniversary! I remember how happy I was when I found this website. I think originally I came for the cover snark, but stayed for the reviews. And I think this is where I was really introduced to the romance community and found all sorts of new authors and genres. So grateful for this site!
I’m terrible at picking favorites so I’m not even going to try. I’ll just say that right now I’m finally reading Beverly Jenkins’s Destiny series and really loving it! I don’t usually care for American historicals but all the gushing intrigued me and I’m so glad I started them!
Happy Anniversary!
One of my favs that gets re-read many times over is: Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark Side of the Moon. I think it may be due to the fact that Ravyn is a very likable, snarktastic male lead. That, and the characters are older. Hey, not everyone finds true love at 22!
The very first romance I read was Natural Born Charmer by Susan Elizabeth Phillips and I was hooked for life. I read romances in the shadows of my embarrassment until I found your website. Cupid bless you smart bitches.
One of my favoritez is Again the Magic by Lisa Kleypas
First romance I ever read was The Dragon and The Jewel by Virginia Henley. Still one of my all-time favorites and I recommend it to anyone looking for a good historical romance.
Jenny Crusie, Faking It…….
also anything by Jo Beverley….
Happy Anniversary!!!
A romance that I read recently and loved was “Romancing the Duke” by Tessa Dare. Thought it was fabulous and I love the rest of the Castles Ever After series.
Happy anniversary!
All-time favorite romance is Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie. It has all the things I love – snappy dialogue, Sondheim musicals, and Krispy Kreme donuts.
Bonus rec: Trade Me by Courtney Milan. I went in slightly skeptical because it’s a contemporary instead of historical, but it just confirmed that she can write in any time period she wants.
Happy Anniversary! My rec is Kate Noble’s The Summer of You.
My latest fave is Sarah MacLean’s The Rogue Not Taken.
Naked in Death by J.D. Robb – the first In Death book. It was so different from everything else at that time and Eve and Roarke were not together … Eve was attracted to him but did not want a relationship, he had to work to get her. And it was years before I knew it was La Nora writing these!
It was a great debut and I re-read this one often – but only this one – not all 41 of them!
The Touchstone Trilogy by Andrea K. Host. Wormhole sucks up a young, hilarious Australian female protagonist. Adventures with ninja space super heroes (plus romance) ensues. Based on main character age it is YA/NA (which I normally can’t stand), but there is a degree of humor and sophistication to her inner dialogue that feels much older. I’ve re-read more times than I like to admit. Written in diary format which works for this series.
Congratulations! Thank you for the many years of laughs, recommendations, and insights into romance, books, reading and more!
Courtney Milan’s books, and most especially Unveiled, are big favourites lately.