Welcome back!
Most of today’s edition comes with new releases! I think these are all 2026 release, if memory serves from when I put them in the SBTB repo. There are two romances and two non-fiction titles.
Want to pass along any recommendations? Leave them in the comments!
A Woman’s Work
If you are at all interested in the history of midwifery or how pregnancy has evolved over time, this is the book for you. I will not that “mothering” is a bit of a misclassification, as the content skews more toward birthing rather than parenthood.
From the author of Unwell Women comes a powerful and groundbreaking new narrative history of motherhood and mothering.
Mothers make history. But what it has meant for mothers to do the physical and emotional work of mothering has, for centuries, been neglected in the stories of the past. Patriarchal control of motherhood has relegated the acts of growing, birthing, nurturing, and loving to the sidelines, and deemed it unimportant, women’s work. Now, through the voices of women themselves, Elinor Cleghorn reclaims and retells the history of motherhood, showcasing the mothers, othermothers, midwives, activists, community leaders, and more who have shaped the course of history.
Beginning in the ancient world, we encounter a figurine made for a childbirth ritual over three thousand years ago. We meet extraordinary writers and poets, like Anne Bradstreet and Elizabeth Jocelin, who were expressing their innermost feelings about motherhood. During the seventeenth century, in the streets of London, we encounter unmarried mothers struggling against stigma and shame, and the women who strove to help them. Later, pioneers like Mary Wollstonecraft laid the intellectual foundation for the liberation of motherhood from male control, and the abhorrent treatment of enslaved mothers was brought to public attention by courageous activists like Sojourner Truth. These and many other brave characters lobbied for mothers of all classes and circumstances to be valued, respected, and supported–not as reproductive vessels, but as people.
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Eat Your Heart Out
I was hunting around for some new dark romances and I came across this novella. I immediately added it to my TBR pile. It’s showing up as $2.99 right now, so I may just buy a digital copy because it sounds wild.
I didn’t eat people. Just men. First of all, I’d like to set the record straight. I wasn’t a cannibal, ʼkay?
I didn’t eat people. Just men. I ate their hearts out before they ever saw me coming. Figuratively, of course. Most of the time.
Sometimes a girl had to do what a girl had to do. And sometimes what I had to do was fry those suckers up with a little bit of buttermilk and enough shortening to give ya coronary.
I wouldn’t ever apologize for it.
Which was something else you should know about me. I was unapologetic. Then again, so was he. Else the hotshot with a blade bigger than his d*ck wouldn’t have barged his way into my little apartment without so much as a “my bad, sorry for disturbing you, ma’am.”
And I wouldn’t have been forced to tie him to a chair and teach him some manners. But here we are, ain’t we?
Just a sweet little Southern girl and the big bad pickle-diddler who thought he was about to get his rocks off.
Guess it wasn’t his lucky day. Sure was mine, though.
Eat Your Heart Out is a dark standalone novella with a HEA. Please heed the trigger warnings at the beginning of the book.
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We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!Eat Your Heart Out by Sybil Knight
Law Maker
Big shoutout to C and Deborah, whose discussion on a previous Whatcha Reading, made me add this to my personal TBR pile. I love finding new reads from y’all!
Clara
Invisibility has been my go-to survival skill since childhood. So I hide behind my thick glasses and heavy fringe, working as a teaching assistant at the exclusive Molton Prep, happy with my seven-year-old pupils and studiously avoiding their posh parents. My one secret indulgence? Watching the gorgeous but wildly intimidating Lord Sterling sweep into school to collect his son.I’m ridiculous. Not only is Rafe completely terrifying, but he’s a high-profile barrister destined to be the UK’s youngest ever judge. A girl with a background like mine should stay out of his way.
Rafe
How dare the school insist that I can’t meet the Miss Clara, who told my son his brain “works differently”? Nobody refuses a meeting with me. But when I bulldoze my way past the school rules to confront her, I’m shocked by how much this shy woman affects me. She might be too scared to make eye contact, but when it comes to defending my son, she’s surprisingly fierce. And after I convince her to work as my son’s tutor and she gradually stops flinching in my presence, my obsession with her only grows.As a rule, I get what I want, and after seeing glimpses of her humour, kind heart and surprising strength, I want Clara Morris with an intensity I’ve never felt before. But I should be careful what I wish for, because Clara Morris is not who she says she is.
In my arrogance, I push her away, not realising that her fear runs deeper than simple shyness, not seeing the danger she’s in until it’s too late…
LAW MAKER is an opposites attract, billionaire, single father, contemporary romance, perfect for fans of intense, protective heroes and heroines overcoming trauma to find their happily ever after.
Content warning: this book features scenes of domestic violence.Add to Goodreads To-Read List →
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Rebel of the Regency
I’ve enjoyed Foster’s Vulgar History Podcast, and I’m so happy to see she got herself a book deal from all of her hard and very entertaining work!
The dramatic, absolutely outrageous story of Caroline of Brunswick, a beloved icon of the Regency era, who uplifted the voice of the public and unabashedly defied society’s expectations, yet was shockingly robbed of her crown, from the host of the Vulgar History podcast.
Caroline Amelia Elizabeth, Princess of Brunswick, was born in the northern German town of Braunschweig. Her mother and father, the duke and duchess, instantly knew one there was something irrefutably untamable about their daughter. She grew up a wild child, sequestered from others to protect her family’s reputation—a Regency-era Rapunzel.
She was freed from this gilded cage by an unexpected marriage proposal from George Augustus Frederick, Prince of Wales and the eldest son of George III and Queen Charlotte. Caroline was entirely unprepared for the backstabbing mean girls of the royal court. Always staying true to herself, she stepped into her role of queen-to-be without compromising her character, showing off her affinity for fashion, her many eccentric hobbies, and ultimately, her infallible spirit, despite being ostracized as an outsider by her in-laws.
And so Caroline became the unlikely figurehead of the anti-monarchists, aided by the just-emerging tabloid press. Yet, despite her status as a revolutionary heroine, Caroline’s name faded away following her death. Until now.
For fans of Normal Women, Ann Foster brings us the riveting story of Caroline of Brunswick, Britain’s uncrowned queen, through an empowering examination of womanhood and autonomy that feels just as relevant today.
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This book is available from:
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well. Thanks!Rebel of the Regency by Ann Foster
