In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren is $1.99! This is part of today’s Kindle Daily Deals. This is a holiday romance with a twist, a la Groundhog Day. I’m a huge CLo fan and they’re the only ones I’m willing to break my “no holiday romance” rule for. Have you read this one?
This seems to be the year of great romances between fabulous fat women and Hollywood heartthrobs. If The Boot Fits continued the party Olivia Dade’s Spoiler Alert started for me. This second book in Weatherspoon’s Cowboys of California series returns to a luxury SoCal ranch setting, with two characters who are stuck in their Hollywood careers. Sam Pleasant is a movie star who just won an Oscar for a film he’s ambivalent about, and is … Continue reading If the Boot Fits by Rebekah Weatherspoon
I’ve been salivating over A Cowboy to Remember for months. The actual story was quieter than I expected, but it also had feminist cowboys in Southern California, so I can’t be mad. As a regular fan of Weatherspoon, the tone of A Cowboy to Remember felt flatter than the cheeky dialogue of her recent books (Rafe, Xeni). I wanted more angst and laughs, but the book left me with the warm glow of having just … Continue reading A Cowboy to Remember by Rebekah Weatherspoon
Xeni was such a treat to read. When I heard this contemporary romance had a chubby Scot and an African-American witch, in a marriage arranged by a dead relative, I was all in. These characters felt realistic and like they could have been my friends, albeit the kind of friends who keep sneaking away to bone in the bathroom. Their romance was both completely absorbing and drama-free. It was like drinking an automatically re-filling glass … Continue reading Xeni by Rebekah Weatherspoon
Aww you guys – here’s another romance with a set up that is so catnippy that you’ll one-click by the end of this paragraph. Rafe is a contemporary romance about a divorced Black surgeon who needs a nanny on short notice for her twin six year old daughters. Enter Rafe, a professional nanny who has worked for several families and has glowing references. He’s also tall, covered with tattoos, ginger, bearded, and rides a motorcycle. He … Continue reading Rafe by Rebekah Weatherspoon
Full disclosure: I have a huge block when it comes to BDSM. As a result, I did not expect to like Sated, which is the third book in a trilogy about members of a BDSM club. I tried it anyway, because it had a lot of my personal catnip components, including diverse and geeky characters. Surprise, I LOVED IT. The book was respectful of geeks, people with disabilities, people of color, and the BDSM community, and … Continue reading Sated by Rebekah Weatherspoon
Sarah interviews Rebekah Weatherspoon about writing across multiple genres, starting out in fanfic, reader responses, working in television, and the challenges facing writers of color. We also talk about Rebekah’s latest books, including a May-December novella, and a trilogy about personal trainers in LA.
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 What Have You Learned About Yourself from Romance?
This Rec League comes from Kristin. Thanks, Kristin! My 13 1/2 year old is an an avid reader. She has recently gotten into romance novels and I want to give her options that are body positive and have healthy relationships, but that are also age appropriate for her. Some of her reading history includes all the harry potter books (repeatedly). One of her favs of all time is Blended by Sharon Draper. She has read … Continue reading The Rec League: Romances for Early Teens
I asked this question on Bluesky a bit ago, and was enchanted with all the answers (and all the covers). What romance novel could you do a 10 minute presentation on with no warning? Vintage old skool romances welcome! When I first posted this back in September 2024, I thought it would be Midsummer Magic by Catherine Coulter, the first romance I read, and one that “lives in the inside foyer of my brain, ready to … Continue reading Which Romance Could You Give a 10 Minute Presentation About with No Prep?
Hey there! It’s our last Whatcha Reading of the year. Here’s how we’re wrapping the year up: Sarah: I am reading The Smoke Thief because after my conversation with Elizabeth Hoyt, I realized I either hadn’t read it, or it was so long ago that I don’t remember. I’m also still reading The Alpha of Bleake Isle, and, well, many other things I was reading before. But I’m on vacation now so abundant reading time … Continue reading Whatcha Reading? December 2024, Part Two
