A sparkling second-chance romance inspired by Jane Austen’s Persuasion… Nada Syed is stuck. On the cusp of thirty, she’s still living at home with her brothers and parents in the Golden Crescent neighbourhood of Toronto, resolutely ignoring her mother’s unsubtle pleas to get married already. While Nada has a good job as an engineer, it’s a far cry from realizing her start-up dreams for her tech baby, Ask Apa, the app that launched with a whimper instead … Continue reading Much Ado About Nada →
News broke this morning – and probably broke the smart phones of many employees as well – that Harlequin Publishing is being sold by parent company Torstar to NewsCorp, owner of HarperCollins. I can't even come up with a gif that expresses my WTF at that one! I don't think anyone saw that coming, eh? I generally don't get excited about mergers and acquisitions and figure the merging and intermingling of publishing is a thing … Continue reading Not Much News To Report - NO WAIT HOLY CRAP: Torstar Sells Harlequin to HarperCollins/NewsCorp →
For an ambitious attorney and a rising-star chef, a cross-cultural fake romance takes an unexpected detour in a heartwarming and funny novel by the author of Much Ado About Nada and Ayesha at Last. When Sameera Malik and Tom Cooke meet at a ho-hum holiday party, neither is looking for romance. Sameera’s working ridiculous hours at her law firm and healing from heartache while navigating a recently resolved family estrangement. Tom’s hustling to turn his social media stardom … Continue reading Yours for the Season →
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 The 80s Are Back…in Books →
Well. It’s been a wild ride, and I’m not just talking Shane on Ilya’s dick. Just over a month ago, Heated Rivalry slammed into our collective ids like a Texas-sized asteroid. To call it a hit might be an understatement. It’s a phenomenon. Before episode 3 aired, The Onion wrote a satirical explainer for it, which is possibly the clearest sign that you’ve arrived. I have never seen a show of any kind, much less … Continue reading Heated Rivalry Season 1, Episode 6 Recap: Come On, We’ve Got Bad Things to Do →
Hello, butts I mean sports fans! Episode 5 of Heated Rivalry is nigh, and you know what would be fun? Reliving the trauma of episode 4 together! Here’s a handy-dandy recap of all the major events of the previous episode, just in case you, unlike me, haven’t rewatched this episode every day until you’ve had every agonized expression memorized. Here’s my recap of episode 4 of Heated Rivalry: God these stupid horny boys, they’re so … Continue reading Heated Rivalry, Season 1, Episode 4 Recap: It’s the Tuna Meltdown →
So right now I have a number of non-romance community friends coming up to me and saying stuff like: “Oh hey sounds like some hockey fic finally made it onto TV, huh?” “Yo Candy have you heard of the gay hockey romance TV show?” “How excited are you about the gay hockey smut on TV?” “Candy why is your entire Tumblr dashboard filled with naked asses?” To which I say: excuse me, these are not … Continue reading Heated Rivalry: The Unbearable Lightness of Having a Dump-Truck Ass →
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 Spite Reading for Joy and Comfort, or What I Read on my Spring Vacation →
In this week’s podcast episode, we’re looking at the book reviews for the October 1988 issue of RT Magazine. Thank you to Amy M. for this issue! You can also find all the RTRW content at our category page for Romantic Times Rewind. And, most importantly, if you want to listen and follow along with this entry, we have more detail in the audio, but you can click play and listen and read and absorb … Continue reading Romantic Times Rewind: October 1988 Reviews →
In this week’s podcast episode, we’re looking at the incredible ads and features for the December 1997 issue of RT Magazine. Thank you to Mari for this issue! You can also find all the RTRW content at our category page for Romantic Times Rewind. And, most importantly, if you want to listen and follow along with this entry, we have more detail in the audio, but you can click play and listen and read and … Continue reading Romantic Times Rewind: December 1997 Ads & Features →
TW: rape, racism, mob violence, murder, anti-semitism This month’s Kickass Woman is a woman of complex morals who, despite making a lavish living through crime, was adored in Harlem during the Harlem Renaissance. Stephanie St. Clair, known as Queenie, ran a numbers racket throughout the 1920s and 30s and kept control of it despite efforts of the Mafia and the Law to take her down. She was also a civil rights activist, who invested in … Continue reading Kickass Women in History: Stephanie St. Clair →
